Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02ABUJA252
2002-01-28 13:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:  

ECOWAS: DIARRA ON DAKAR, LIBERIA, NIGER/ACRI, EUCOM

Tags:  PREL MASS NI ECOWAS 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000252 

SIPDIS


BAMAKO FOR WARP
AF/RA FOR BITTRICK
EUCOM FOR CPT EWELL


E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2012
TAGS: PREL MASS NI ECOWAS
SUBJECT: ECOWAS: DIARRA ON DAKAR, LIBERIA, NIGER/ACRI, EUCOM

REF: STATE 2975


Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter; Reasons 1.5 (b) and
(d).


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000252

SIPDIS


BAMAKO FOR WARP
AF/RA FOR BITTRICK
EUCOM FOR CPT EWELL


E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2012
TAGS: PREL MASS NI ECOWAS
SUBJECT: ECOWAS: DIARRA ON DAKAR, LIBERIA, NIGER/ACRI, EUCOM

REF: STATE 2975


Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter; Reasons 1.5 (b) and
(d).



1. (U) This is an action message; see para 12.



2. (C) SUMMARY: During a January 24 call on the Ambassador,
ECOWAS Deputy Executive Secretary Diarra gave a brief
read-out from the ECOWAS Summit in Dakar, positively
describing additional funding and staffing for the Peace and
Security Department. Diarra sought the Ambassador's advice
on the upcoming EUCOM visit dealing with the creation of an
OpsCenter for ECOWAS. Diarra noted the Nigerien Government
had sought ECOWAS assistance to join ACRI. On Liberia,
Diarra agreed the venue of the first meeting on Liberian
reconciliation should be outside the country to ensure wide
attendance and to avoid manipulation by President Taylor. At
the ECOWAS Summit, Liberia extracted a pledge from the other
summiteers to condemn LURD activity in Lofa County as illegal
attacks against a duly constituted government. The ECOWAS
Mediation and Security Council will consider sanctions
against the LURD at its next meeting. END SUMMARY.



3. (C) On January 24, ECOWAS Deputy Executive Secretary
Cheikh Diarra, accompanied by Military Advisor Colonel M.
Dixon Dikio called on Ambassador Jeter. PolCounselor and
PolMilOff also attended.



4. (C) DAKAR OUTCOMES: Surprised that we had not yet received
the Dakar communiqus, Diarra promised to forward them soon
(he did the next day). He described Dakar positively.
Regarding the new ECOWAS Chairman, President Wade, Diarra
quipped, "We are happy and we are concerned." If possessed
of the requisite political will, Wade was uniquely placed to
make a positive difference by bridging the gap between ECOWAS
and UEMOA in the areas of economic integration, Diarra
believed. In a brief aside with PolCouns after the meeting,
Diarra worried that there had been no contact between Wade
and the ECOWAS Secretariat since the Dakar Summit. He hoped
that this did not presage inattention to ECOWAS by Wade.



5. (C) Meanwhile, Diarra noted that the ECOWAS budget had
been approved. He had been instructed to complete

recruitment for his Department, including the OpsCenter, by
June. At Dakar, the Heads-of-State had also committed to
fully implement the community levy. (COMMENT: We assume that
Diarra meant the .5 percent customs levy that ECOWAS
countries are now required to pay to support the Conflict
Resolution Mechanism. END COMMENT.) Since only four or five
countries were current, this commitment, if implemented by
members, would make a big difference in ECOWAS' ability to
fund its projects and plans, he said.



6. (C) MONITORING STABILITY: Diarra described the collection
and analysis process in mind for ECOWAS. The OpsCenter
should be able to collect, analyze and disseminate
information. Additionally, it would contain a military
planning and operations cell for peacekeeping and
humanitarian assistance activities. Thus far, directors of
the four zonal monitoring stations (Banjul, Cotonou,
Monrovia, and Ouagadougou) had been hired, and staff for the
stations had been nominated. However, the staff needed
training in analyzing data and trends, and he expected the
West Africa Regional Program (WARP) agreement signed last
year would provide this assistance, though he was waiting for
a response from WARP. Funding to equip the monitoring
stations themselves was being provided by the EU, but this
support also had not yet materialized. Additionally, the EU
had appointed a Belgian advisor to ECOWAS for three years to
assist with coordinating EU support. ECOWAS had also sourced
an electronic map and database system, modeled after the UN's
system, from a company called Rectas (based at Obafemi
Awolowo University in Ibadan). Ideally, the monitoring
center would eventually be connected to the national security
systems in each member country, in addition to the monitoring
stations.



