VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #2021/01 0931407
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 031407Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7123
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0389
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0972

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 002021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PTER EAID KPAL MEPN EG SU
SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE'S KHARTOUM SUMMIT 
 
REF: A. KHARTOUM 791 (NOTAL) 
     ¶B. CAIRO 1911 
 
Classified by ECPO Counselor John Desrocher for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Sudan played host March 28-29 to the 18th 
regular summit of Arab League (AL) leaders, a meeting notable 
for poor attendance by heads of state and deep divisions over 
Iraq, Lebanon, and Hamas.  AL leaders approved dozens of 
resolutions, covering the range of priorities for all 22 AL 
member states.  Sudan, after assuming the AL's rotating 
presidency for the coming year, gained support for its call 
to extend the African Union's Darfur mission past October 1, 
to require GOS approval for any UN troop role in Darfur, and 
in seeking Arab funding and troop provision for AMIS when its 
mission mandate expires in September.  On Palestine, leaders 
reiterated the AL's Beirut peace initiative, and sought ways 
to bolster Abu Mazen's leadership and entice Hamas toward the 
peace process. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary, continued.  On Iraq, the AL approved an 
envoy and a budget for a new Baghdad office expected to open 
in April.  Leaders welcomed Jordan's proposal to host a 
planning session for an AL-organized reconciliation 
conference inside Iraq later this year, as well as an 
expected gathering of Iraqi religious figures.  Tensions were 
high between Lebanese President Lahoud and Prime Minister 
Siniora, each seeking support for their respective camps. 
The AL's final statement adhered closely to Syrian positions, 
particularly on the topic of Shebaa Farms.  A resolution 
approved by the leaders identified for the first time "Kafr 
Shobra" as land included in Lebanon's Shebaa Farms claim.  AL 
SYG Moussa called for Arab states to "enter the world of 
peaceful uses of nuclear energy with all speed and momentum." 
 On Arab League and regional reform, leaders launched a new 
Arab Peace and Security Council to help resolve inter-Arab 
conflicts, although they shelved a proposed Arab Court of 
Justice.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
18th Arab League Regular Summit Held in Khartoum 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3.  (C) Sudan played host March 28-29 to the 18th regular 
summit of the Arab League, and assumed the rotating 
presidency for the coming year.  Having stepped in last year 
in Algiers when Djibouti passed up its turn to host the 2006 
summit, Sudan's Omar Bashir welcomed the opportunity to press 
for Arab support for his efforts to block UN troops from 
entering Darfur.  While the gathering passed without major 
incident among the 13 leaders in attendance, many 
commentators criticized the low turnout by heads of state 
(Note: Only 12 leaders appeared at both the Algiers summit 
(2205) and the Tunis summit (2004).  End note.)  With key 
Arab leaders (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the Emirates) 
absent, one rumor circulating at the conference was that the 
U.S. had pressured Arab leaders not to attend, to punish 
Sudan's Bashir for his obstinance over Darfur.  Still, there 
was no shortage of foreign attendees, including senior 
Europeans (EU Commissioner for External Affairs Benita 
Ferrero-Waldner, EU Special Representative Marc Otte, the 
EC's Christian Leffler, Russian Deputy FM Soltanov), Turkish 
PM Erdogan, UN U/S Gambari and UN SYG Annan's Iraq Envoy 
Ashraf Qazi, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Cuban envoys, and 
other senior dignitaries.  Similarly, a large press 
contingent was on-site for the entire two-day event. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Sudan Seeks Arab Support to Address Darfur Conflict 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶4.  (C) Arab leaders approved a resolution on Sudan that 
pledged to extend African Union forces (AMIS) in Darfur with 
Arab troops/funding after the current AU mandate expires on 
September 30 (ref A).  The resolution, drafted by the GOS, 
affirms the necessity of GOS approval for any foreign troop 
deployment to Darfur, and emphasizes the importance of 
reaching a peace agreement in Abuja between Darfur rebels and 
the GOS.  Privately, AL senior staff shared the view that 
perceived intransigence of rebel groups in Abuja would only 
be overcome by additional USG pressure on them.  Otherwise, 
they argued, the rebels would drag out the peace talks. 
Iraqi FM Zebari told us he was the only head of delegation to 
challenge Bashir during the closed-door session, pressing him 
not to "act like Saddam" in rejecting the UN's presence.  AL 
Chief of Staff Youssef told poloff April 3 that the League 
understood the "UN transition is a done deal," but that 
details still had to be negotiated.  In any case, Arab 
leaders want to see a peace deal in Abuja as early as 
possible, he said. 
-------------------------------------- 
Palestinian Issue Source of Contention 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) During a four-hour closed door session of Heads of 
Delegation plus one, much of the conversation centered on how 
Arab leaders would deal with a new Palestinian government led 
by Hamas.  Iraqi FM Zebari shared with Charge and poloff that 
the leaders affirmed their strong support to Palestinian 
President Mahmoud Abbas, and debated how best to persuade 
Hamas to agree to the AL's 2002 Beirut peace initiative.  The 
leaders reportedly agreed to extend earlier funding 
commitments to the PA to the tune of USD 55 million per month 
- far less than Hamas leaders had told the media they 
requested from the League.  In its final resolution on the 
topic, leaders repeated their peace initiative of 2002, and 
criticized unilateral actions taken by Israel with regard to 
the occupied territories.  During a post-summit briefing in 
Cairo April 3, AL Chief of Staff Hisham Youssef said the 
leaders called upon the Quartet to take a more balanced 
approach to the two sides, for donors to continue funding the 
PA as the League would do, and criticized two French 
companies involved in an infrastructure project linking West 
Jerusalem to settlements in the West Bank. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Iraq: Arabs Concerned, AL Office to Open Soon 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) FM Zebari told poloff immediately after the lengthy 
closed-door leaders' session on March 28, that Iraq had 
gotten "everything it wanted" with respect to the Iraq 
resolution.  For the first time, he said, leaders accepted 
the Iraqi-drafted text without incident, although Zebari 
admitted the leaders had fresh fears for the stability of the 
country.  He said that he had been pressed to explain news of 
possible talks between the U.S. and Iran over Iraq, a 
development many of the Arabs believed would harm Arab 
interests.  Zebari told poloff that he had assured the 
delegates that any such talks would not come at the expense 
of the Iraqi government, nor would the Iraqi government be 
excluded from such a dialogue.  He chided the Arab states, he 
shared, for not playing a more serious role in helping Iraq 
regain its security and stability.  Despite his upbeat 
assessment of the conference, Zebari caused waves when he 
publicly criticized the Arabs for not doing enough to help 
Iraq. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Arab leaders approved a resolution authorizing the 
AL to open an office in Baghdad, selected a senior diplomat 
as its envoy, and budgeted USD two million dollars for the 
task.  Mokhtar Lamani, a Moroccan diplomat who has most 
recently served as the Organization of Islamic Conferences 
Ambassador in New York, will head the AL mission.  Lamani 
plans to travel to Iraq in late April to begin consultations 
and present his credentials.  He will then visit regional 
capitals, including Amman to discuss a possible planning 
meeting in Jordan in May to prepare for an AL-organized 
national accord conference in Iraq later this year.  In their 
resolution on Iraq, leaders also welcomed Jordan's proposal 
to host Iraqi religious leaders in Amman April 22 to promote 
tolerance.  Finally, the Iraq committee of Arab Ministers 
plans to meet shortly to discuss all of these events. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
Syria/Lebanon:  Tensions High Between Lahoud, Siniora Camps 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Lebanese President Lahoud and Prime Minister Siniora 
both participated in the summit, seeking to maximize Arab 
support for their respective camp's positions on the 
Lebanon-Syria issue.  With tensions high between the two, 
contacts reported a "heated exchange" during the closed-door 
session over how the Lebanon resolution would characterize 
Lebanon's "resistance" (or, "muqowema").  Iraqi FM Zebari 
characterized the exchange to poloff as "childish."  In the 
end, the resolution ended up largely repeating previous texts 
on the subject.  Most leaders were reportedly content to 
await results of the ongoing Lebanese national dialogue 
before pressing any separate agenda.  AL Chief of Staff 
Youssef claimed to poloff April 3 that SYG Moussa's April 3-4 
visit to Riyadh was not connected with any Arab initiative on 
Syria/Lebanon, and that the League would await Lebanese 
internal consensus on the key issues of disarming Hizballah 
and the Presidency before it took any action. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
AL's Moussa Urges Arabs to Pursue Peaceful Nuclear Programs 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
¶9.  (SBU) During opening speeches on March 28, AL SYG Moussa 
called upon Arab states to expand their efforts in the 
nuclear arena.  Moussa, identifying what he considered a 
paucity of joint Arab action in the field of science, noted a 
Sudanese proposal to increase Arab efforts to "enter the 
world of peaceful uses of nuclear energy with all speed and 
momentum."  The Arabs, he said, "should invest in it (i.e., 
joint scientific research) at the broadest scale out of 
support for the Arab scientific base and for serving society 
and meeting its escalating water and energy needs."  Moussa's 
Chief of Staff told poloff that the AL would encourage 
greater Arab expenditure on scientific efforts in 
collaboration with private industry, and that a high-level 
seminar on science and education would be held in the coming 
months. 
 
