Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05LILONGWE15
2005-01-06 16:32:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Lilongwe
Cable title:  

A PLOT TO KILL MALAWI'S PRESIDENT?

Tags:  PREL PGOV KDEM MI 
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UNCLAS LILONGWE 000015 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR AF/S

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: A PLOT TO KILL MALAWI'S PRESIDENT?


This message is sensitive but unclassified--not for Internet
distribution.

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000015

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR AF/S

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: A PLOT TO KILL MALAWI'S PRESIDENT?


This message is sensitive but unclassified--not for Internet
distribution.


1. (SBU) Three United Democratic Front officials were
charged with treason on Wednesday for carrying guns to a
meeting with President Bingu wa Mutharika. The Attorney
General said authorities had information that some
politicians had plotted to kill the president on January 2,

2004. By Thursday afternoon, reports indicated that charges
had been dropped against the men. President Mutharika,
however, held a press conference this afternoon, in which,
according to journalists present, he charged that the plot
was real, that it was organized by the UDF, and that former
President Muluzi had full knowledge of it. The charges
against Muluzi were not carried in the first broadcast
reports carried on Government radio. Mutharika is said to
be temporarily closing the National Intelligence Bureau in
response to poor intelligence on the incident. The press
conference has not yet been broadcast. The closure of NIB
is partly motivated by the widely held perception that the
NIB is loyal principally to former President Muluzi, its
creator.


2. (U) The three officials, Deputy Transport Minister Roy
Commsy, former Cabinet Minister Harry Thomson and Member of
Parliament Alfred Mwechumu, were on their way to a
reconciliation meeting between the President and senior UDF
officials aligned with former President Bakili Muluzi.
After the arrests on gun charges, the police released the
three on bail, then re-arrested them for treason several
hours later. Two of the men were remanded into custody and
later released when the charges were dropped, while one of
the men has been admitted to a local hospital for a diabetic
condition. The UDF explained that the guns were licensed
and that the politicians routinely carried them as a matter
of personal security. The party's spokesman confirmed
reports that the UDF is seriously reconsidering its
relationship with the President and the government. For his
part, Mutharika has reportedly announced that he will not
press treason charges against the three.


3. (SBU) COMMENT: Whether or not there was actually a plot
to assassinate the President, and whether or not treason was
actually committed, the events of the past several days are
another indication that the rift between Mutharika and
Muluzi is worsening. Recent incidents of physical
intimidation, mainly by Muluzi loyalists (to be reported
septel),are an indication at least that passions are
running high. Muluzi loyalists appear not to have the
political support to threaten the Government seriously, and
Mutharika has been content up to now to deal with them one
by one, mostly through his anti-corruption campaign. But
the increasing intensity of the disagreements between the
two sides appears to be peaking, with Mutharika finally
charging UDF in public. Whether this will result in
criminal charges, or whether Muluzi will respond with
something still more dramatic, remains to be seen. In any
case, it is clear that the old guard will not go quietly.

GILMOUR