Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ABIDJAN475
2006-05-09 17:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abidjan
Cable title:  

COTE D'IVOIRE: SIXTH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL

Tags:  PREL PGOV ASEC IV 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHAB #0475/01 1291711
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O 091711Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1285
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1350
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0308
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABIDJAN 000475 

SIPDIS

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KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: SIXTH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL
WORKING GROUP


Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).

CORRECTED COPY - Previous cable Abidjan 414 was garbled.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABIDJAN 000475

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: SIXTH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL
WORKING GROUP


Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).

CORRECTED COPY - Previous cable Abidjan 414 was garbled.


1. (C) At the sixth meeting of the International Working
Group (IWG),the group was alarmed to hear from a series of
senior Ivoirian officials in charge of various aspects of the
peace process that the political process is once again at an
impasse and that hardly any progress has been made toward
elections, halfway through the year the Security Council gave
the Ivoirians to prepare for them. This provoked a
communique considerably more direct and emphatic than those
of previous meetings, in effect demanding immediate action on
simultaneous identification and disarmament, threatening
sanctions against those who obstruct the electoral process
and/or the work of the IWG, and warning that the
international community might well not extend President
Gbagbo's term in office any longer if the deadline for
elections in October is not met. This might not lead to
street violence as in January, since this time the IWG was
only calling upon Ivoirians to follow through on what they
themselves agreed to. However, it may not prod Gbagbo into
action either -- he does not consider himself beholden to the
Security Council or answerable to the IWG. End Summary.


2. (U) The IWG held its sixth meeting in Abidjan on April

20. Congolese Foreign Minister Rodolphe Adada and UN Special
Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) Pierre Schori
co-chaired the meeting. Also attending were Benin Foreign
Minister Rogatien Biaou; French Cooperation Minister Brigitte
Girardin; Ghanaian Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo; Guinean
Foreign Minister Fatouma Sidibe Kaba; Nigeran Foreign
Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou; Nigerian Foreign Minister
Oluyemi Adeniji; South African Defense Minister Mosiuoa
Lekota; African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Said
Djinnit; ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas; UN
High Representative for Elections in Cote d'Ivoire (HRE)
Girard Stoudmann; and representatives from the United
Kingdom, The United States, the EU, and the International

Organization of French Speaking Countries.


3. (C) Prime Minister Banny's presentation was once again
long and rambling but decidedly less upbeat than at the last
meeting. Instead of dwelling on a long list of
accomplishments over the past month, this time Banny spoke
more about the challenges ahead and the obstacles he is
facing. He said the three main tasks to be completed were
simultaneous identification and disarmament, preparation of
voter lists, and the return of civil administration to the
North. When pressed by the French and others to say exactly
what is keeping him from going forward with identification
and disarmament immediately, he answered evasively -- that it
is important to maintain a spirit of consensus but there is a
lack of political will.


4. (C) The IWG then heard presentations by General Gaston
Kone Ouassenan, the new Chairman of the National Program for
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (PNDDR); Robert
Beugre Mambe, Chairman of the Independent Electoral
Commission (CEI); and Alain Lobognon, acting Chairman of the
National Commission for the Supervision of Identification
(CNSI). All three made clear that the political process is
at an impasse over the question of the sequencing of
identification and disarmament. Even though all of Cote
d'Ivoire's political leaders, including President Gbagbo,
agreed on April 8 under the auspices of AU Chairman Sassou
that identification and disarmament should be done
simultaneously, Gbagbo is not allowing identification to
proceed (at a cabinet meeting two weeks ago he rejected Prime
Minister Banny's plan for carrying it out) and his followers
continue to clamor loudly that disarmament must come first.
On the other hand, the senior officials also underscored that
if identification and disarmament don't move forward within
the next week it will be impossible to hold elections by the
end of October.


5. (C) All four Ivoirian speakers implored the international
community to provide substantial additional resources to help
finance the identification, disarmament and electoral
processes.


6. (C) After these presentations the IWG heard a decidedly
pessimistic security briefing from General Fernand Marcel
Amoussou, acting force commander for the UN Operation in Cote
d'Ivoire (ONUCI) and General Elrick Irastorza, commander of
the French peacekeeping force Operation Licorne. General
Amoussou said the overall security situation in Cote d'Ivoire
is "volatile" and that pro-Gbagbo militias appear to be

ABIDJAN 00000475 002 OF 003


gearing up for a major offensive. General Irastorza said
that military commanders on both sides appear to be losing
control over their soldiers.


7. (C) IWG members then took the floor one after another to
express concern over what they had heard in these
presentations, and to call for the IWG to take immediate,
decisive action to break the current impasse. Ambassador
Hooks while agreeing with the need for decisive action
suggested a longer-term perspective -- as in any peace
process there will be ups and downs, and members of the group
had not heard anything at this meeting that they did not know
already.


8. (C) This lively discussion produced a communique that is
considerably more direct and emphatic than those of previous
meetings (the full text follows in para. 10). The communique
expresses the IWG's "deep concern" about the delays that have
been encountered in implementing the road map. It calls on
the government to accelerate the simultaneous implementation
of identification and disarmament; threatens sanctions
against those who violate UNSCR 1633, which can include those
who obstruct the transition to elections and/or the work of
the IWG; and makes reference to a recent statement by the
Secretary General that if the October 2006 deadline for

SIPDIS
presidential elections is not met, the international
community will not be in a position to simply renew Cote
d'Ivoire's current governance arrangements.


9. (C) Comment. We continue to believe the IWG panicked
unnecessarily, just as it was overly euphoric at its last
meeting. However, at least the group's alarm provoked it to
take a stand on the most contentious and potentially
explosive issue of the day. Remarkably, not one voice was
raised in the meeting to express concern over possible street
violence in reaction to this communique, as happened after
the IWG took a stand at its January meeting on the question
of the National Assembly's mandate. However, that time the
IWG itself pronounced on the merits of the issue, whereas
this time it simply called emphatically for Ivoirian leaders
to implement what they themselves agreed to. It may not lead
to street violence but it may not do much to prod Gbagbo into
letting identification go forward either (or FN leader Soro
to move on disarmament) -- Gbagbo has never considered
himself beholden to the Security Council for the extension of
his mandate or answerable to the IWG for his actions (or
inaction) in the peace process. End Comment.


10. (U) begin text of communique:

FINAL COMMUNIQUE OF THE SIXTH MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE
INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON COTE D,IVOIRE
Abidjan, 20 April 2006

Original draft: French


1. The 6th ministerial level meeting of the International
Working Group (IWG) was held in Abidjan on 20 April 2006,
under the co-chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Rodolphe Adada,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Francophonie of Congo, and
Mr. Pierre Schori, Special Representative of the United
Nations Secretary-General for Cote d,Ivoire. In attendance
were Ministers from France, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, South
Africa, as well as the Peace and Security Commissioner of the
African Union, the High Representative for the Elections in
Cote d,Ivoire, the ECOWAS Executive Secretary, and
Representatives of the USA, Benin, Niger, United Kingdom, the
African Union, the European Union, the Organisation
Internationale de la Francophonie.


2. The Group examined the report of the Mediation Group.
It was further briefed by the Prime Minister, the General
Coordinator of the National Programme for Disarmament,
Demobilization and Reintegration (PNDDR),the Chairman of the
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC),and the acting
Chairman of the National Commission for Supervision of
Identification (CNSI).


3. While highlighting the progress achieved, the Group
expressed its deep concern regarding the delays encountered
in the commencement of the activities essential to the
effective implementation of the road map. In this regard, the
Group underlined that, mid-way through the process, time is
running out. The Group also shares the concern of the UN
Secretary-General as expressed in paragraph 74 of his 8th

SIPDIS
report on the delay in the peace process and the consequences
that would arise from any further blockages if deadlines were
not met.

ABIDJAN 00000475 003 OF 003




4. Bearing in mind the urgency of the matter, and in
keeping with the deadlines set by Security Council resolution
1633 (2005) regarding the holding of the elections no later
than 31 October 2006, the Group stressed the following:

a) the Group recalled that the main Ivoirian political
leaders have agreed, at their 8 April meeting under the
auspices of President Denis Sassou N,guesso, chairman of the
African Union, on the simultaneous and immediate
implementation of the identification and DDR processes;

b) to that end, the Government of National Reconciliation
should take all necessary measures in order to accelerate the
simultaneous implementation of the identification and DDR
processes;

c) the identification of citizens will allow the
establishment of reliable voters lists, which should
contribute to the holding of free, fair, open and transparent
elections;

d) the Group is concerned about the suspension of the
dialogue between the Chiefs of Staff of the FANCI and the
Forces nouvelles and strongly encourages them to restore,
under the leadership of the Government, the conditions
necessary for its smooth continuation, with a view to
ensuring the effective commencement of the DDR process and
the dismantling of the militia, without further delay;

e) the successful implementation of the identification and
disarmament processes calls for the active and irreversible
commitment of the political leaders. In this regard, the
Group urges all Ivoirian parties to sensitize their followers
to the pressing need to abide by all commitments made during
the Yamoussoukro I and II meetings.


5. In light of persistent violations of the resolutions
1633 (2005) and 1643 (2005),as highlighted in the 8th report
of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Security
Council on UNOCI, the Group invites the Committee established
under resolution 1572 (2004) to identify the perpetrators and
not to hesitate to resort to appropriate measures.


6. The Group welcomed Mr. Gerard Stoudmann in his capacity
as the new High Representative for the elections in Cote
d,Ivoire. The Group invites all Ivoirian parties to
cooperate with him with a view to accelerating the
preparations leading to the holding of credible elections.


7. The Group welcomes the redeployment of UNOCI troops to
the western part of the country and requests the local
authorities and communities to continue to cooperate closely
with the United Nations Mission, including respecting the
freedom of movement of the impartial forces.


8. The Group recommends that the Security Council provides
ONUCI, as soon as possible, with the additional means
necessary to the achievement of its mandate.


9. The Group will hold its next meeting on 19 May 2006 in
Cote d,Ivoire.

end text of communique.
Hooks