US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI364

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000364 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, AF/E, AF/RSA 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINR, MOPS, MARR, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI'S FM ON CAMP LEMONIER LEASE RENEWAL 
 
REF: A. DJIBOUTI 298 B. DJIBOUTI 123 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marguerita Ragsdale. 
Reasons 1.4 (b), (d), and (e). 
 
1. (C) In a meeting with Djibouti's Foreign Minister Ali Abdi 
Farah on March 10, Farah contradicted information we reported 
(reftel A) that placed authority for negotiations on the Camp 
Lemonier base lease renewal within the Ministry of 
Presidential Affairs.  Farah also denied that Ambassador 
Olhaye would be his country's primary interlocutor. 
 
2. (C) According to Farah, negotiations would be "led" by his 
Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through what he 
called in French a "commission" (committee or commission) of 
four persons established for military coordination. The names 
of those members are M. Mohamed Ali Hassan, Director of 
Bilateral Relations in the MFA, Colonel Abdo Abdi Dembil, 
Defense Advisor to President Guelleh, Colonel Osman Soubagleh 
of the Djibouti Armed Forces, and Abdourahman Boreh, Economic 
Adviser to the President. 
 
3. (C)  Actually, the entity about which Farah spoke has been 
in existence since October of 2003.  This embassy received, 
in that time frame, a diplomatic note announcing the 
commission's establishment.  USLO Chief has met weekly with 
the group to coordinate on security assistance issues.  Boreh 
was not part of the original list and was only added the 
first part of January of 2004.  He continues to be the most 
active interlocutor on military issues. (See Reftel B) 
 
4. (C) Comment:  This makes three possibilities, and 
counting, for Djiboutian dialogue with the U.S. on base lease 
renewal. Despite the denials of Farah, though, we are 
hard-pressed to see talks without a role in some manner for 
Ambassador Olhaye.  He is present in Washington and is 
expected to continue his engagement.  If the confusion is 
indicative of anything, it is that Djibouti's own internal 
tensions over who will take charge of renewal talks will add 
another hurdle to those we must overcome as we enter what 
probably will be tough lease negotiations. End comment. 
 
RAGSDALE