US embassy cable - 05ROME702

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000702 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SO, IT 
SUBJECT: ITALY AGREES WITH PUBLIC STATEMENT; BELIEVES 
ETHIOPIA WILL KEEP OUT OF SOMALIA IF SECURITY CONCERNS ARE 
ADDRESSED. 
 
REF: SECSTATE 34956 
 
Classified By: Pol M/C Thomas Countryman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
(C)  PolOff delivered public statement on Somalia to Stefano 
Dejak, MFA Somalia Desk.  Dejak said he "appreciated 
enormously" receiving an advance copy of the statement and 
added that the Italian Government is pleased by the decision 
to make public our views on Somalia and agrees "150%" with 
the statement. 
 
(C)  Dejak informed PolOff that Mario Raffaeli, Italy's 
Special Envoy for Somalia, met with Ethiopian Foreign 
Minister Seyoum Mesfin on February 28 and stressed to him 
that Ethiopian and neighboring state troops must not become 
involved in Somalia.  Dejak stated that the Ethiopians are 
aware of this concern and could be convinced to keep out of 
Somalia, but only if their security concerns are addressed. 
According to Dejak the Ethiopians believe that their concerns 
may be overlooked if fundamentalist and/or anti-Ethiopian 
factions in Somalia feel confident that Ethiopia will be kept 
at bay by the international community.  Therefore, he 
believes the Ethiopians will insist on a guarantee that their 
security interests will be respected in exchange for keeping 
out of the process. 
 
(U) Khartoum and Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
SEMBLER 
 
 
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 2005ROME00702 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL