US embassy cable - 05CAIRO6494

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 006494 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MOPS, KDEM, EG, MR 
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA:  EGYPT MAINTAINING A LOW PROFILE ON 
COUP 
 
REF: STATE 153870 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified by ECPO Counselor John Desrocher for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) During an August 22 meeting on other topics with MFA 
Cabinet staff member responsible for Arab affairs, Alaa 
Hadidi, poloff inquired into GOE policy toward the recent 
coup d'etat in Mauritania.  Hadidi acknowledged Egypt's 
relatively quiet public posture on the coup and stated that 
Egypt was taking a "wait and see" approach.  Egypt, he added, 
had neither sent envoys to Nouakchott nor received 
representatives of the military regime ("as some states 
recently have" - i.e., Algeria and Morocco).  The Egyptian 
ambassador to Mauritania, he said, continued to report on 
events from the capital but was not meeting with coup 
leaders.  Hadidi suggested that the U.S. had offered coup 
leaders "de facto recognition" by meeting with them.  Poloff 
responded by stating USG policy on the coup (reftel), 
stressing condemnation of the take-over and support for 
African Union leadership on the issue. 
 
2.  (C) Poloff inquired whether the coup leaders intended to 
send a representative to attend the Arab League's annual 
meeting of foreign ministers scheduled for September 6 in 
Cairo.  Hadidi was uncertain but responded to poloff's 
question on GOE visa policy by noting that Egypt "would not 
deny visas" to government representatives to attend Arab 
League events in Cairo.  He added that it would be "logical 
to assume" that the new military regime would want to send a 
senior representative to the meeting in order to seek 
diplomatic support and recognition from the other 21 Arab 
League member states. 
 
 
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. 
 
JONES