Cablegate: Spain On Sahrawi Refugee Census; Algeria Summit

VZCZCXRO4737
PP RUEHLA RUEHRN
DE RUEHMD #3096 3611559
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271559Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1513
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 3909
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0798
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1222
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 5985
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 2310
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME PRIORITY 0001
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0834
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0278

UNCLAS MADRID 003096

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PRM/AFR FOR MARY LANGE
NEA/MAG FOR JIM FLOWERS
ROME FOR FODAG
GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM AG SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN ON SAHRAWI REFUGEE CENSUS; ALGERIA SUMMIT

REF: STATE 201212

1.(SBU) Poloff met with Spanish MFA Subdirector General for
North African Affairs Manuel Gomez-Acebo and Deputy
Subdirector General Javier Garcia-Larrache on December 22 to
discuss pressing Algeria and the Polisario Front (PF) on
allowing the UNHCR to conduct a refugee registration in the
Tindouf camps (reftel). Gomez-Acebo said that any decision
on whether to press Algeria on a refugee count would require
additional discussions within the MFA, as it would constitute
a delicate political decision. He asked Poloff whether there
was a particular framework or time-frame in which the U.S. is
seeking Spanish support, noting that the UNHCR Executive
Committee meeting had just recently taken place. He said
that the GOS would always support the consensus of the UNHCR,
but Spain views it as extremely important that this
assistance continue to flow. Poloff told Gomez-Acebo that he
would seek further information from Washington.

2. (SBU) Garcia-Larrache added his opinion that there is
certainly reason for concern over the management of the
Sahrawi food assistance program, and he noted that Spain is
in favor of verifying that the food assistance is both
getting to the right people and not being provided in excess
of actual need. Emboff also suggested that perhaps
reluctance from Algeria and the PF is based in the knowledge
that the refugee numbers could be significantly lower than
currently claimed, and Garcia-Larrache agreed. He said that
the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation has accepted
the UNHCR number (first 90,000 and now 125,000) as the number
of persons requiring food assistance without making any
comment or affirmation as to whether that number is
reflective of the actual number of Sahrawi refugees.

3. (SBU) Turning to the recent Spain-Algeria High Level
Meeting, Gomez-Acebo said that the media were upset by the
lack of a press conference during the summit and that this
colored their reporting. Notwithstanding, the MFA considers
the trip to have been a success, and Gomez-Acebo noted that
the one-on-one meeting between Zapatero and Bouteflika lasted
almost three hours, or two hours longer than planned. While
no date has been finalized for the visit of King Juan Carlos,
the two countries agreed that this would probably take place
in the first quarter of 2007.

//COMMENT//

4. (SBU) On the heels of President Zapatero's visit to
Algeria, which was roundly dismissed as a failure in Spanish
media, the GOS may be wary of appearing in any way hostile
toward Algeria or the Polisario Front, either in terms of
reducing food aid to Sahrawi refugees or diminishing the
numerical significance of Sahrawi refugees in the Western
Sahara debate. Spain's dependence on Algerian hydrocarbons
is also likely to color any bilateral criticisms. A visit by
King Juan Carlos to Algeria has not taken place since the
1980's; it would be a significant step in improving bilateral
relations.

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Visit Embassy Madrid's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/madrid/
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AGUIRRE

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