NIGERIA DENIES MILITARY TIES TO NORTH KOREA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001836

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2015
TAGS: PARM PREL MNUC KNNP NI ZO POLMIL
SUBJECT: NIGERIA DENIES MILITARY TIES TO NORTH KOREA

REF: A. STATE 173768

B. ABUJA 1334

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas P. Furey for reasons 1.4
(D & F)


1. (C) Summary. Nigeria claims to have no military
relationship with North Korea, and only a limited
non-military relationship. The MFA's Director for Asia and
Pacific Affairs said Nigeria's policy toward the DPRK is
based on hopes for the peaceful resolution of all issues in
the Six Party Talks and for the peaceful reunification of the
Korean Peninsula. He feared that the US approach toward
North Korean arms sales will be counterproductive, and that
gentle pressure is more likely to have positive results.
Nigeria will soon engage the US for a license to import from
South Korea components necessary to construct nuclear power
plants. End Summary.


2. (C) DCM and PolMilOff delivered Reftel A demarche to
Prince Ariyo, the MFA's Director of Asia and Pacific Affairs,
on 24 September 2005. The points were left as a nonpaper
with Ariyo, and he promised to convey the US position upward
in the MFA.


3. (C) Ariyo said "frankly and honestly" Nigeria has no
military engagement or discussions with the DPRK, and has not
since Ariyo assumed his position in 2003. There is a North
Korean ambassador to Nigeria, and Nigerian embassy in
Pyongyang, he said, but the relationship includes neither
military nor nuclear issues. He pointed to North Korean
doctors in Nasarawa State and collaboration on small-scale
embroidery and fish-processing factories in Jigawa and Yobe
States as examples of low-technology cooperation typical of
their bilateral economic relationship. Ariyo made a point of
refuting press reports about talks with the Vice President of
North Korea on nuclear cooperation from January 2004.


4. (C) Ariyo said Nigeria supports a nuclear weapon-free
Korean peninsula and the peaceful reunification of the Korean
peninsula and has been pushing North Korea toward the
peaceful resolution of all the issues discussed in the Six
Party Talks. He fears that our request to cut off
conventional arms sales could be counterproductive,
especially in light of recent progress in the Six Party
Talks. Ariyo said that a gentle nudging of North Korea would
be more productive than the US approach (Note: This is very
similar to Nigeria's approach to Zimbabwe. Obasanjo feels
that quiet, personal diplomacy is more likely to achieve
results than public assaults on Mugabe's government and is,
therefore, unwilling to join any international movement
against the GOZ. End Note).


5. (C) Ariyo then launched into a discussion of Nigeria's
need to develop a civilian nuclear energy generating
capacity. (Note: Ref B discusses Nigeria's plan to build and
operate 5-8 nuclear power plants by 2030. End Note.) He said
that while Nigeria has been purchasing reactor components
from a South Korean firm (NFI),a US license will be required
to continue importing components and that we should expect
the GON to begin engaging us on this license. He pointed out
several times that Nigeria has not been working with North
Korea on nuclear energy issues, and he did not attempt to
link Nigerian support for our position to support of their
civilian nuclear ambition.


6. (C) Comment. Ariyo was more willing to engage on issues
than most other interlocutors in the MFA, but seemed to step
beyond his portfolio in his discussions of Nigeria's need for
nuclear power. While he was clearly trying to prove his
worth as an interlocutor, he failed to discuss the role of
the North Korean Defense Attach in the North Korean Embassy
in Abuja, who the Nigerian DIA says is constantly in their
offices. If there is no military engagement or discussions
occurring, why would they have this officer here? End
comment.
CAMPBELL