ECOWAS: KOUYATE'S OAU CANDIDACY (ROUND TWO)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001439

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2011
TAGS: PREL NI ECOWAS OAU
SUBJECT: ECOWAS: KOUYATE'S OAU CANDIDACY (ROUND TWO)


REF: ABUJA 579


Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter, reason 1.5 (B/D).



1. (C) Ambassador Jeter met with ECOWAS Executive Secretary
Lansana Kouyate on June 18. Regional issues, particularly
Liberia, were the focus of their exchange (septel).
Kouyate, in a private sidebar, also asked once again for USG
support for his candidacy for Secretary General of the OAU,
as he orginally did at the end of March (reftel). Kouyate
suggested that the dynamics of the contest had changed with
the exit of one main candidate for the position: Ibrahima
Fall (Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs at
the UN) had withdrawn from the race. Furthermore, President
Konare of Mali, rumored to be strongly supported by Nigeria
and South Africa, was also not interested.



2. (C) Kouyate said that of his two main rivals for the
position, the Namibian Foreign Minister, Theo-ben Gurirab,
and former Ivoirian Foreign Minister, Amara Essy, the former
was not an enthusiastic candidate. Thus, only Essy remained
as a serious challenger. Essy, who initially lacked the
support of the new government of Cote d'Ivoire, gained it
only after the financial intervention of the Libyans, Kouyate
said. Kouyate further asserted that some opposition among
Francophone nations in the region, particularly Senegal,
stemmed from Kouyate's unwillingness to "act with expediency"
on the issue of Morrocco's return to the OAU, including major
concessions to Morocco on Western Sahara, and from a general
and unfair perception that he and Guinea were too close to
Anglophone nations (read: Nigeria) in West Africa. Kouyate
indicated that he now has strong support from regional
heavyweights, including Nigeria, Kenya and others.



3. (C) Ambassador Jeter explained, as he had previously,
that the USG policy on the OAU SYG race, as for other
regional bodies of which it was not a member, was not to
endorse any candidate. From a practical perspective, added
the Ambassador, any public support from the USG could likely
backfire. Kouyate said he appreciated this, but asked that
the USG quietly make appeals on his behalf to African
governments with which the U.S. enjoyed especially good
relations. Ambassador Jeter promised that he would forward
this request to Washington. The OAU, said Kouyate, will vote
in a new Secretary General on or about July 9.



4. (C) Comment. As we noted in March, Kouyate's departure
from ECOWAS will be a loss for the U.S. and for the region.
He is open and helpful with us, commands considerable respect
in West Africa, and has been an able and effective manager of
ECOWAS business in very trying times. From where we sit,
there is no doubt that, from the field real and imagined
contenders, Kouyate would be a very strong and able leader of
the OAU. End Comment.


Jeter