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