US embassy cable - 05ROME950

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000950 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2015 
TAGS: PREL, SO, IT 
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - ITALIANS SHARE CONCERNS OVER IGAD TROOP 
DEPLOYMENT. 
 
REF: STATE 47850 
 
Classified By: PolOff James Donegan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C)  On March 18, MFA Somalia Desk Officer Stefano Dejak 
told PolOff that Italy shares U.S. concerns expressed reftel 
over possible IGAD troop deployment in Somalia.  Italy has 
been speaking at length at high levels to the Ethiopian 
government, which is looking to IGAD protection of its own 
borders from fundamentalist incursions. 
 
2.  (C)  Dejak said Ambassador Mario Rafaelli, Italian 
Special Envoy for Somalia and Michael Zorick, PolOff Nairobi 
will continue to consult regularly on this issue in Nairobi, 
and that Italy's Ambassador in Nairobi, Enrico Gerardo De 
Maio, had already expressed, during an IGAD meeting on March 
17, Italian concern over deployment of troops from frontline 
states.  Dejak's personal view was that measured informal 
communications would be more effective at this point than 
public statements, but he promised to discuss our points with 
his superiors at the MFA. 
 
SEMBLER 
 
 
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 2005ROME00950 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL