CORRECTED COPY: NIGERIA: EMBASSY REVISITS ISSUE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 002566

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR DAS PERRY, LONDON FOR GURNEY, PARIS FOR NEARY


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2012
TAGS: PREL MOPS XY LI IV NI ECOWAS
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY: NIGERIA: EMBASSY REVISITS ISSUE OF
FALSE ECOWAS REPORT CLAIMING US/UK LURD CONNECTION

REF: A. ABUJA 02016

B. PERRY-BROWNE EMAIL


CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER. REASON 1.5 (B) and
(D).


Corrected Copy: Tags, text corrections.



1. This is an action message; see paragraph 7.



2. (C) Summary. Ambassador again raised allegations of U.S./
UK support for Lurd in Liberia with ECOWAS Deputy Executive
Secretary, General Cheick Diarra. After reiterating that the

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U.S. and UK do not support Lurd rebels in any way, the
Ambassador asked that ECOWAS publicly deny GOL claims that
their information came from an official, authorized, and
approved ECOWAS report. Diarra agreed to present USG
position to Executive Secretary Chambas, and requested that
U.S. provide ECOWAS with a copy of the report being
disseminated by GOL Embassy in Abidjan. End Summary



3. (C) In an August 29 meeting with ECOWAS Deputy Executive
Secretary Diarra, Ambassador Jeter recalled his July 3

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meeting on the same subject and reemphasized that GOL claims
of U.S. and UK support of Lurd forces were both false and
malicious. The U.S. was concerned because continued
propagation of these false allegations could harm U.S.
relations and interests in the West African sub-region and
damage U.S. relations with ECOWAS just as those relations
were at their strongest. Because the claims were allegedly
based on an official ECOWAS report, the Ambassador asked that
ECOWAS join the USG in publicly "clearing the air".



4. (C) General Diarra explained that the report being cited
was a raw draft crafted by the Ecowas-mandated Military
Mission to Liberia. He explained that the ECOWAS Secretariat
rejected the claims of U.S./UK complicity with the Lurd and
its final report made no mention of the allegations. To
reinforce his sincerity, Diarra gave the Ambassador a copy of
the Executive Secretariat Memorandum and the Military
Assessment Mission to Liberia, and the final Report of the
Ninth Ministerial Meeting of the Mediation and Security
Council, held on the margins of the AU summit in Durban.
(Both will be faxed to AF/W.)



5. (C) Ambassador Jeter stated that, since the allegations
were being made in the name of ECOWAS, it seemed to be
incumbent on ECOWAS to refute publicly the allegations now
being peddled anew by the GOL. He also endorsed Diarra's
suggestion that ECOWAS write officially to member-state
governments that the ECOWAS Secretariat did not concur with
statements made in the report of the Military Mission to
Liberia alleging U.S./UK support and complicity with the
Lurd. The Ambassador also said that he would recommend that
the U.S. issue its own public statement denying the
allegations. General Diarra agreed to present our request to
Executive Secretary Chambas as soon as possible, and promised
to report the Executive Secretary's views as soon as possible.



6. (C) Later on the evening of August 29, Ambassador spoke
with ECOWAS Executive Secretary Chambas, who is currently
traveling in Sweden. It was agreed that the following steps
should be taken:(a)the U.S. should lodge a formal written
protest of the allegations made in the ECOWAS Military
Mission Report; (b) the ECOWAS Secretariat would circulate
the U.S. protest to all ECOWAS member-states; and (c) the
Secretariat would then issue a public statement acknowledging

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the U.S. protest and indicate that the official ECOWAS Report
on the Military Mission did not include subject allegations
against the U.S. and UK. Chambas said the wording of the
ECOWAS public statement would be coordinated with the Embassy.


7.(C) Action Request: Please provide the text of the protest
that the Embassy can then convey to the ECOWAS Secretariat,
in the form of a letter or diplomatic note.
JETER