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