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DE RUEHRO #2362/01 3251639
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O 211639Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9414
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0536
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0401
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RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY 0735
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 2768
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 9102
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 2913

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 002362 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/22/2017 
TAGS: PGOV XF IR ZR XI IT
SUBJECT: ITALY-MIDDLE EAST: DAS GRAY DISCUSSES IRAN, 
ANNAPOLIS, WESTERN SAHARA WITH GOI'S RAGAGLINI AND CARNELOS 
 
 
ROME 00002362  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Minister Counselor Jonathan Cohen for r 
easons 1.4 b and d. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) NEA DAS Gordon Gray exchanged views on Iran and 
discussed the Annapolis conference with PM Diplomatic Advisor 
on the Middle East Marco Carnelos on November 15 in Rome. 
Gray emphasized the unwavering U.S. commitment to prevent a 
nuclear Iran.  Carnelos said Italy was committed to 
encouraging wide Arab participation at Annapolis and that 
Italy hoped the conference would deliver concrete results for 
PA President Mahmoud Abbas. 
 
¶2.  (C) Gray also met with MFA Director General for the 
Mediterranean and Middle East Cesare Ragaglini to discuss the 
Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), the November 13 
Italy-Algeria Summit, Western Sahara and Libya.  Ragaglini 
noted that Italy was pressing Spain to contribute to the MFO 
and thanked Gray for the U.S.'s leadership role in the MFO. 
Ragaglini reported that the Italy-Algeria summit had been 
productive, focusing on energy.  He was not optimistic on the 
Western Sahara but shared Gray's assessment of the Moroccan 
proposal as an important step forward.  On Libya Ragaglini 
expressed his frustration with Colonel Qadhafi's 
intransigence.  End Summary. 
 
MFO: Italy Optimistic Spain will Contribute 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) MFA DG Ragaglini opened his November 14 meeting with 
NEA DAS Gray by thanking the U.S. for its continued 
high-level support for the MFO.  Ragaglini and Gray both 
agreed that the MFO needed additional funding more than 
additional troops.  Ragalini reported that FM D'Alema had 
personally encouraged Spanish FM Moratinos to contribute and 
that Italy was optimistic that Spain would do so. 
 
IRAN: U.S. Commitment Unwavering 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) In his meeting November 15 meeting with the PM's 
Advisor on the Middle East, Marco Carnelos, Gray underscored 
that U.S. commitment on the Iranian question would remain 
steady regardless of the upcoming U.S. elections.  Gray noted 
it was unfortunate that Iran appeared unwilling to play a 
more constructive role in the region, putting aside its past, 
especially in light of the removal of two of Iran's largest 
headaches (Saddam and the Taliban).  Iran could have reacted 
with cooperation, but instead had chosen confrontation.  Gray 
encouraged Italy to support further UNSC action and 
autonomous EU sanctions on Iran. 
 
¶5.  (C) Carnelos cautioned that the West should not ignore 
the impact of the current turmoil in Pakistan on Iran.  We 
tend, he said, to see Paksitan as an actor in Afghanistan, 
but from the Iranian perspective, Shiite Iran is a potential 
target for Pakistan and would be the first target of an 
al-Qaeda nuclear weapon.  Carnelos said Italy agreed with 
U.S. assessments that Iran is supporting the Taliban. 
However, he argued that this was a 'tactical,' not a 
'strategic' shift on Iran's part.  What Iran was doing, he 
argued, was intended to show that they could use their 
enemies to hurt the West.  It was not, he opined, an 
indication of a larger strategic relationship between the 
Taliban and Iran. 
 
ANNAPOLIS: Italy Encouraging Arab Attendance 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Gray told Carnelos that the Secretary was encouraged 
by progress she had seen by the Israelis and Palestinians and 
that Annapolis would not be the end of a process, but the 
beginning.  Annapolis would be followed by the December Paris 
Donors Conference at which Gray encouraged Italy, along with 
its European allies and Gulf countries, to make a significant 
contribution. 
 
