A/S FRAZER,S MEETING WITH NIGERIAN MFA RE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002075

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PTER MARR PHUM XW XY NI
SUBJECT: A/S FRAZER,S MEETING WITH NIGERIAN MFA RE
COTE-D,IVOIRE AND SUDAN

Classified By: Ambassador John Campbell for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d).


1. (C) Summary: Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer met
with Nigeria's Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji on 24 October
to discuss the Sudan, Cote d'Ivoire (CDI),and other issues.
During the meeting, Adeniji was vague on many issues, but
spoke generally about the need to push the Southern Sudan
agreement and the next round of Darfur negotiations scheduled
to begin next month. He said that CDI was the "immediate
problem and discussed the next steps in the reconciliation
process. He commented that the AU was "gearing up" to
implement the observation of the Mauritania transition but
said that "some issues would best be dealt with" by the
current military regime. He pushed Obasanjo's scheme for
"powersharing" as the solution for Liberia, commenting that
the two candidates in the runoff should agree to cooperate.
At the end of the meeting, he brought up to issue of Security
Council expansion, asking if the USG supported two permanent
African seats with the veto. End Summary.


2. (C) THE SUDAN: Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer met
with Nigeria's Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji on 24 October
and opened the meeting with the situation in the Sudan.
Adeniji said that Nigeria was pleased that a new cabinet had
been announced but stated that the international community
needs to "push on the southern agreement and resolve the
Darfur crisis." He said that the latest round of talks ended
"near agreement" and that he "expected rapid progress" in the
next round of talks due to commence in late November.
Adeniji expressed Nigeria's concern about the breakup of the
SLM, saying "when liberation movements fracture, the
potential is there for others to manipulate the groups."


3. (C) COTE D'IVOIRE: Turning to Cote d'Ivoire, Adeniji
then said that CDI is "the immediate problem." He said that
it was important to get "someone with real authority" as
Prime Minister. "Seydou Diarra had no power base and
President Gbagbo does not give him space to maneuver," he
said. He commented favorably on the Security Council
Resolution specifying roles and said that he hoped Gbagbo was
"more realistic" on the need for a strong Prime Minister now.
He said that "Obasanjo, Mbeki and Tanja were hoping to go as
soon as the resolution came out" but did not give an
indication whether Obasanjo still planned to travel given the
loss of his wife.


4. (C) He commented that Gbagbo was initially skeptical
about the role of ECOWAS, but had been surprised by the
"fairness" of the organization. He said that Mali and
Burkina Faso would be "brought in" when CDI's national
dialogue is launched, but said that "Campaore is always
willing to talk but never gives anything."


5. (C) MAURITANIA: Adeniji said that the African Union
(AU) is "gearing up to implement its observation of
Mauritania's promised reform process." He said that the GOM
seemed willing to comply and that it was now "up to the AU to
mobilize." Adeniji commented, however, that on human rights
and corruption, the military regime was better able to handle
the reforms. "Human rights and the issue of slavery can only
be solved by this quasi-military regime," he stated.
Responding to the Assistant Secretary, Adeniji said that the
regime would be pushed to put a more civilian face on its
governing council. He asked whether the A/S had consulted
with Senegal's President Wade. The A/S mentioned her meeting
with Wade at UNGA and noted his concern that "pushing too
hard" would create the potential for "extremists" to stage a
counter-coup.


6. (C) LIBERIA: Adeniji expressed his satisfaction that
the first round of elections had gone smoothly and said that
we now "have to get through the runoff." He said that Weah
and Johnson had visited Abuja and that Obasanjo had tried to
make them understand that "winner-take-all" does not work.
"They both have talents to contribute," Adeniji said, "and
they need to understand that their cooperation (with each
other) is important."


7. (C) UN SECURITY COUNCIL EXPANSION: At the end of the
meeting, Adeniji brought up the committee of African Heads of
State (HoS) meeting on Security Council expansion. He said
that another meeting of the 10 Heads of State is schedule for
Monday, October 31 to try to reach consensus on the issue.
He said that the Foreign Ministers had been meeting and had
prepared a report. He pointed out that some of the Ministers
had included a statement in the report to the HoS that the
USG supports the consensus position that Africa will get two
permanent seats with veto power. Assistant Secretary stated
that Security Council reform is part of the bigger issue of
reform of the UN and that UNSC expansion will require further
discussion about criteria for considering new permanent
members. She made clear that the USG has not taken a
position on the AU proposal but it was clearly overly
ambitious. Adeniji complained that "the entire year has been
take up with UN reforms" and that he would be happy to get
the issue behind him.


8. (C) COMMENT: While Adeniji exhibited a breadth of
knowledge, the depth of that knowledge was not apparent. It
was obvious that on many issues, decision-making authority is
restricted to President Obasanjo and dependent on his time
and availability.
CAMPBELL