US embassy cable - 05ADDISABABA3864

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 003864 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF DAS YAMAMOTO, EREDDICK 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/11/2015 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, KPKO, PGOV, ET, ER, UNSC, EE BORDER 
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: STATE MINISTER VOICES CONCERN ON UNSC 
RESOLUTION ON BORDER 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Vicki Huddleston for reasons 1.4(b) an 
d (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tekeda 
Alemu summoned the Charge Nov. 15 to pass a copy of a letter 
from Minister of Foreign Affairs Seyoum Mesfin to UN Security 
Council President Denisov on the Council's pending resolution 
regarding the Ethio-Eritrean border.  Tekeda argued that the 
pending resolution does not further a solution to the border 
crisis.  He reiterated fears that Ethiopia would once again 
be taken for granted as the Security Council moves to 
"reward" Eritrea's bad behavior.  The Charge said the U.S. 
was working for a resolution that would not complicate the 
efforts of an eventual envoy to find a solution and that 
would allow UNMEE to work effectively; the U.S. was working 
for balance.  The Charge's discussion with Tekeda on internal 
political issues is reported septel.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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GOE: SQUEAKY WHEEL (ERITREA) GETTING THE GREASE 
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2.  (C) On November 15, the Charge (accompanied by the A/PAO) 
responded to a call from State Minister of Foreign Affairs 
Tekeda Alemu.  The State Minister provided the Charge with a 
copy of a November 14 letter from Minister of Foreign Affairs 
Seyoum Mesfin to Security Council President Denisov (text 
emailed to DAS Yamamoto and USUN.)  The letter, a follow-on 
to an October 31 letter from the FM, decries the Security 
Council's pending resolution on the border as a reward to 
Eritrea for its violation of the Agreement on Cessation of 
Hostilities.  The letter argues that "Eritrea's move (to 
restrict UNMEE's operations) was calculated to get the 
Council to change the balanced approach it has been 
following," and that "the draft resolution...leads to no 
other conclusion."  The letter reminds the UNSC that "the TSZ 
is an area handed over to UNMEE by Ethiopian forces in the 
interest of peace, and with the confidence that the 
provisions of the cease-fire agreement would be respected 
because it would be protected by the Security Council." 
 
3.  (C) The State Minister reviewed the contents of the 
letter, saying that "all indications are that the Security 
council is gravitating towards rewarding Isaias for his 
sabre-rattling," thus "raising the ante."  Tekeda called this 
tendency "a source of great concern" for the GOE.  He said 
that the GOE feels it risks "being taken for granted, because 
we are not hollering," and that it sees the repetition of a 
cycle that took place in advance of and during the border 
war, in which Ethiopian concerns were downplayed in favor of 
Eritrea.  He called for U.S. support, saying the resolution 
would not advance the cause of peace.  "Please help us avoid 
another conflagration," Tekeda asked. 
 
4.  (C) The Charge responded that to her knowledge, the most 
recent version of the draft resolution used language that had 
been in play since September, and that it had been shown to 
the Ethiopian embassy in Washington and had passed muster 
there.  She volunteered to provide the State Minister with 
her most recent working draft, to ensure that the GOE was 
responding to current language.  The State Minister said that 
if the wording as it now stands had not been problematic, the 
FM would not have written, but accepted her offer regarding 
the draft.  "We are worried," he added. 
 
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Once Burned, Twice Shy 
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5.  (C) Turning to the larger border issue, the Charge said 
that factors such as troop movements on both sides and 
Eritrea's refusal of a UN envoy are indeed worrying.  She 
wondered whether, despite the GOE's well known stance on the 
need for dialogue prior to demarcation, it was not time for a 
new approach, one that more clearly and unreservedly 
enunciates Ethiopia's acceptance of the findings of the 
Border Commission.  If Eritrea knew that Ethiopia was 
prepared to start demarcation along EEBC lines, it might 
facilitate the opening of the dialogue that PM Meles wanted. 
 
6.  (C)  The State Minister responded that the Five-Point 
Plan Ethiopia put forward in late 2004 was "not an Ethiopian 
creation." He attributed its contents, and especially the 
caveat that Ethiopia accepted EEBC findings "in principle," 
to "mutual friends."  When pressed, he mentioned the British 
and unnamed "American Congressmen."  He said that Ethiopia 
was told then that the Five-Point Plan would ease tensions 
and improve Ethiopia's image, but it did not; instead, it 
gave the impression that Ethiopia was "hedging" on its 
acceptance of the Commission's findings.  He said that in 
1999, the U.S. and the international community did not act 
decisively enough to hold Eritrea to statements that it would 
pull out of Badme.  He reiterated fears that Ethiopia would 
once again be taken for granted as the Security Council moves 
to "reward" Eritrea's bad behavior. 
 
7.  (C)  The Charge said the U.S. was working for a 
resolution that would not complicate the efforts of an 
eventual envoy to find a solution and that would allow UNMEE 
to work effectively; she added that the language she 
understood to be under consideration was not intended to 
favor Eritrea, and that the U.S. was working for balance. 
The State Minister's response:  "But are you sure about your 
New York mission?"  She answered that, while the current 
language might not be wholly to Ethiopia's liking, it was far 
better than drafts seen since September. 
HUDDLESTON