OBASANJO ON NIGERIA'S ROLE IN AFRICA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001011

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2011
TAGS: PHUM PREL OVIP NI XA
SUBJECT: OBASANJO ON NIGERIA'S ROLE IN AFRICA


REF: ABUJA


Classified by CDA Andrews. Reasons: 1.5(B) and (D).



1. (C) Nigeria's President Obasanjo will visit Washington
May 10-12, 2001. Over breakfast on May 5, Obasanjo told
Ambassador Jeter that he knew he was in many respects
representing Africa on the visit. This was a heavy
responsibility that he took seriously. Obasanjo commented
that he planned to mention Sudan, Libya and the DROC, in
addition to events in West Africa, during his meeting with
President Bush.



2. (C) Sudan: Nigeria was prepared to play a leading role in
reconciling Sudanese parties and bringing peace to that
country, President Obasanjo told the Ambassador. Nigeria
wanted U.S. engagement on Sudan, involvement along the lines
of a special envoy, Obasanjo added. Nigeria was not asking
the U.S. to take the lead, but Nigeria needed clear U.S.
support for Nigeria's role as mediator. It was necessary to
develop a process that went beyond IGAD (Inter-Governmental
Authority of Development),Obasanjo said.



3. (C) Libya: Obasanjo was less specific about what he would
say concerning Libya. The GON remains concerned about Libyan
machinations in the region and considers neighboring Niger
particularly vulnerable.



4. (C) DROC: Obasanjo said he planned to visit DROC
immediately before going to the U.S. in order to have a
first-hand sense of events on the ground before meeting with
USG officials. Note: Media sources reported over the weekend
that Obasanjo would visit the DROC and probably Rwanda
Tuesday and Wednesday, enroute to the U.S. End Note.



5. (C) Zimbabwe: President Obasanjo said British Foresign
Secretary Cook had telephoned him recently, asking Nigeria

SIPDIS
"not to give up" on Zimbabwe. Obasanjo told the Ambassador
that he would dispatch Foreign Minister Sule Lamido to Harare
to look into developments and report back to him.



6. (SBU) Media: Post understands that Obasanjo gave an
interview on the U.S. visit to AP recently and that a number
of Nigerian journalists were also present. There were
several questions about why Nigeria's President should visit
the U.S. after a campaign in which, according to the Nigerian
journalists, Africa's importance to the U.S. was downplayed.
Obasanjo responded that campaigns had their own dynamic and
that the U.S. Administration knew one could not simply ignore
Africa. The GON was taking the bilateral relationship with
the U.S. very seriously, he added.
Andrews