WADE SEEKS U.S. INTERVENTION WITH JAMMEH

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAKAR 001306 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF, DRL/PHD, AF/W AND INR/AA KINSHASA FOR BRAZAVILLE OFFICE PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GA SG SUBJECT: WADE SEEKS U.S. INTERVENTION WITH JAMMEH REF: A. DAKAR 01299 ¶B. STATE 088221 ¶C. BANJUL 00317 ¶D. BANJUL 00296 Classified By: Ambassador Janice L. Jacobs for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) During the Ambassador,s June 1 meeting with President Abdoulaye Wade to discuss Iran (Ref A),he also raised relations with The Gambia (Ref B). Wade declared that he has no intention of taking over The Gambia; on the contrary, Senegal seeks good relations. He said he would like the United States to intervene with President Yaya Jammeh. Wade said he has received three Gambian delegations since the alleged coup plot was uncovered. He said that Senegalese officials have searched for former Gambian Chief of Defense Lt. Col. Ndure Cham without success and that Jammeh apparently believes that a Senegalese marabout made Cham invisible. Wade also indicated that he had invited Jammeh to attend the UNESCO Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize ceremony in Paris, but Jammeh had declined. He asked rhetorically, &What must I do?8 ¶2. (C) Wade said the disappearances and torture that followed the coup plot must be investigated and denounced. Wade recommended an international investigation and said the investigators would be welcome in Senegal to determine if there had been Senegalese support for or involvement in the plot. Wade also reported that he had made that offer to African Union and Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Wade noted that while it may be true that the Senegalese Ambassador in Banjul had met with one of the alleged coup plotters before the plot was uncovered, that did not prove Senegalese complicity. Wade averred that there may be anti-Jammeh "merchants" in Senegal. Wade offered to have Gambian police or officials visit Senegal in plain clothes and identify any alleged coup plotters, whom Wade said he would not turn over to the Gambians but would expel from Senegal. ¶3. (C) Finally, Wade brought up Jammeh,s allegedly welcoming Movement of Democratic Forces of the Casamance (MFDC) military leader Salif Sadio to The Gambia following his flight from Guinea-Bissau. He ended the 30-minute meeting by again asking the U.S. to help improve the relationship. The Ambassador said that we would inform the Department and Embassy Banjul of his request. JACOBS