VZCZCXRO5239
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #0582/01 0641148
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 051148Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3843
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000582 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ARABL KPAL EG IS IZ
SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS IRAQ, 
PALESTINE AND OTHER REGIONAL HOT-SPOTS 
 
 
Classified by Minister Counselor for Economic and Political 
Affairs, William R. Stewart, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) In anticipation of an upcoming annual Arab Summit, 
scheduled for late March in Saudi Arabia, foreign ministers 
of the Arab League (AL) met in Cairo on March 3-4 to prepare 
the summit agenda and discuss a variety of pressing regional 
issues.  Among those issues were the Arab-Israeli conflict, 
Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia, and nuclear 
proliferation.  Despite speculation that the 2002 Arab peace 
initiative might be amended to make it more palatable for 
Israel, it appears that any such decision will be left for 
Arab leaders to decide in the run-up to the March 28-29 
Summit.  Nevertheless, AL Secretary General Moussa 
emphatically rejected any amendments to the Beirut 2002 
initiative during his opening remarks.  End summary. 
 
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Iraq Issues 
----------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Foreign ministers from the Arab League met in Cairo 
on March 4, in preparation for a March 28-29 Arab summit in 
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari 
attended for Iraq, seeking AL endorsement of a March 10 
sub-ministerial meeting of Iraq's neighbors and others in 
Baghdad (ref C).  The ministers welcomed the March 10 
meeting, where a decision is expected to emerge regarding a 
vetted follow-on regional ministerial on Iraq.  Egyptian MFA 
Assistant Minister for Arab Affairs Hani Khallaf and MFA 
Spokesman Alaa Hadidi are expected to attend the March 10 
meeting on behalf of Egypt.  According to MFA Cabinet staff 
member Nazih El Negeiry, none of the Arab ministers in 
attendance objected to Egypt's offer to host a follow-on 
ministerial.  In addition to the neighbors meeting, SYG 
Moussa and ministers repeated the AL's previous calls for a 
timetable for MNF-I withdrawal, formalized within a new UNSC 
resolution.  Media reports that the AL appointed Ambassador 
Tareq Abdel-Salam to replace the previous League envoy in 
Baghdad, Moroccan diplomat Mokhtar Lamani, appear incorrect. 
AL Press Secretary Alaa Rushdy told poloff on March 5 that 
Abdel Salam, the current Deputy of the AL's Baghdad mission, 
will remain in place while the League seeks a permanent 
replacement for Lamani. 
 
---------------------------- 
Arab-Israel Peace Initiative 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Despite press speculation, and public remarks by 
Israeli Foreign Minister Livni on the subject, there are no 
indications that ministers agreed to any fundamental 
alterations of the 2002 Beirut Arab peace initiative toward 
Israel.  In fact, SYG Moussa in his opening speech said "the 
Arab peace initiative expresses an Arab consensus and will 
not be re-drafted as demanded by some foreign powers. 
Maneouvering and watering down (the initiative) will be a 
strategic mistake, and perhaps would lead to new bloodshed." 
Asked about the issue, Jordanian DCM Waleed Obeidat, shared 
his view that the issue would be handled by Arab leaders in 
the run-up to the March 28-29 summit, as the regional peace 
process was in flux, and "too important a topic to be left to 
foreign ministers." 
 
------------------ 
Palestinian Issues 
------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In addition to the Beirut Initiative issue, 
ministers agreed to a number of predictable resolutions on 
Palestine, including calls for support for a national unity 
government, budgetary support for the Palestinian Authority, 
support for protection of the Al Aqsa Mosque and other 
Islamic sites in Jerusalem, and various condemnations of 
Israeli policies in the occupied territories. 
 
------------------------ 
Lebanon, Hariri Tribunal 
------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C) After a lengthy back-and-forth between the Syrian and 
Lebanese delegations, brokered by the League Secretariat 
Chief of Staff, the two sides agreed to resolution language 
on establishment of an international tribunal to investigate 
the assassination of former PM Hariri and other Lebanese 
political figures.  According to Egyptian MFA cabinet staffer 
Nazih El Negeiry, the two sides ironed out language on the 
court, agreeing to a "national dialogue" (i.e., "tawafuq") to 
 
CAIRO 00000582  002 OF 002 
 
 
determine the court's establishment -- something slightly 
less than a national consensus, as proposed by Syria.  The 
Syrians, he said, wanted Arab ministers to endorse language 
that would essentially enshrine a veto over the court's 
creation by March 8 opposition forces -- "a non-starter for 
Egypt and others."  Negeiry was pleased that the ministers 
formally endorsed creation of the tribunal, but recognized 
that the diplomatic wrangling had no real impact on the tense 
situation on the ground in Lebanon. 
 
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Sudan/Somalia 
------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ministers agreed to resolutions presented by the 
Governments of Sudan and Somalia, respectively, with little 
substantive contribution to peace-keeping operations in 
either country.  There was no mention of Algeria's reversal 
of its pledge to assist with air-lift for African Union 
troops to Somalia, nor any substantive financial 
contributions announced for either Darfur or the African 
Union's peace-keeping operations.  Privately, Arab League 
staff have told us that they are willing to look at early 
April dates for hosting the next meeting of the International 
Contact Group on Somalia at League headquarters in Cairo. 
The AL ministers did not formally address this subject on 
March 4. 
 
--------------------- 
Nuke-Free Middle East 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Arab ministers also agreed to an Egyptian draft 
resolution dealing with the NPT and a nuclear weapons free 
Middle East.  The AL resolution, according to League 
Spokesman Alaa Rushdy, questions a recent UK invitation 
letter dealing with the 2010 NPT Revcon which leaves out any 
mention of a 1995 Revcon resolution dealing with a nuclear 
weapons-free Middle East.  The AL resolution demands the UK 
re-send its letter including the Middle East zone language, 
and insists upon implementation of the 1995 resolution. 
Ministers also repeated previous AL calls for increased Arab 
attention toward, and access to, technology and training in 
the fields of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.  (Note:  This 
issue was first introduced by Sudan at the 2006 March summit 
in Khartoum.  End note) 
 
------------------------- 
Libya Backs Out of Summit 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Providing perhaps the only drama to a gathering 
that one Arab diplomat contact called the "most boring 
meeting he had ever attended," Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel 
Rahman Shalgam asserted that Libyan leader Qadhafi would not 
attend the late March summit in Riyadh.  In his 
closed-session remarks to ministers, Shalgam reportedly 
questioned the AL's parliamentary procedures by which Riyadh 
last year in Khartoum declined to host this year's summit, 
but later recanted its decision.  To reporters after the 
session, he also questioned the League's growing hostility 
toward Iran, instead of toward Israel. 
RICCIARDONE