Cablegate: Libyan, Algerian Ministers of Interior Discuss

VZCZCXRO8479
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #1364 2031638
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221638Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1653
INFO RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1344
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1898
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 1393
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 6241
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 5808
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 1159
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0099
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 2722

UNCLAS ALGIERS 001364

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PBTS AG LY
SUBJECT: LIBYAN, ALGERIAN MINISTERS OF INTERIOR DISCUSS
BORDER AND SECURITY ISSUES IN ALGIERS

1. (SBU) General Salah Rajab El-Mismari, Libyan Secretary
General of the Popular Committee and de facto Libyan Minister
of the Interior, visited Algiers July 17-19, holding talks on
border and security issues with Algerian Minister of the
Interior Nouredine Yazid Zerhouni. The official visit,
according to the press and Embassy contacts, signaled that
Libya -- and its leader Muamar El-Qaddafi in particular --
had pulled back from Qaddafi's initiative for a "Greater
Sahara" tribal alliance and was looking to patch up relations
with the GOA. Terrorists and smugglers operating in the
buffer zones between the undelineated borders of Algeria and
Libya have been a rising cause of concern not just for
Algeria but for all the greater Sahel countries. Delineating
the border, thought to be long overdue on the Algerian side,
was the primary focal point of the discussions, according to
press reporting and MFA sources.

2. (U) General El-Mismari, acknowledging Algerian security
concerns about the lack of controls along the Libyan border,
told journalists that planned "collaboration" in delineating
the border -- the biggest breakthrough achieved during the
visit -- would be "extremely beneficial" for citizens of both
countries, especially those living near the border. The
Libyan official considered this joint decision, which he
described as a partial settlement of the issue, as a sign of
"real improvement" in bilateral relations. The meetings in
Algiers also led to the signing of an agreement on
across-the-board security cooperation; cleared the way for
the reactivation of the bilateral Joint Commission on
Security; and set the stage for better Libyan-Algerian
cooperation on "organized crime, terrorism, illegal
immigration, drug trafficking, and migration flows."
Algerian officials privately welcomed El-Mismari's visit as
an indication that Qaddafi was becoming a "more pragmatic"
leader, according to one MFA source. Zerhouni, for his part,
was quoted by one reporter in an off-the-record session as
welcoming his Libyan counterpart's visit as "an important and
positive step" in improving bilateral relations.

3. (SBU) Comment: MFA sources quietly credit the United
States for making El-Mismari's visit, and the progress
associated with it, possible. Without going into detail, one
MFA official commented that U.S. engagement of Libya on the
Algerian border issues was key to scheduling the visit and
making it successful. Post, for its part, is unaware of what
role the U.S. may have played with the Libyans on this issue.

SIEVERS

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