¶7.  (C) Carnelos stressed the need for the conference to have 
real content and not just list the final status problems. 
For it to be a success, he said, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, 
 
ROME 00002362  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
much more than Israeli PM Olmert, must be able to walk away 
with a clear, concrete deliverable.  The key would be how 
Abbas was perceived afterwards.  Carnelos said Italy would do 
what it could to encourage Arab participation and was telling 
Arab leaders not to undermine its potential with negative 
comments before the event.  He noted that the Saudi King, 
when asked by Prodi if he would attend, gave a negative 
impression. 
 
Positive Italy-Algeria Summit; Pessimistic on W. Sahara 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Ragaglini briefed Gray on Italy's November 14 Summit 
with Algeria.  The focus was on energy, but talks also 
touched on the Western Sahara, cooperation against 
international terrorism, infrastructure, clandestine 
immigration and Italian business opportunities.  President 
Bouteflika led his delegation and was accompanied by his 
ministers of foreign affairs, defense, finance, interior, 
trade and energy.  Carnelos told Gray in a separate meeting 
that PM Prodi had discussed creating a financial facility for 
small and medium size enterprises open to the Mediterranean 
region with a special focus on North Africa. 
 
¶9.  (C) Gray said the U.S. was encouraged by the passage of 
UNSCR 1754 on the Western Sahara and that the U.S. had worked 
hard with Morocco to produce a serious plan.  The resolution 
echoed the U.S. assessment of Morocco's plan as serious and 
credible.  Gray said the U.S. would push both sides to 
continue negotiations without preconditions.  There is 
substance to the Moroccan plan, he said, which should be 
explored and the U.S. is encouraging Morocco to accept a date 
for a third round of negotiations 
 
¶10.  (C) Ragaglini, who participated in FM D'Alema's meeting 
with Algerian FM Mourad Medelci, said D'Alema had, despite 
Italy's long history of support for the Polisario, stressed 
to his Algerian counterpart that the Moroccan proposal was 
the first new proposal on the table in over thirty years and 
deserved serious consideration.  The fundamental problem, 
explained Ragaglini, was that the proposal was Moroccan.  It 
would have been received better by Algeria if it had been 
proposed by a third party. 
 
¶11.  (C) Ragaglini noted that the Western Sahara issue is 
complex and would not be resolved in the near future.  The 
"core" of the problem was the lack of trust between the 
parties.  He strongly agreed with Gray's suggestion that that 
it might be a generational problem and might not be resolved 
until Bouteflika was succeeded.  Ragaglini lamented that the 
issue was like a rock in the middle of the development of the 
Maghreb, and that once resolved the whole region would 
benefit greatly. 
 
LIBYA: Italy's Relations Remain "Strained" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶12.  (C) Ragaglini reported that D'Alema's November 10 
meeting with Col. Qadhafi had been disappointing.  Italy and 
Libya had been negotiating a friendship treaty to finally 
close the difficult chapters of the past, but the Libyans 
consistently thwarted the process in its final stage by 
making unreasonable requests.  Ragaglini said Italy had been 
negotiating with the Libyan Ambassador in Rome and with Amb. 
Obeidi, but that neither seemed "capable of delivering."  He 
said only Libyan Intel Chief Musa Kusa could deliver in 
Qadhafi's place. 
 
¶13.  (C) Gray noted that the U.S. had told the Libyan Deputy 
Foreign Minister during his recent visit that when Libya 
takes its seat in the UNSC in January it will be an 
opportunity to show that Libya is a responsible member of the 
international community. 
 
U.S. Arms Sales to Gulf 
----------------------- 
 
¶14.  (C) Gray told Ragaglini that the State Department had 
informally notified Congress on November 13 on proposed arms 
sales to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.  While there may 
be some concern in Congress over the sale to Saudi Arabia, 
Gray said the State Department expected the sale to go 
 
ROME 00002362  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
through especially given the heightened threat to Saudi 
Arabia from a more assertive Iran. 
 
¶15.  (U) DAS Gray cleared this cable. 
 
¶16.  (U) Tripoli minimize considered. 
SPOGLI