US embassy cable - 05CAIRO3752

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 003752 
 
SIPDIS 
 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KPAL, EG, IS, ICRC, Magen David Adom, MDA 
SUBJECT: MDA:  EGYPT AND ARAB LEAGUE LOOKING FOR 
"CONCILIATORY GESTURES" FROM ISRAEL 
 
REF: A. STATE 89991 (NOTAL) 
     B. CAIRO 2515 (NOTAL) 
     C. CAIRO 2481 
     D. CAIRO 2058 (NOTAL) 
     E. CAIRO 1798 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified by Charge Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C) In the absence of the Foreign Minister, who has been 
in Brazil and is now in Libya, the Acting DCM delivered ref A 
demarche on May 16 to MFA Assistant Minister for Arab Affairs 
Hani Khallaf, stressing that senior U.S. officials may raise 
the Third Protocol/Magen David Adom (MDA) issue this week 
during the visit to Washington of Prime Minister Nazif. 
Khallaf said that Egypt was willing to be constructive but 
wanted evidence that Israel was prepared to make conciliatory 
gestures to improve the current atmosphere in the regional 
peace process.  Khallaf further requested to know which Arab 
governments were ready to move forward on the conference 
issue, as he understood Egypt's position to be entirely in 
keeping with all other Arab and Muslim states.  Responding to 
concerns that Egypt was leading efforts to block progress on 
the issue, Khallaf directed blame toward Turkey and other 
states for their hard-line positions on convening a 
diplomatic conference. 
 
2.  (C) Post has also engaged senior Arab League staff, who 
shared USG concerns directly with Secretary General Amre 
Moussa.  The League position on the topic, as embodied in a 
March 2001 Council of Ministers Resolution rejecting Israeli 
inclusion in the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, remains 
fixed, and it would take considerable effort by the League 
and members to amend the League's position ahead of its next 
Council meeting in September.  League Spokesman Zaki shared 
with us that Moussa was not opposed to resolution of the 
issue but believed it encumbent upon Israel to create a 
"conducive atmosphere" through conciliatory gestures to the 
Palestinians and the Arabs on the peace process.  Post 
understands Swiss envoy Didier Pfirter will return to Cairo 
in late May for meetings with senior Egyptian officials, 
including the Foreign Minister.  Likewise, the Charge intends 
to raise our concerns with the Egyptian Foreign Minister as 
soon as he returns to Egypt and we can arrange an 
appointment.  End summary. 
 
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Egyptians Insist "Time Not Right" 
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3.  (C) With the Charge awaiting a meeting with Foreign 
Minister Aboul Gheit upon the latter's return from Libya, and 
with MFA Assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs Fathalla 
on extended travel in New York for the NPT Revcon, the Acting 
DCM delivered ref A demarche to MFA Assistant Minister for 
Arab Affairs Hani Khalaf on May 16.  The Acting DCM described 
our interest in resolving the Third Protocol/MDA issue and 
requested Egypt's assistance within the Organization of 
Islamic Conferences (OIC), in Geneva, and with the Arab 
League.  We advised Khallaf that Washington had taken on 
board Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit's comment to the Charge 
during their March 30 meeting (ref B) that Egypt would "try 
to be helpful" on this topic.  The Acting DCM called for the 
GOE to support the convening of a diplomatic conference later 
this year aimed at bringing the Magen David Adom (MDA) into 
the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement. 
 
4.  (C) Khallaf, who mentioned that earlier in his career he 
was responsible for multilateral humanitarian issues, said 
that Egypt had for some time been interested in resolving the 
Third Protocol/MDA issue but was now particulary concerned 
with the question of timing being discussed by the Swiss and 
the USG.  The international situation with respect to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said, was currently not 
conducive to changing what he described as unanimous Arab and 
Muslim opposition to MDA membership.  Listing general Arab 
concerns over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, 
Khalaf questioned assertions that other Arab states were 
willing to move forward on the Swiss and U.S. proposals. 
Asking for specific names, Khalaf said that Egypt believed 
that opposition among Arab states to the Swiss efforts was 
unanimous.  Egypt did not specifically oppose eventual 
resolution of the issue, but did share the general Arab 
position that the timing was not right.  Second, Khalaf 
questioned what "positive steps" had been taken by Israel to 
signal that the atmosphere for resolving this issue was 
right.  Evidence that other Arab states were more 
forward-leaning on the subject, he continued, would help to 
change Egypt's current stance.  In light of the lack of 
progress on consideration by the Swiss of holding a separate 
conference dealing with Israeli behavior vis-a-vis the Fourth 
Geneva Convention, the Arab position will likely remain 
consistent, he argued.  Still, other countries within the OIC 
such as Turkey have been more hard-line on the MDA issue, 
Khalaf stated, sourcing MFA reports from his diplomat son 
based in Geneva.  The most effective information that the 
U.S. could provide, he concluded, was evidence that the 
Israelis were taking steps to resolve outstanding issues 
related to the peace process. 
 
