NIGERIA: CANADIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER ON ZIMBABWE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001861 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2011 TAGS: PREL AS ZI CA UK SF NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: CANADIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER ON ZIMBABWE AND THE COMMONWEALTH AND POST-G-8 SUMMIT PLANS BY NIGERIA (U) Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter; Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Canadian High Commissioner Ian Ferguson called the Ambassador on July 26 to fill him in on information he had picked up during the High Commissioner's farewell calls, including on President Obasanjo. Ferguson said he thought the U.S. would be particularly interested in what he had learned regarding Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth and on Nigeria's post-G-8 Summit intentions. ¶2. (C) Ferguson said that Nigeria was trying to revive the idea of establishing a small group meeting of Commonwealth countries to try to find a solution to the problems in Zimbabwe. Nigeria's hope was that the group could meet in August. The meeting would be ad hoc, and would include the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria as the Chair. According to Ferguson, the UK has not yet agreed to the meeting, and has asked Nigeria for clarification on the terms of reference. The meeting was being planned in preparation for the Commonwealth Summit in Australia October 6-10. ¶3. (C) Ferguson also said that he and Obasanjo had discussed the G-8 Summit in Genoa. Obasanjo gave the impression of being very engaged on post-G-8 Summit planning. To that end, Obasanjo plans to Chair an Africa Group meeting of senior African leaders that will include Millennium Action Plan (MAP) partners South Africa and Algeria, and fifteen other African countries to meet in Dakar to discuss the Genoa Summit and Africa's future engagement with the G-8. Ferguson said that it was his impression that Obasanjo's taking the lead on this initiative had been worked out with Mbeki so as to avoid any competition between Nigeria and South Africa. Jeter