VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0936/01 1460918
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 260918Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2583
INFO RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA 0067
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA 0016
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0294

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000936 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2019 
TAGS: PREL KO AL EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT NOT AFFECTED BY SAUDI RECOGNITION OF KOSOVO 
 
REF: A. STATE 41665 
     ¶B. STATE 24186 
     ¶C. 08 CAIRO 2497 
     ¶D. STATE 29385 
 
Classified By: Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs Catherine 
Hill-Herndon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Key Points: 
 
-- The Government of Egypt (GOE) was not influenced by the 
Saudi decision to recognize Kosovo. The Saudi decision will 
have more impact on Gulf countries. 
 
-- Egypt and other Organization of the Islamic Conference 
(OIC) countries oppose Albania's OIC resolution to recognize 
Kosovo. Libya will take the lead against the resolution, but 
Egypt will be active behind the scenes. 
 
-- Egypt voted in favor of Kosovo's IMF membership on 
economic grounds.  Egypt is accepting Kosovo passports, but 
this is the farthest the GOE will go for now. 
 
-- Egypt will await an International Court of Justice (ICJ) 
decision before taking any further action on Kosovo. 
 
¶2. (C) Comment: The GOE has recently changed its position 
with respect to the Kosovar passport.  In December 2008, 
Egypt refused entry to Kosovar Deputy FM Vlora Citaku because 
she was traveling on a Kosovar passport (reftel C).  Now, the 
GOE is allowing students and others to enter the country 
using the passport.  While the GOE opposes unilateral 
declarations of independence, it places a high value on the 
opinion of the international community and would most likely 
support an ICJ decision in favor of Kosovo by recognizing the 
country. End Comment. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Egypt Not Impacted by Saudi Decision 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (C) Mohamed Moneer, Second Secretary in the Egyptian MFA's 
South and East Europe office, told us on May 19 that Egyptian 
policy was not influenced by Saudi Arabia's decision to 
recognize Kosovo (reftel A).  He said that the GOE would make 
its own choices and did not recognize unilateral declarations 
of independence. Egypt's policy is applied to all states 
including Kosovo, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia (reftels B-C). 
Moneer said that Russia has not asked the GOE to recognize 
the Abkhazia or South Ossetia. Other Gulf States such as 
Kuwait may recognize Kosovo, but he said most other Arab 
states would not soon recognize Kosovo. Moneer stated that 
there still was a lack of EU consensus on the Kosovo issue, 
pointing out that Greece and Spain have not yet recognized 
Kosovo. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Egypt Opposed to Albanian OIC Resolution 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Moneer said that the Albanian resolution to recognize 
Kosovo, at the May 23-25 OIC Council of Foreign Ministers 
meeting, was rough and not useful.  He told us that there was 
little support for the resolution among the OIC states, and 
he opined that Kosovo's recognition by the OIC will be 
"delayed."  Moneer said that the GOE expects Libya to take 
the lead in opposing recognition and Algeria to play a 
supporting role.  He told us that Libyan President Ghaddafi 
had promised Serbian President Tadic that Libya would oppose 
recognition of Kosovo for a couple of years to give Serbia 
time to meet its "urgent interests."  Moneer said that Egypt 
also opposes the resolution and "will be active behind the 
scenes." 
 
----------------------------------- 
Some Small Steps Toward Recognition 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Moneer confirmed that Egypt voted in favor of Kosovo 
joining the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  He said 
Finance Minister Yusuf Boutrous-Ghali made this decision 
because "Kosovo needs financial and economic support." Moneer 
also said that the GOE recognized Kosovar passports, which 
allowed some students to return to Egypt to continue their 
studies.  He said that this was the maximum that Egypt will 
do. 
 
------------------ 
Waiting on the ICJ 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) Moneer told us that Egypt is waiting the decision from 
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) before it acts on 
Kosovo (reftel D).  He said that if the ICJ finds in Kosovo's 
favor that recognition will be a "fait accompli." 
SCOBEY