AMBASSADOR VISITS FN-HELD NORTHEAST; QUIET, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABIDJAN 001334

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON CONS IV
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR VISITS FN-HELD NORTHEAST; QUIET, BUT
TENSIONS IN FN AREAS AMONG PARTIES EVIDENT

Classified By: EconChief EMassinga, Reasons 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador Hooks led a small delegation of
Emboffs and the DATT on a tour of northeastern towns
Bondoukou and Bouna. While government-held Bondoukou and
FN-held Bouna are peaceful compared to other areas of the
country, Bondoukou is notably more prosperous and Bouna's
administration by the FN appears to chafe some local groups
and other political parties. The FN was careful to try to
control the Ambassador's itinerary, but other groups managed
to express their displeasure with the way things are going in
the region and with the FN in particular. Emboffs were able
to make some inquires related to reports of conflict diamond
production in FN-held territories as well as of missing or
destroyed civil records in FN-held areas. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Ambassador Hooks took a three-day tour November
20-22 of the eastern and then far northeastern sections of
the country, leading a delegation consisting of the DATT and
OPSCO and two members from Pol/Econ. The Ambassador's
delegation traveled overland to Bondoukou, met with local
leaders and then the following day went through the Zone of
Confidence separating the FANCI from the Force Nouvelles (FN)
and toured Bouna. In both locations, the delegation was
warmly received. The delegation was escorted by ONUCI forces
(GHANBATT) during all movements in the area, and received
excellent briefings from force commanders and civilian staff
in both towns.

Boundoukou Calm, Peaceful
=========================

3. (SBU) Arriving in the early afternoon of November 20,
Ambassador Hooks was cordially greeted in Bondoukou, a
relatively prosperous town in the north of Cote d'Ivoire's
forest products belt (a near constant caravan of heavy trucks
ply the road carrying raw logs south for processing and
export) by the Prefet, Mathieu Gohi, along with Mayor (PDCI)
Kouakou Dapa and regional Conseil General (the elected body
representing regions outside of town large enough for their
own Mayoralties) President Richard Secre (FPI). Lunch was
served at the Mayor's house, and was attended by the Prefet,
the Conseil General President and senior officers of the
GHANBATT stationed in town. Clearly, all of the politicians
as well as the FANCI and ONUCI officers made an effort to
show how well they get along in this government-controlled
town just south of the Zone of Confidence. Local groups
representing different ethnicities entertained the Ambassador
in a very large, televised gathering in the vicinity. Local
leaders described the economic and social situation,
highlighting the need for more development and greater
investment in infrastructure, particularly water-related.
Mayor Dapa expressed strong support for UNSCR 1721.


4. (C) ONUCI's GHANBATT in its Bondoukou HQ briefed the
group on the political/military situation in its region,
which encompasses roughly the area from Bondoukou to Bouna
and west through Comoe National Park, including the Zone of
Confidence located between the two major towns and the
high-quality national road linking them. The commander's
brief noted that his sector is one of the quietest and most
peaceful in the country.

FN-Held Bouna: Political Parties Squabble Amongst Themselves,
Distrust the FN; Area Languishes Economically
===========================

5. (C) The Ambassador arrived at the sub-Prefecture in
Bouna and was met by a 50-odd strong review of FN troops and
the Zone Commander, Morou Ouattara. ComZone Morou, as he is
commonly known, was a surprise host, as we had been led to
believe he was in Ouagadougou awaiting travel overseas for
follow-up medical treatment related to serious head injuries
sustained in an automobile accident approximately one year
ago (Morou had a prominent scar on his skull suggesting at
the very least a serious skull fracture). The FN troops who
met the Ambassador at the Prefecture were well dressed in
new, mostly matching uniforms and were armed with reasonably
new (or at least not decrepit) AK-47s. In his brief of the
Ambassador attended only by his senior officers and personal
detail, Morou lamented the lack of water, electricity, school
teachers, doctors (there is one unpaid doctor for 30,000 in
the town and perhaps 50,000 in the region) and overall
development.


6. (C) Later in Bouna, the Ambassador was feted with dance
and formal greeting by a large gathering of various ethnic
groups from the area. The Mayor, Sanka Ouattara (RDR) and
President of the Conseil General Pale Dimate (PDCI, also an
MP representing the Bondoukou region) and their retinues
attended. At the well-publicized event, FN troops were
deployed in force, but seemed to mix easily with GHANBATT
troops. The areas' political groups began what became a
day-long series of minor squabbles there; ComZone Morou

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reportedly prevented Dimate from speaking, reportedly
upsetting the latter's Lobi kinsmen (see para 10).


7. (C) Frustration spilled over into both the management of
the rest of the day's itinerary as well as the meeting of
political leaders to discuss the political and economic
situation in the region. The ComZone effectively took over
the Ambassador's itinerary, carefully steering the delegation
(and the UNOCI escorts) away from sites they did not want the
delegation to see, such as the state-owned television station
the FNs are widely understood to have looted since 2002, and
towards things they wanted the Ambassador to witness, such as
its youth training project in its motorpool (which appeared
uncomfortably like the recruitment of child soldiers). At
all times, the ComZone stayed at the Ambassador's side, much
to the frustration of the other political leaders.


