US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI667

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000667 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2014 
TAGS: ASEC, DJ, PREL, PTER 
SUBJECT: 2004 EACTI CONFERENCE - REACTION OF DJIBOUTI 
DELEGATES 
 
REF: DJIBOUTI 660 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marguerita Ragsdale. Reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
 1. (C) Summary:  Members of Djibouti's delegation to the 
April 22-23 East Africa Counter-Terrorist Initiative 
EACTI) Conference in Kampala relayed their observations 
of the event to Embassy officers.  The delegates found the 
conference a useful forum to express Djibouti's total 
commitment to the Global War on Terrorism and said they 
have a clearer idea of the threat of transnational 
terrorism than most neighboring countries, especially 
Ethiopia.  They expressed continued frustration at the 
delay in delivery of EACTI assistance, particularly 
speedboats for coastal defense.  They conceded that 
Djibouti had done a poor job of prioritizing training 
needs.  They indicated their belief that for success in 
counter-terrorism in the Horn of Africa, the U.S. should 
commit itself more forcefully in efforts to reintegrate 
Somalia into the East African community of nations. 
End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) From April 22 through April 23, 2004, delegates 
from eight East African countries and numerous branches 
of the U.S. government, met in Kampala, Uganda, to discuss 
EACTI issues.  Djibouti was represented by Abdillahi 
Mohamed Abdillahi, Deputy Chief of National Security 
Services; Lieutenant Colonel Osman Nour Soubagleh, 
Djibouti's liaison to the U.S. military; Mohamed Ali 
Hassan, Director of Bilateral Relations, 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mohamed Moussa Abar, 
Captain (Harbormaster) of the port of Djibouti; and 
Bryan Boyd, Force Protection Officer, American Embassy 
Djibouti. 
 
3. (C) Following the conference, the Djiboutian delegates 
met with Embassy officers to provide their reaction to the 
conference.  The delegates stated that the conference was 
a good initiative and very productive in bringing 
the East African countries together to discuss 
counter-terrorist issues with representatives from the U.S. 
government, particularly those from the U.S. State 
Department who are responsible for EACTI funding. They 
said they sincerely want the U.S. government to recognize 
that Djibouti is committed to fighting the Global War on 
Terrorism.  They also commented that their involvement 
in the conference, including participation in the 
discussions and presentations in two of the four 
breakout groups' final reports to the plenary, are good 
examples of Djibouti's level of dedication. Abdillahi 
represented the group on "Law and Law Enforcement" 
while Hassan represented the group on "Integration 
and Regional Cooperation." 
 
4. (C) The delegates shared with FPO officer their belief 
in the need to accelerate the initiative in Djibouti. 
They cited lack of delivery to date of engineering 
construction equipment and five patrol boats that are 
part of EACTI funding and requested an update on delivery 
status. The delegates however, were very pleased with 
progress of the TIP/PISCES program in Djibouti.  They said 
the Global War on Terrorism is unlike any other war in 
history and the need to move swiftly to fortify Djibouti 
is critical to its success.  They also stated that there 
is a need for the U.S. government to institute new 
procedures to combat terrorism more swiftly and that many 
of the procedures used by the U.S. government today 
were originally initiated during the cold war. 
 
5. (C) The delegates also admitted shortcomings in 
their own government, particularly in providing clear 
guidance and a timely response to requests by U.S. 
representatives on ways EACTI funding should be 
utilized in Djibouti.  The delegates stated that it is 
their goal to ensure that a list of well-conceived 
requests is prepared and an open dialogue is maintained 
to assist the U.S. government on properly allocating 
EACTI funding. 
 
6. (C) One delegate commented that he appreciated the 
frankness of American participants at the conference and 
believed that many of the comments made were crucial and 
important to the conference, particularly to his 
understanding of foreign policy issues and how EACTI 
works in other countries.  This delegate was particularly 
impressed by comments made from the U.S. representatives 
from Ethiopia and Eritrea. 
7. (C) The delegates concluded their overall summary of 
the conference by commenting on Somalia.  They said there 
is a great need for all participants, and especially the 
U.S., to devise a strategy to stabilize Somalia. They went 
on to say that it was extremely important that the U.S. 
spearhead peace efforts in Somalia, and that the U.S. 
should not run from the issue.  The delegates said 
Somalia is the largest safe haven for terrorists in 
East Africa and failure to deal with Somalia ultimately 
weakens the long-term anti-terrorist efforts of the 
U.S. and East African countries. 
 
8. (C) One delegate also commented that Somalia's seacoast 
covers over 3,000 km and reaches from Djibouti all the way 
to Kenya providing the greatest external border threat 
to other countries. Something needs to be done, they said, 
to address this vulnerability. They also wanted to 
emphasize that the issues of controlling the internal 
borders in various East African countries are more 
political than security-oriented. Greater efforts should 
be placed on controlling the airport, seaport, 
and seacoast. (Note: Comments about internal border 
security stemmed from a series of discussions at the 
conference that stressed the need for a national I.D. 
card to track movement of people. End Note.) He continued 
that borders between countries are not the overlying 
problem and many of the people in East Africa routinely 
cross from one country to the next daily. The 
delegates indicated that proper control of the movement 
of people between internal borders can be achieved by 
building structures such as wells and schools that will 
attract migrant and nomadic people to settle in a 
particular area. 
 
RAGSDALE