------------------------------- 
Arab League and Regional Reform 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) During the summit, leaders signed a document 
authorizing a new AL Peace and Security Council (PSC), which 
will be comprised of five member states, the Chair of the 
Council of Ministers, the two previous Council Chairs, and 
the next two Council chairs.  Once seven member states sign 
the agreement into force, the PSC will become active. 
Focused on inter-Arab conflict resolution and regional 
security, the body will have a wide-ranging mandate, and will 
be supplemented by new tools such as an informational data 
base, an early-warning system, and a committee of wise-men to 
address reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction.  The 
work of the PSC is expected to be handled by the League 
Secretariat in Cairo without new staffing, though further 
 
SIPDIS 
details such as when the Council will be actived have yet to 
be worked out.  While progress was made on a new PSC, a 
separate proposal to launch a new Arab Court of Justice was 
shelved for the time being, with several members apprehensive 
about the responsibilities of any such body.  SYG Moussa 
delivered a compendium of AL member-state reports on 
respective efforts in the past year to promote internal 
reforms and movement toward democracy and liberalization. 
The subject of education was discussed at the Summit for the 
first time, with leaders deciding to appoint an expert 
committee to study the topic and make recommendations at the 
next summit. 
 
--------- 
Follow-Up 
--------- 
 
¶11.  (C) Saudi Arabia will assume the rotating presidency at 
next year's summit, but requested that the summit be held at 
the League's headquarters in Cairo.  This is not the first 
time an AL member has elected to allow the annual gathering 
to be held at the League headquarters in Cairo, but the move 
raised questions about the Kingdom's motives and led to 
further criticism of AL efforts to encourage Arab solidarity. 
 The Egyptian delegation also put forward President Mubarak's 
proposal to host additional Arab leaders' meetings outside 
the normal March summit framework, to address topics of 
concern without all 22 member states and without the normal 
parliamentary procedures and paperwork.  No action is 
expected to occur on the Egyptian idea until next March at 
the earliest.  The League still plans to hold its Arab-Arab 
American conference in Houston this June. 
 
¶12.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Khartoum. 
RICCIARDONE