MALI'S POLITICAL SEASON BEGINS - CONTROVERSIAL

S E C R E T BAMAKO 001237

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PINR PINS PGOV ML
SUBJECT: MALI'S POLITICAL SEASON BEGINS - CONTROVERSIAL
BOOK SMEARS ATT AND HIS ADMINISTRATION

REF: A. BAMAKO 01154

B. BAMAKO 01005

C. BAMAKO 00521

Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)

1.(S) Summary: The Rally for Mali (RPM) recently provided
the Embassy with a bootleg copy of the anonymous book,
"ATT-Cracy: The Promotion of a Man and his Clan," that has
triggered a heated debate over the author's identity and the
book's allegations of presidential corruption and abuse of
power. Published last month in France under the pseudonym
"Le Sphinx," "ATT-Cracy" is intended as a sweeping indictment
of Amadou Toumani Toure's (ATT) presidency. Initial Sphinx
suspects ranged from National Assembly President Ibrahim
Boubcar Keita (who has denied any involvement) to a handful
of disgruntled former Ministers. Outraged by the book's
accusations, ATT has launched an investigation of his own
(although the Malian leader has been criticized on the street
-- and within his entourage -- for his failure to respond
publicly to the charges). A recent letter reportedly from
the Sphinx claims "ATT-Cracy" was written by a group of
former and current members of the State Security forces.
Although the book is largely a compilation of old and
unsubstantiated rumors, the allegations -- along with the
government's inaction in the face of fighting in Mali's north
between Tuareg rebels and the GSPC -- have laid ATT and his
government open to charges of weakness and corruption.
Minister of Territorial Administration, General Kafougouna
Kone, has emerged relatively unscathed from the controversy,
and ATT will rely on Kone to steer his two central political
issues in the coming months- the Algiers Accords and the
management of the 2007 elections. End Summary.

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Sphinx Sparks Scandal and Speculation
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2.(C) In September the French printing house L'Harmattan
published "ATT-Cracy: The Promotion of a Man and His Clan" by
an anonymous author known as "le Sphinx." Several local
newspapers subsequently published large extracts of the text,
which remains difficult to locate in Bamako despite having
reportedly already run through its initial printing of 30,000
copies in France. Last week boxes of photocopied bootleg
versions of "ATT-Cracy" appeared at Rally for Mali (RPM)
headquarters and the National Assembly office of presumed
presidential challenger Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK).

3.(C) The book accuses ATT, his family and most of his key
Ministers of creating a "cult of personality" to facilitate
rampant financial and political corruption. The Sphinx
argues that ATT's consensus-model of politics is nothing more
than window-dressing for a single-party, autocracy similar to
the one that was overthrown, in part by ATT himself, in 1991.
Although the accusations are largely unsubstantiated and at
times far-fetched, "ATT-Cracy" nonetheless levels some
potentially explosive, albeit ham-handed, allegations. These
include claims that:

--former President Alpha Oumar Konare and ATT worked
together to contrive a way for Mali's Supreme Court to void
over 500,000 votes largely for IBK during the 2002
presidential election.
--France preferred ATT over other potential presidential
candidates due to his "indecisive, furtive, irresponsible and
double-crossing" personality.
--ATT allowed French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy to
use Mali a "lab experiment" for France's controversial
selective immigration policy.
--the Office of the Auditor General, whose salary
approaches more than USD 6,000 per month, was created to
shield those close to ATT and threaten his opponents.
--ATT's children and family have benefited from large
government contracts.
--the Aga Khan foundation, which owns Mali's only domestic
airline and has a 35% stake in the public electric and water
company, received preferential treatment from ATT based on
Aga Khan's support of First Lady Toure Lobbo Traore's
foundation for Malian children and development projects in
ATT's home town of Mopti.
--Trade Minister Choguel Maiga enriched himself off the
sale of cereal products intended to mitigate the effects of
drought and hunger in Mali's rural areas.
--several upper level officials in Mali's Security and
Defense Ministries, as well as key ATT allies including
Solidarity Minister Djbril Tangara and Energy Minister Ahmed
Semega, have enriched themselves at the government and
peoples' expense.



--other political leaders not included in ATT's government,
such as Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA) president
Dioncounda Traore and CNID president Mountaga Tall, "sold
their souls to the devil" to ingratiate themselves with ATT.
--ATT's status as the first Head of State to visit Iranian
President Ahmadinejad and subsequent decision to rescind visa
requirements for Iranian citizens "could turn our country
into a transit site, even a sanctuary, especially in northern
Mali, for eventual Iranian terrorists."
--ATT and First Lady Toure Lobbo Traore received large sums
of cash from Libyan leader Qadhafi in return for
authorization for Libya to open its ill-fated consulate in
Kidal.
--ATT revealed his weakness by allowing Qadhafi to behave
"as though he had conquered a new Libyan province" during his
April 2006 visit to Timbuktu. "With Presidents Moussa Traore
and Alpha Oumar Konare," writes the Sphinx, "Qadhafi would
have never been allowed to behave this way."

