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PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHAS #1350/01 3661848
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 311848Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6796
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 6608
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY PRIORITY 1803
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO PRIORITY 0813
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 2987
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 9149
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 001350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2018 
TAGS: PREL KPAL PTER PHUM MOPS KWBG IS AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN MFA: DANGEROUS SPLIT BETWEEN REGIMES AND 
STREET OVER GAZA 
 
REF: ALGIERS 1340 
 
Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: MFA Secretary General Madjid Bouguerra 
assured the Ambassador on December 31 that Algeria would 
continue to play a constructive role in formulating Arab 
League reactions to the situation in Gaza, avoiding 
inflammatory rhetoric.  Bouguerra said that Algerians were 
shocked and traumatized by the images coming out of Gaza, 
and that Arab public opinion held that only the U.S. could 
effectively put an end to the violence.  This was a time, he 
said, if ever there was one, for the U.S. to use its weight. 
According to Bouguerra, Arab public opinion was now 
"dangerously split" from Arab leaders, and populations blamed 
their regimes for inaction and impotence in the face of the 
Israeli actions in Gaza.  Managing this opinion, he said, was 
the immediate challenge for Algeria and the rest of the Arab 
world.  Bouguerra said that Algeria had never held any 
affection for Hamas, but Hamas had won a democratic election 
and it could not be excluded from Palestinian decisionmaking. 
 This made Palestinian reconciliation essential.  With 
several hours to go before the conclusion of the Cairo Arab 
League Ministerial on Gaza, Bouguerra projected an outcome 
that included a call for a cease-fire, removal of the 
blockade, and a call for UNSC action.  Finally, Bouguerra 
expressed Algerian frustration that its initial shipment of 
61 tons of food and medical aid for Gaza had only received 
clearance from Egypt earlier that same day, after several 
days of delays.  END SUMMARY. 
 
AMBASSADOR URGES CONSTRUCTIVE ARAB ROLE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Ambassador told Bouguerra that the U.S. realized 
Algeria's voice carried weight in Arab League discussions. 
We therefore sought the GOA's help in ensuring a constructive 
and non-inflammatory AL ministerial statement.  He noted the 
need for a cease-fire that would be fully respected, and the 
importance of Arab countries using their influence to ensure 
that Hamas respected any cease-fire, if one were achieved. 
The Ambassador further noted the personal engagement of the 
President and the Secretary, their concern about civilian 
casualties, and their attention to the humanitarian crisis, 
including our USD 85 million contribution to UNWRA.   He 
added that Israel would doubtless pay close attention to the 
tenor of the Arab League statement and this meant it could be 
a significant factor in our ability to achieve a genuine 
cease-fire.   The Ambassador said it would be helpful if the 
AL statement endorsed a return to the 2005 Agreement on 
Movement and Access, since this would address the 
humanitarian issue, and if it also could address the problem 
of the passage of contraband, especially weapons, into Gaza. 
 
SHOCKED AND AWED 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (C)  Bouguerra said graphic images of suffering in Gaza 
had been saturating Algerian homes via Arab satellite 
channels for days, and had "shocked and traumatized" 
Algerians.  He called it a situation that "forbids us from 
remaining silent" and forces action, which, he said, must 
start with the friends of Israel, specifically the U.S. 
Bouguerra said Algerians had never seen a situation quite 
like this, in which "an enclosed people" were bombed with 
little or no option to escape.  Arabs, he said, are also 
upset at the U.S. because they perceive that the U.S. can 
stop the violence but thus far has not.  He told the 
Ambassador that he had just heard that Israel had rejected an 
EU cease-fire initiative driven by French president Nicolas 
Sarkozy.  He said the Arab League was prepared to push the 
Palestinians back on track, but "only if we have the support 
of our partners."   This was a time, if ever there was one, 
for the U.S. to use its weight. 
 
