TOGO OPPOSITION LEADER GILCHRIST OLYMPIO HEADING

C O N F I D E N T I A L ACCRA 000845

SIPDIS


PARIS FOR CHARLES NEARY
PRETORIA FOR TIM TRENKLE
EUCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2015
TAGS: GH PGOV PHUM PREL TO
SUBJECT: TOGO OPPOSITION LEADER GILCHRIST OLYMPIO HEADING
TO EUROPE

REF: ACCRA 809

Classified By: Polchief Scott Ticknor for reasons 1.5 d and e.


1. (C) Summary: On May 4, PolChief met again with Togolese
opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, at PolChief's request,
to discuss recent developments. Olympio had just met with
President Kufuor, who asked him if he would meet with
Nigerian President Obasanjo again, and with Ghana's Foreign
Minister, who encouraged him to support a government of
national unity and reject violence. Olympio is willing to
meet with Obasanjo if he can guarantee implementation of the
outcome of talks. He will not make a unilateral call for an
end to the violence (he wants the government to go first) and
would be willing to cooperate in a government of national
unity if it is based on the actual election results. Olympio
is leaving for Europe May 5 to lobby for EU, German and other
support. He still hopes for an international "convenor" of a
dialogue. End summary.

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Meeting with the GOG
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2. (C) Before traveling out of Ghana, Olympio paid a
courtesy call on President Kufuor earlier on May 4 to thank
him for the GOG's security and protocol assistance. Olympio
said Kufuor asked him if he would meet with Nigerian
President Obasanjo again. Olympio responded that he would
meet with Obasanjo if the Nigerian President could guarantee
implementation of the outcome of the talks. His meeting with
Kufuor was followed by a three hour meeting with Ghanaian
Foreign Minister Nana Akufo Addo, who Olympio said was an old
college friend. According to Olympio, Kufuor and Akufo Addo
had a misperception that the opposition was causing a lot of
the violence in Togo. Olympio made the case to them that the
opposition was poorly armed with sticks and sling shots and
that it was the army that was using guns and excessive force.



3. (C) Akufo Addo encouraged the opposition to support a
government of national unity and reject violence. Olympio
responded that the opposition agreed with this in principle,
but "the question is who is going to run the show?" The
election outcome (a 10:1 opposition victory, he reiterated)
would have to serve as a basis for a national government.
The Togo government has refused a recount and the African
Union, ECOWAS, and France refused to review the opposition
election tallies, Olympio said. The opposition did not want
to serve as a minority partner to Gnassingbe. Since the
government is behind most of the violence, the government has
to first call for an end to it, Olympio told Akufo Addo. If
the government called for an end to violence and took
measures to implement it, the opposition would follow suit.

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Searching for International Support
--------------


4. (C) Olympio plans to leave Accra May 5 for meetings with
the European Union Commissioner in Brussels, and meetings in
Germany and France. He reiterated that "it is clear we can't
find a solution alone...we need a white knight." Olympio
spoke to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on May 3, who said
he would talk to Nigerian President Obasanjo about Togo.
Olympio said the British told him frankly that they have no
interests in Togo and are disinclined to get involved. He
said he had talked to ECOWAS Executive Director Chambas but
had no faith in the organization and thought nothing
productive had come from the ECOWAS meetings in Lome over the
past weekend.


5. (C) Olympio made another pitch for U.S. assistance as a
"convenor" of a dialogue. He said he might travel to the
U.S. after Europe, although he conceded that the U.S. may not
get involved because "Togo is far away." He was more hopeful
that the Germans, Dutch, or the EU might help. So far the
Germans have been sympathetic, although they told him "don't
expect us to send the Luftwaffe to Paris" on Togo's behalf.
Olympio thought there were different currents within the EU,
some of them not necessarily supporting France. Obasanjo

could play an important role if he comes up with good,
concrete proposals for compromise. Olympio envisions a short
term arrangement with rotating temporary presidents during a
period leading up to clean elections. Alternatively, Olympio
suggested a UN Administrator could run Togo during an interim
period.

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Ending the Violence
--------------


6. (C) PolChief pressed hard on the need for the opposition
to publicly reject violence. Olympio said the government
needs to first stop killing people, adding that "the
oppression is ferocious", with several hundred dead. A
statement of nonviolence cannot be unilateral. Ordinary
Togolese are being attacked by government forces, feel the
need to fight back, and would not go along with a unilateral
appeal for calm.

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Comment
--------------


7. (C) Olympio had planned to leave Accra the night of May
4 (after our meeting). However, he said he was so exhausted
from stress and lack of sleep that he postponed his trip by a
day. He does not know how long he will be away from West
Africa but clearly sees a priority need to lobby western
governments for support. He is well connected in Europe and
will start there. He told PolChief he would have no
difficulties returning to Ghana (despite some discomfort at
his activism the GOG has been generally tolerant of his
presence here). His party is well organized and disciplined
within Togo, implying that his proximity was not essential.
In addition, phone connections work much better from Europe
to Togo than from Ghana, he said, so he will be well
connected to events in Lome.


8. (C) He does not appear to be planning to return to Togo
any time soon (and gave PolChief his Paris phone numbers).
Unlike in our previous meeting (reftel),in which he said he
would travel to Lome for an internationally-convoked
dialogue, this time he was explicit that this kind of meeting
could not take place in Lome for security reasons. He noted
that Akitani-Bob is in hiding and fears for his life. Other
opposition leaders are nervous but are hoping that staying
near large numbers of supporters will deter military action.
Olympio reminded PolChief, as he does in almost every
meeting, that he had survived an assassination attempt.

YATES


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