VZCZCXRO5179
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1265 1831447
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 021447Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3124
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 1079
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA PRIORITY 0274
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 0924
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY 0286

S E C R E T CAIRO 001265 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EG SA
SUBJECT: READ-OUT OF MUBARAK-KING ABDULLAH MEETING IN SHARM 
EL-SHEIKH 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Margaret Scobey for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.(S/NF) The Ambassador spoke with Egyptian Presidential spokesman Soliman Awad July 2 to get a read-out of King Abdullah's July 1 meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El-Sheikh. Awad said the meeting focused on reviewing efforts for peace, plus Palestinian and Arab reconciliation, with particular discussion of Qatar and Syria.

2.(S/NF) Awad said King Abdullah's main purpose in coming, just 48 hours after meetings in the Kingdom, was to see Mubarak once more before going to Damascus. Awad said the Saudis did not give a specific date for the visit, but the Egyptians understood the visit to be imminent. He added that Mubarak briefed King Abdullah fully on recent Qatari and Syrian media attacks on Egypt, indicating that Mubarak is not satisfied with either party. Mubarak, according to Awad, is thus unable to proceed to the full reconciliation that Abdullah tried to broker in March when President Bashar al-Assad came to Riyadh at the same time Mubarak was there.

3.(S/NF) Mubarak also briefed Abdullah on the snags in current Palestinian reconciliation initiatives, but Awad said they did not undertake any new initiatives in this regard. Asked if the Egyptian were trying to get the Saudis more engaged, Awad suggested the only area of likely Saudi involvement was to have King Abdullah encourage the Syrians to be supportive of Egyptian reconciliation efforts. -------------------------------- MUBARAK CANCELS AU PARTICIPATION --------------------------------

4.(S/NF) On the subject of Mubarak's sudden cancellation of his attendance at the AU summit, Awad said the decision was due to Ahmedinejad's expected participation. Awad added that even though Ahmedinejad subsequently canceled his own appearance, Mubarak had already taken his decision not to go.

5.(S/NF) Continuing on this subject, Awad said that for some time the Egyptian have insisted that host countries do not have the right to invite outside participants to various summits without advanced consultations or agreement from other member states. Awad asked rhetorically if Mubarak could invite Olmert to an Arab League summit without an agreement. He said the Libyans tried to claim they had not invited the Iranians, but that Madagascar (prior to its coup) had done so. Jean Ping of the African Commission, however, denied this. Awad continued, saying the Iranians had apparently insulted all of Africa when Mottaki recently convoked resident ambassadors in Tehran to criticize the British and the French for their "interference" in the recent elections, noting that "Iran was not some sub-Saharan African country" that could be trifled with. SCOBEY