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Seeking the Sphinx in the Security Forces
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4.(C) In Mali, which is largely unaccustomed to this form of
political mud-slinging, the publication of "ATT-Cracy" set
off an immediate hunt for its author(s). ATT has reportedly
charged National Assembly vice-president Mountaga Tall with
identifying the Sphinx. Tall is the president of the
National Committee for Democratic Initiatives (CNID),which
holds 13 seats in the National Assembly and is one of the two
parties that outmaneuvered IBK and the RPM for spots the now
controversial Independent National Electoral Commission (ref
A). Tall is also widely believed to harbor presidential
ambitions for 2012. According to reports, Tall planned on
traveling to Paris to meet with lawyers and pressure
L'Harmattan to reveal the Sphinx's identity. At the same
time, ATT has been widely criticized on the street here, and
within his own circle, for his failure to respond publicly to
the charges levied by the Sphinx.

5.(C) One of the first and most obvious suspects was
National Assembly President, RPM leader and presumed
presidential challenger IBK. Although IBK denied any
connection to the Sphinx, his RPM party is eagerly selling
photocopied versions of "ATT-Cracy" outside RPM events for
approximately USD 20 a copy. After reading extracts of the
text in the Malian press, many concluded that "ATT-Cracy"
lacked the style and sophistication of a seasoned political
leader like IBK.

6.(C) Another popular suspect is former Minister of Defense
and Chief of Security Soumeylou Boubey Maiga. Maiga, who is
seriously considering a presidential bid (ref B),has a
professional resume that lends itself to such speculation
given the Sphinx's detailed knowledge of the Malian security
and defense forces. Maiga has also denied any link to the
Sphinx and recently sued a local newspaper for libel after it
ran a story accusing him of having delivered copies of
"ATT-Cracy" to Malian media outlets. In a conversation with
the Embassy, Maiga reiterated that he was not the Sphinx,
suggesting that "ATT-Cracy" was the product of multiple
authors within the Security forces, but offered to replace
the Embassy's bootleg copy with an original first edition.

7.(C) On October 24 several newspapers published a letter
purportedly from the Sphinx, identifying the authors of
"ATT-Cracy" as members of the Malian Security forces and
threatening to expose one presidential scandal per month from
now until the April 2007 elections. "There is no reason to
dispatch someone to Paris," said the letter in reference to
Mountaga Tall's mission, "as our leaders are in the habit of
doing in times of uncertainty. We are a group of active and
former State Security agents. Our role is not to examine the
character of a leader but to shine a light on his actions and
deeds." The Sphinx, the letter concluded, "is not here to
save the nation, since alone this is not possible, but to
shock the State by ensuring that its secrets and cover-ups
are put before the public eye so that each citizen is able to
assume his responsibility."

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One ATT Ally Without Mud: General Kafougouna Kone
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8.(C) While the Sphinx has slung mud at President Toure and
most of his closest allies, one key figure in ATT's
administration is portrayed in a positive light: Minister of
Territorial Administration, General Kafougouna Kone.
Although the RPM has pilloried Kone for signing the Algiers
Accords with the Tuareg rebels and contriving to leave the

RPM off the Independent Election Commission, le Sphinx - who
also vehemently denounces the Algiers Accords - has nothing
but praise for General Kone. Referring to a meeting between
Kone, the Tuareg rebels and Qadhafi's Cabinet Director in
Kidal in April 2006 (ref C),the Sphinx writes: "In contrast
to ATT, who is more complacent and weak toward the Libyans,
General Kafougouna Kone had the merit to send Iyad ag Ghali
packing and did not hesitate to give Qadhafi's Cabinet
Director a piece of his mind over the question of Mali's
territorial integrity."

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Comment:
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9.(S) The Sphinx's charges are a combination of old news and
innuendo, and the author or authors clearly have a political
agenda. The claims of fraud in the 2002 presidential
election, for example, represent a favorite theme of IBK, who
has always maintained ATT "stole" the election from him.
Most observers at the time, however, gave little credence to
the charges. At the same time, allegations of high-level
corruption feed the Malian public's perception that most
ministers use their time in office to feed at the public
trough. Whether any or all of the charges are proven to be
accurate, ATT and his government have been weakened further
by the controversy. Many southern Malians had already been
angered by their government's passive reaction to the
Algerian-sponsored Tuareg attacks on the GSPC in the north,
and the charges levied in "ATT-Cracy" only increase the heat
on ATT and his key allies. In this regard, the Malian
president will need to rely ever more on the soft-spoken
Kone, who was ATT's commanding officer before the latter's
1991 coup, since the Minister has charge of both the
implementation of the Algiers Accords and planning for the
2007 presidential and legislative elections.
McCulley