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Swiss Envoy Expects to Return to Cairo in May 
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5.  (C) Speaking to Swiss Embassy officer Peter Nelson May 
12, poloff learned that the Swiss envoy handling the MDA 
issue, Didier Pfirter, is expected in Cairo for his second 
official visit toward the "end of May" for consultations with 
the GOE.  (Note:  Assistant Minister Khalaf confirmed to the 
Acting DCM during their meeting that Pfirter would be in 
Egypt possibly May 27 or 28.  End note.)  The Swiss envoy 
hopes to meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit, who 
was out of town during Pfirter's last Cairo visit.  Nelson 
welcomed poloff's readout on recent talks in Washington 
between Pfirter and Department officials, as well as readouts 
of post's ongoing dialogue with GOE and Arab League contacts 
on this topic.  While tracking the issue closely, Nelson 
admitted that Pfirter was controlling exclusively the MDA 
portfolio for his government, and that the Swiss Embassy was 
not engaged with GOE or Arab League officials on the topic. 
 
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Arab League Resolution Defines Opposition to MDA Membership 
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6.  (C) Poloff met Arab League Deputy Secretary General for 
Palestinian Affairs Said Kamal May 10, and again on May 11 in 
the company of League official Soheil Bseiso, to explore 
League thinking on the MDA/Third Protocol issue.  Kamal, 
generally reasonable and cooperative toward the U.S., was 
categoric in his rejection of Arab League flexibility on the 
subject, arguing that the Israeli side "deserved no 
concessions" while it pursued expansion of West Bank 
settlements, construction of its security wall, and targeted 
violence toward the Palestinians.  Bseiso, like Kamal a 
Palestinian, had attended Pfirter's April meeting with Amre 
Moussa and described the latter's position as adhering to 
League policy.  Generally inflexible and doctrinaire on the 
issue, Bseiso sought to link resolution of the MDA issue to 
Swiss efforts to address discussions on the 4th Geneva 
Convention.  Bseiso asserted that Moussa was bound by a 
resolution adopted by the Arab League Council of (foreign) 
Ministers in March, 2001, and that he was merely implementing 
Arab League policy.  Bseiso shared a copy of that resolution 
and asserted that only a new resolution could amend the 
League's position. 
 
7.  (C) In a separate meeting May 15 with League Spokesman 
Hossam Zaki, poloff raised USG concerns over reports that 
Secretary General Amre Moussa was spearheading opposition to 
 
SIPDIS 
the Swiss effort to convene a diplomatic conference to 
address the Third Protocol/MDA issue.  Stressing that the 
Swiss intended to move forward with the diplomatic 
conference, and that Moussa himself was being increasingly 
identified as an impediment, poloff stressed that the issue 
was important to the USG and an issue we were committed to 
resolving.  Zaki responded defensively, arguing that the 
League was only reflecting member views, but committed to 
sharing our concerns with Moussa.  The same afternoon, Zaki 
called poloff back twice after discussing with Moussa to say 
that the Secretary General believed the issue should and will 
be resolved.  Moussa felt that the Arabs would respond in 
kind to "positive gestures" from Israel, that is, if Israel 
created a "conducive atmosphere" of respect and cooperation 
on the peace process, Zaki relayed.  Such respect and 
cooperation are so far absent from the Israeli side, he 
asserted. 
 
8.  (C) During a May 16 meeting with Arab League Secretariat 
Chief of Staff Hesham Youssef on other topics, Youssef raised 
the Third Protocol issue with poloff, noting that the USG 
position on the subject had been conveyed to his office by 
Said Kamal.  Youssef largely repeated what other senior 
League officials had said, requesting the USG to show as much 
interest in the issue of the Fourth Geneva Convention as it 
was showing in the MDA issue.  To poloff's assertion that 
regional Red Crescent Societies had indicated willingness to 
be constructive on this issue, Youssef asserted that the 
Federation of Red Crescent Societies sent the Arab League a 
letter "very recently" in which it argued that the time was 
not right to address MDA membership in the Red Cross/Red 
Crescent movement. 
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Suggestions on Next Steps With GOE and Arab League 
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9.  (C) We recommend that the Department consider approaching 
Egyptian Assistant Minister Fathallah in New York to press 
our concerns and relay USG positions, as he is responsible 
for the multilateral portfolio within the MFA.  Secondly, for 
the Charge's next meeting with the Foreign Minister, post 
would welcome cleared talking points that address GOE 
concerns expressed above and specific steps we recommend the 
GOE take.  Lastly, we will seek a readout from the Swiss 
Embassy of the expected Pfirter visit to Cairo later this 
month. 
 
 
Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. 
 
GRAY