US embassy cable - 05DJIBOUTI668

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000668 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/EX STEVE NOLAN, AF/EX GINNY MILHOUS, OBO 
DIRECTOR/CEO GENERAL CHARLES WILLIAMS AND OBO/REPM/AQD 
VICKI HARTUNG 
STATE ALSO FOR AF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2015 
TAGS: PREL, ABLD, AMGT, ASEC, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI'S FOREIGN MINISTER RAISES NEC WITH 
AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: A. STATE 119772 
     B. DJIBOUTI 608 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marguerita D. Ragsdale. 
Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (U) Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf 
contacted Ambassador on July 10 to request an urgent meeting 
on the New Embassy Compound (NEC) Project.  The meeting took 
place at the Foreign Ministry on July 11. 
 
2. (C) The Minister, joined by Director of Bilateral 
Relations Mohamed Ali Hassan,  raised with the Ambassador 
Embassy's June 29, 2005 dipnote, which conveyed text of OBO 
requirements listed in Ref (A).  He indicated he had just 
come from President Guelleh's office where he had reviewed 
the note with the President.  Youssouf went through the list, 
and stated that there were no difficulties with the majority 
of the items requested.  However, with respect to Vehicular 
Access, President Guelleh is concerned that the necessary 
security zone set up to protect his nearby residence might 
create the opportunity for an unfortunate incident at 
checkpoints where Djiboutian guards are armed.  As such, a 
more northerly route for access to the NEC site was not 
feasible. Youssouf continued that if this denial of access is 
problematic for the U.S. in terms of its purchase of the 
particular piece of land it has chosen, the Government of 
Djibouti would be pleased to offer an alternative parcel in 
Haramous abutting the French cemetery and a few meters away 
from CERD Headquarters, or another site in Haramous.  With 
respect to the U.S. requirement of a Water Well, the Minister 
said the MFA would have to attain Ministry of Agriculture 
concurrence.  The Water Well is a new request of the U.S., 
the Minister said, and he indicated his fear that there will 
be no end to such requests regarding this piece of property. 
 
3. (C) Ambassador reassured the Minister that the June 29 
dipnote contained the definitive list of requirements needed 
before payment could be made to the Government of Djibouti 
for the existing Haramous parcel. The Minister replied that 
he would get an answer on the matter of the well and put 
together a response that he would then send to the Embassy. 
Ambassador suggested that the Minister take the June 29 
dipnote and address each issue in turn, using the exact 
language of our note in his reply.  For example, she said, on 
the first item "Zoning", since the Government of Djibouti has 
no problem with this request, it should respond that the 
"Government of Djibouti approves and confirms that the United 
States of America is legally and lawfully entitled to 
construct its new embassy compound, including a warehouse and 
utility building, on the site located in Haramous, currently 
zoned residential."  In this way, the Ambassador stated, the 
language would be certain to address specific needs of 
Washington that Djibouti's prior communication had not. For 
"Vehicular Access," the Government of Djibouti should state 
its position, but also state the alternative it is proposing. 
Again, the Ambassador urged that the language of Embassy's 
diplomatic note be incorporated into the Djiboutian response. 
The Foreign Minister agreed and promised to forward a 
diplomatic note the following day to the Embassy. 
 
4. (U) On July 12, Embassy received the following diplomatic 
note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Embassy 
translation), also reported septel: 
 
Begin Text: 
 
Republic of Djibouti 
Unity-Equality-Peace 
 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation 
 
No. 584/04/FAX/MAECI 
Djibouti 12 July 2005 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation 
presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States 
of America in Djibouti and, referring to its diplomatic note 
No. 74 dated 29 June 2005, has the honor to inform the 
following: 
 
Zoning: 
 
The Government of the Republic of Djibouti approves and 
confirms that the Government of the United States of America 
possesses a legal authorization to construct a new Embassy, a 
warehouse and utility building on the site in Haramous, 
currently zoned residential. 
 
Haramous Development Plan: 
 
The Government of the Republic of Djibouti assures that the 
final development plan for the Haramous area will not 
substantially differ from the plan presented to the 
Government of the United States when the Conditional Purchase 
Agreement was signed. 
 
Maximum Building Areas Under Roof: 
 
The Government of the Republic of Djibouti approves the 
request of 10,000 square meters of surface to be constructed, 
which the Embassy of the United States needs. (Embassy 
comment: This should be 12,000 square feet and may be a typo 
by Djibouti. We will confirm and clarify.  End comment.) 
 
Maximum Height of Perimeter Wall: 
 
The Government of the Republic of Djibouti authorizes the 
construction of a solid wall and of a steel fence and raising 
the wall of the building situated along the perimeter at 6.5 
meters above finished grade. 
 
Vehicular Access: 
 
The Government of the Republic of Djibouti renews its 
proposal of the access route that was submitted in the plan 
transmitted 13 June 2005 by letter from the Ministry of 
Economy and Finance number 490/MEFPP.  The Government of the 
Republic of Djibouti informs the Embassy that the said 
proposal constitutes the sole and last alternative.  If this 
proposal is not convenient to the Embassy, the Government of 
the Republic of Djibouti is disposed to grant to the Embassy 
a new parcel of land on the same site at Haramous. 
 
Water Well: 
 
The Government of the Republic of Djibouti informs the 
Embassy that supplying water for the new Embassy will be 
assured by ONED and regrets not authorizing the Embassy 
access to the acquifer situated approximately 200 feet below 
grade. 
 
Cultural: 
 
The Government of the Republic of Djibouti confirms that the 
site does not have cultural importance. 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation 
seizes this occasion to renew to the Embassy of the United 
States in Djibouti the assurance of its highest consideration. 
 
End text. 
RAGSDALE