8. (C) At the political meeting in Bouna, held at UNOCI HQ,
the ComZone again sat to the right of the Ambassador, but did
allow other parties to express themselves. Both Conseil
General Dimate and Mayor Ouattara echoed complaints that the
region lacks water, reliable electricity, roads and schools
(gov't teachers "come and go when they like"),and noted that
the gov't's failure to yet deliver the 2006 budget has left
them without the means to do much of anything. The local FPI
leader (who heretofore had never met the ComZone) expressed
outrage at the longtime lack of 'anything' going on in the
region, and other representatives of minor parties echoed his
complaint. The Ambassador, building on themes he expressed
in Bondoukou, said that Cote d'Ivoire will get out of its
crisis when political actors act more responsibly, and that
the U.S. would help in the effort to employ both the
Constitution and UNSCR 1721.


9. (C) Later, the GHANBATT commander in Bouna provided the
DATT and Econ Chief a briefing on his area of responsibility.
While he termed the FN's morale as "high," he did point to
cleavages among senior leaders in the region over resources,
and offered that at some point, average FN soldiers would
"wise up."


10. (C) In separate conversations with the Econ Chief,
Diamate expressed anger over the FN's high-handed
administration of the region. Accusing them of pocketing
money levied on merchants and real estate, as well as
funneling the cashew crop through their hands, without
spending anything on civil works or administration, Diamate
said that the ComZone and his immediate entourage gets
wealthy while average FN soldiers are exploited for their
loyalty to the northern cause. Dimate said the FN have been
a bane in the areas they control, that everyone feels that
way, but were intimidated to say so in the public meeting.
Dimate also said the FN has become hostile to the Lobi (some
45% of the region's population) who are more heavily taxed as
a result. Going even further, Dimate said the FN was
nurtured and aided by President Campaore and Burkina Faso's
military, and that in times of possible clashes with the
FANCI, Burkina officers come to take personal command of FN
units. In a separate meeting with the Econ Chief, Mayor
Ouattara agreed with much of what Diamate had to say
concerning the FN's management of the region, while also
castigating Dimate himself for failing to aid the region in
his 16 years as the region's representative in Parliament and
obliquely accusing him of corruption. The ComZone repeatedly
made the same accusations about Diamate to the Ambassador
during the course of the visit.

Conflict Diamonds
=================

11. (C) Econ Chief asked several sources about reports
related to conflict diamonds being produced in FN-held
regions in the Central and West/Central zones under FN
control (see recent SBU reports from the Kimberly Process
emailed by Desk). Mayor Ouattara of Bouna acknowledged that
such activities are taking place and benefiting the FN, but
said "you didn't hear about that from me." Diamante said
much the same. GHANBATT's force commander in Bouna said such
production isn't taking place in his sector, but alluded to
such activity farther west, although his counterpart in the
Bondoukou HQ said he knew nothing of such activities. Post
will continue to look into this issue.

State of the Civil Registry in the North
==================

12. (C) Recently Post's Consular Section has noted (septel)
in the course of verifying the legitimacy of civil documents
originating in Northern prefectures and municipalities that
Ministry of Territorial Affairs officials are unable to
locate relevant documents, saying they have been "moved" to
Abidjan in the wake of the 2002 rebel offensive (Note: CONS
investigators have been unable to verify that the civil
records ostensibly moved from the north are actually in

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Abidjan. End note). Econ Chief asked UNOCI officials as
well as the Bouna Mayor and President of the Conseil General
about this question. The Mayor indicated that the Mayoralty
was able to save civil records from destruction when the
rebels swept the region, and that the registry remains intact
and in the town. However, the civil registry housed in the
sub-Prefecture for the areas surrounding Bouna were badly
ravaged by the rebels; the Mayor of Bouna estimates that up
to half of those records were destroyed, and that the rest
remain in the sub-Prefecture's facilities. UNOCI elections
officials in the field and in Abidjan corroborate this,
saying that prefects often took records to Abidjan when
fleeing the '02 offensive, and that rebels destroyed a number
(the extent to which is unknown) of records in areas where
prefects were unable to take them. A PAS officer in Bouake
recently confirmed that the civil registry there has been
moved. UNOCI elections officials in Abidjan note that
reconstituting these records to validate the eligibility of
already registered citizens in the context of preparing for
elections will be one of many daunting tasks to be
accomplished. Post will continue to examine this question in
the context of elections preparations.


13) Comment (C) The Northeast, particularly the far
northeastern towns of Bouna and its surroundings, have been
ignored for many years, but the current division of the
country has seemingly put its people in a worse predicament
than before. Tensions between the unarmed opposition parties
and the FN in the northern part of the country as well as FN
mismanagement of the region are issues that could become
increasingly important should the overall national peace
process continue to languish and the effective division of
the county persist. End Comment.
Hooks