VZCZCXRO5571
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #1338 3631501
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281501Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6786
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA PRIORITY 0009
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA PRIORITY 0011
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0080
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA PRIORITY 0067
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 2983
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 9145
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0766
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ALGIERS 001338 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO SO AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN COMMITMENT TO AMISOM COMES FROM THE TOP 
 
REF: SECSTATE 134421 
 
¶1. (SBU) Ambassador delivered reftel demarche on December 28 
to Kamel Rezag-Bara, Counselor to President Abdelaziz 
Bouteflika for Counter-terrorism.  He thanked Rezag-Bara for 
Algeria's commitment to provide ten aircraft to transport 
African Union member troops into Somalia, and stressed the 
urgency of having the aircraft ready as early as possible 
given the planned January 5 withdrawal of Ethiopian forces 
from Somalia. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Rezag-Bara responded that President Bouteflika was 
personally committed to empowering the African Union to 
manage security on the continent.  In this regard, Rezag-Bara 
explained that Algeria's commitment went beyond the ten 
aircraft it had provided to support AMISOM.  He noted the 
recent meeting of African Union chiefs of staff in Tripoli, 
at which agreement was reached to establish an African Union 
"standby force" that would be coordinated via five separate 
regional groups.  Rezag-Bara said that from the countries 
that attended the Tripoli meeting, Algeria was selected to be 
the overall coordinator of this effort, and would be 
providing training and equipment to help create this standby 
force. 
 
¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: Rezag-Bara understood the timeline.  He 
noted that Algeria was going to be coordinating via the 
African Union, but also took pride in Algeria's regional role 
on African security within the context of the AU.  Bouteflika 
himself has long seen engagement in Africa as a key part of 
his legacy.  Algeria is therefore likely to do the necessary 
if AMISOM troops are ready for transport on an accelerated 
timetable. 
PEARCE