7. (C) EUCOM VISIT: Diarra emphasized that he wanted to make
sure the EUCOM team, coming for further discussions on
communications assistance for the OpsCenter, received
briefings from the Rectas team and the EU Advisor, and that
the visit was fruitful. Ambassador Jeter emphasized that
Diarra and his team should make sure they had a clear picture
of what they wanted, and communicate their vision for the
OpsCenter to the EUCOM team. Diarra stated that they wanted
to be able to communicate with the governments of
members-states, zonal monitoring stations, and any ECOWAS
Force Commanders in the event of future ECOWAS peacekeeping
operations. Ambassador Jeter said that he was unsure that
funding for monitoring stations would be likely, particularly
for Monrovia and Ouagadougou, given the destabilizing roles
that Taylor and Campaore had played in the region and their
involvement in the illicit diamond trade. For now, the
Ambassador said, it might be better to think in terms of
communications linkages between ECOWAS headquarters and those
states that had been consistent contributors to ECOWAS
operations. Diarra understood, noting that the Taylor
government had been less than helpful to ECOWAS in locating
an appropriate building for the monitoring station in
Monrovia or in allowing the establishment of an ECOWAS radio
station there.



8. (C) RECONCILING LIBERIA: ECOWAS was working with the
Carter Center to arrange for a Liberian reconciliation
conference. The process had moved in fits and starts, as
President Taylor had first supported the idea of a meeting
outside Liberia but then reversed course to insist that
Monrovia be the venue. Diarra agreed that a conference
outside of Liberia was needed to ensure inclusive attendance
and to prevent manipulation of the event by Taylor.



9. (C) Diarra went on to note that in Dakar, the GOL had
requested ECOWAS to condemn the LURD incursions in Lofa
County as an illegal attempt to seize power through
extra-constitutional means. (Comment: Such a request coming
from Taylor, is laced with irony. Twelve years ago, Taylor
was in the LURD's shoes and he considered ECOWAS a harmful
interloper - now he wants to use it as a shield. End
Comment.) After reviewing a GOL report on the LURD, the
Mediation and Security Council will consider sanctions
against the LURD at its next meeting. The Council would
likely support some kind of sanctions, such as travel
restrictions, against members of the LURD. Dikio, describing
his last visit to Lofa County, characterized the area as a
"collection of rejects from the sub-region," (RUF, various
mercenaries, Guinean dissidents, Burkinabe and maybe even
some renegade Nigerians!) and agreed that Liberia's stability
needed to be watched closely, particularly so that trouble
there does not undermine hard won progress in Sierra Leone



10. (C) NIGER AND ACRI: Diarra revealed that he had received
a letter from the Government of Niger, asking for support
from ECOWAS to join ACRI (In fact, Embassy Niamey made this
case in Niamey 1827). Ambassador Jeter noted that ACRI was
undergoing review in Washington and that it remained unclear
what shape ACRI would take. Meanwhile, we would pass the
message to Washington.



11. (C) COMMENT: Generally pleased with the outcome of the
Dakar Summit, Diarra seemed charged to move his Department
forward in 2002. Diarra is focussing on the establishment of
the ECOWAS OpsCenter. EUCOM will find him cooperative, and
we believe this project could significantly improve ECOWAS
capacity in conflict prevention. Meanwhile, incoming ECOWAS
Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas is due to start work
the first week of February. His predecessor Lansana Kouyate
will finish at ECOWAS in mid-February. We hope the overlap
will not only give them a chance to have a smooth exchange of
the baton, but will allow Ambassador Jeter to meet with them
simultaneously, ensuring continuity in our working
relationship with the Secretariat.



12. (C) ACTION REQUEST: As Kouyate prepares to leave and
Chambas prepares to take over the helm of the ECOWAS
Secretariat, letters from Washington (from the Assistant

SIPDIS
secretary or from Secretary Powell himself) congratulating

SIPDIS
Kouyate on a job well-done and pledging our continuing
support for the new Executive Secretary would be appropriate.
This gesture would symbolize our strong engagement with
ECOWAS and our hopes for the future of the organization. The
Embassy will propose text for the suggested letter, which
will be forwarded to AF/W. END ACTION REQUEST.
Jeter