ALGERIA EXPECTS SUMMIT DELAY 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Bouguerra, who had spoken to Foreign Minister Mourad 
Medelci in Cairo earlier that afternoon, said Algeria would 
play a constructive role in the Arab League deliberations, 
and understood this was not a moment for inflammatory 
rhetoric.  He said Arab League foreign ministers were "aware 
of the seriousness" of the situation and were ready to help 
with pushing a peace effort.  Bouguerra said that Medelci had 
 
ALGIERS 00001350  002 OF 003 
 
 
stopped briefly in Tripoli en route to Cairo, for a meeting 
of the five Maghreb foreign ministers, in order to forge a 
common position heading into the Cairo ministerial.  From his 
earlier conversation with Medelci, Bouguerra said he expected 
that elements of the Arab League position were likely to 
include calls for a cease-fire, an end to the blockade, and 
UN Security Council action.  Bouguerra speculated that an 
actual follow-on full summit of the Arab League would be 
delayed slightly, at least by a matter of days, given the 
rifts of opinion among member states.  Also unfortunate, 
Bouguerra said, was that the recent escalation of violence in 
Gaza had adversely affected other issues, including the 
indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel. 
 
¶5. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's question about Hamas' 
possible motives for breaking the cease-fire, Bouguerra said 
he did not know Hamas' intentions, but they had cited the 
blockade of Gaza as a primary factor.  It was essential, the 
MFA secretary general said, for the Palestinian leaderships 
in the West Bank and Gaza to be reconciled.  Algeria had no 
affection for Hamas, but it had won a democratic election and 
could not be excluded from Palestinian decisionmaking. 
Trying to do so would only make matters worse.  And could 
Israel destroy Hamas definitively, Bouguerra wondered? "I 
think not," he opined. 
 
CRISIS OF PUBLIC OPINION 
------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C)  The most immediate problem for regimes throughout the 
Arab world, in Bouguerra's view, was the "very dangerous" 
distance that existed between Arab public opinion and Arab 
leaders.  He explained that Arabs were directing much of 
their anger at their leaders for insufficient action and 
coordination of policy and response.  He said the general 
public was frustrated that Arab leaders had not voiced 
positions that more accurately reflected their own anger at 
Israel, the U.S., and even Egypt for its role in the 
blockade.  Managing public opinion, Bouguerra told the 
Ambassador, was the immediate challenge for Algeria and the 
rest of the Arab world. 
 
FRUSTRATION WITH EGYPT 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Bouguerra confirmed that Algeria had provided 61 tons 
of food and medical supplies to Gaza, but had waited five 
days to get clearance from Egyptian authorities to fly the 
supplies to the airport at El Arish.  He said that the 
Algerian public believed that this aid had already been 
delivered, but since Egyptian clearance had only come earlier 
in the day, Algerian relief flights would be leaving 
tomorrow, January 1.  The 61 tons were "a beginning," he 
said, asserting that Algeria had provided such aid in the 
past and would continue to do so in the future.  We do not 
know Egypt's intentions, he confided, hoping that this would 
be clearer "in a few hours" when the Cairo ministerial 
wrapped up. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) Ambassador repeatedly underscored the seriousness of 
the situation, and that the nature of the Arab League 
statement and subsequent actions would play a decisive role 
in determining what Israeli response followed, including 
whether the process would be brought back on track through a 
cease-fire respected by all parties.  Bouguerra understood 
what was at stake, and told the Ambassador that Algeria was 
proud to have a reputation for moderation and reason within 
the Arab League.  He said that the U.S. could count on 
Algeria to avoid inflammatory statements and  emotional 
responses, but he was obviously sobered by what he felt to be 
the very dangerous limitations that public  opinion was 
placing on Arab regimes.  It was in this context that he 
asked if the Ambassador thought Israel would "really go 
through" with a land assault.  The Ambassador responded that 
he could claim no special insight on this, but based on his 
own experience in Jerusalem and the public statements of 
Israeli officials, it seemed pretty clear that the key to the 
Israelis' next steps lay in whether they concluded that Hamas 
had definitively stopped firing rockets or not.  That was why 
any cease-fire would have to be fully respected, and why Arab 
influence on Hamas to respect any such agreement would be so 
important. 
 
ALGIERS 00001350  003 OF 003 
 
 
PEARCE