NIGERIA: TAYLOR ARRIVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001374

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/13
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM LI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: TAYLOR ARRIVES

REF: (A) ABUJA 1367
(B) MONROVIA 928


Classified by Charge Dawn Liberi. Reasons 1.5 (b) and
(d)



1. (C) Former President Charles Taylor arrived in
Abuja Monday evening August 11 at 2125 local time. He
traveled with President Kufuor of Ghana and President
Chissano of Mozambique, and was greeted by President
Obasanjo. After spending several hours in Abuja, he
and his entire contingent continued to Calabar in
Rivers State, arriving there at 0300 hours Tuesday,
August 12. Long-time Liberia hand, MFA Permanent
Secretary Dan Hart told A/DCM that Taylor looked

SIPDIS
forlorn and mentally deflated on his arrival in Abuja.
All Taylor could do was hang his head and refuse to
talk.



2. (U) Taylor, along with his family, aides, and their
families, will be staying in a series of State
Government guest lodges in a government-reserved area
known as Diamond Hill. His mansion overlooks the
Calabar River and has a view of the ocean. More than
60 family members and aides have already arrived in
Calabar.



3. (C) Taylor and company are expected to stay in
Calabar for approximately three months during which
time his movements are to be extremely restricted. A
senior GON source has confirmed that Taylor will not
be placed under house arrest, but will not be allowed
to travel outside of Diamond Hill for the near future.
Over the next three months, the GON plans to see if
Taylor and his entourage behave themselves, and how
Nigerians react to their presence. Then they will
determine whether to allow Taylor to expand his
movements within Nigeria. There is currently no
restriction on the visitors that Taylor can receive.



4. (C) A set of conditions for Taylor remaining in
Nigeria are being determined. It is anticipated that
he and President Obasanjo will come to final agreement
on these conditions by the end of the week. A key
condition will be total noninvolvement in Nigerian
political issues, and more importantly a complete cut-
off from Liberia's political affairs as well.


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NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED
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5. (C) COMMENT: Getting Taylor to agree and (most
importantly) adhere to the conditions of good behavior
will top Obasanjo's priority list. Given the domestic
opposition to his Liberia policy, Obasanjo cannot
afford vintage bad behavior from Taylor. Taylor will
find it difficult to shy away from mischief. Obasanjo
still holds the hammer of deportation to Sierra Leone
and that threat should restrain Taylor in the short to
medium term.



6. (C) The bucolic setting of Calabar will not charm
Taylor for long and he will be itching to go somewhere
else for a time. Thus, Taylor's stay here must be
monitored closely as it has the potential to become a
problem. But that lies in future. For now, Obasanjo
and others have pushed the Liberian peace process
forward by removing the worst card in a bad deck from
the game. A high-level telephone call from Washington
to Obasanjo commending this achievement might be in
order. For his part, Taylor has no love for Nigeria
and cannot envision calling it his permanent home.
Meanwhile, Nigeria is now host to three former
Liberian leaders. End Comment.


LIBERI