Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ABIDJAN1027
2006-09-12 15:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abidjan
Cable title:  

COTE D'IVOIRE: VISIT BY AFRICAN UNION CHAIRMAN

Tags:  PGOV PREL ASEC IV 
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FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
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INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0348
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RUEPGDA/USEUCOM JIC VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 001027 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: VISIT BY AFRICAN UNION CHAIRMAN
YIELDS NO RESULTS

REF: ABIDJAN 1020

Classified By: Economic Officer Erfana Dar for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 001027

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: VISIT BY AFRICAN UNION CHAIRMAN
YIELDS NO RESULTS

REF: ABIDJAN 1020

Classified By: Economic Officer Erfana Dar for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


1. (U) Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo
and current Chairman of the African Union (AU),visited
Abidjan September 10-12. He met individually with each of
the five principal Ivoirian political leaders: President
Gbagbo, principal opposition party leaders Bedie and
Ouattara, and rebel New Forces leader Soro, and then on
September 11 and 12 he met with them all as a group.


2. (U) At the end of the visit, President Sassou announced in
a press conference that his visit had yielded no results.
Sassou recalled that when he last visited here in April, he
sought to forge a consensus among the political leaders to
move forward simultaneously with identification of
undocumented Ivoirians and foreigners, in preparation for
elections, and with disarmament. He noted that in the wake
of his April visit there had been some progress on both
fronts, but both had once again stalled. He said he had
sought in this visit to unblock them, but had been
unsuccessful.


3. (U) Sassou did praise a new proposal by Prime Minister
Banny for an "exceptional political decision" to remove the
"blockages" preventing movement forward, but he said it was
not met with consensus. When questioned by reporters,
Sassou refused to specify what blockages he was referring to,
or to provide any details about the Banny proposal.


4. (C) Comment: President Sassou seems to have come here
without a specific plan to restart the peace process and
perhaps without a full appreciation of the depth and
complexity of this country's political crisis. Indeed, this
crisis may well not yet be ripe for a resolution -- the
Ivoirian sides have dug in their heels and any will to
compromise seems to have disappeared. Nevertheless, both the
international community and the Ivoirian political elite will
continue to look to Sassou and other African leaders, and to
the AU and ECOWAS as regional organizations, to search for a
way forward after October. End Comment.
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