PRESIDENT KIKWETE WARMLY WELCOMES BILATERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DAR ES SALAAM 001533

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF FRAZER AND YAMAMOTO
DEPT AF/E FOR B YODER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2011
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PARM PINR PTER ENRG ETZ
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KIKWETE WARMLY WELCOMES BILATERAL
MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BUSH

REF: A. A. DAR ES SALAAM 1286

B. B. DAR ES SALAAM 1508

Classified By: Michael L. Retzer, Chief of Mission, for reason 1.4(d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. Ambassador Retzer met with President Kikwete
September 11 to personally convey President Bush's invitation
for a bilateral meeting in New York during the UN General
Assembly. President Kikwete warmly welcomed the meeting, and
proceeded to engage Ambassador Retzer on several issues of
importance to the U.S., including a UN force for Darfur,
ACOTA peacekeeping training, and Tanzania's position on
several UNSC-related items including Iran, Burma, and the
contest between Guatemala and Venezuela. To our surprise,
Kikwete said Tanzania would "volunteer" to participate in a
UN peacekeeping Mission in Darfur. He said he understood the
U.S. interest in bringing the case of Burma's repressive
military regime before the Security Council, and he hoped
that the Latin Americans would reach agreement on a single
candidate. He intimated, however, that if the group's choice
was Guatemala and Venezuela refused to withdraw its
candidacy, Tanzania would vote for Guatemala. He expressed
visible concern over the political impasse with Zanzibar,
adding he would take concrete steps to address the impasse
before the end of the year. When the Ambassador probed
Kikwete on the possibility of an Article 98 (as we have done
in the past),Kikwete did not rule out movement on an
agreement and said he had asked his "legal department to see
if there is something we can do." END SUMMARY.

President Kikwete Enthusiastic About Meeting President Bush
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2. (C) Ambassador Retzer informed President Kikwete that he
had been selected as the single representative from
Sub-Saharan Africa to meet bilaterally with President Bush
during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings in
New York. The Ambassador added that the selection of
President Kikwete for Africa reflected the high esteem in
which Washington held him. Kikwete emphasized how much he
valued Tanzania's relationship with the U.S. and said that he
was excited about his meeting with President Bush. The
Ambassador also told President Kikwete that he had been
invited to participate in a Roundtable discussion on
democracy with 25 other heads of state, hosted by President
Bush on September 19. "If your schedule permits, we hope you
will be able to participate in this important discussion,"
Ambassador Retzer said. President Kikwete responded
affirmatively, saying, "I will definitely be there."

Kikwete Encourages Sudan: Turn in Green Helmets for Blue Ones
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3. (C) Ambassador Retzer thanked President Kikwete for
Tanzania's co-sponsorship of the UN resolution, which
authorized transition from an African Union (AU) to a United
Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur. Laughing, President
Kikwete responded that he had made the Sudanese Government
"very angry" by supporting a UN mission. He said that the
Sudanese needed to realize that peace was in their hands and
that they "should not sub-contract out responsibility to the
AU, UN or anybody else." Kikwete then outlined the basis for
Tanzania's position on the issue: (i) the UN has the primary
responsibility for peacekeeping and countries should not
prevent it from its rightful role; (ii) African countries
could still volunteer to participate in the UN mission; and
(iii) with the AU mission almost entirely dependent on the
European Union's support, a "big crisis" could ensue if
funding were to become unavailable. He added (to our
surprise) that Tanzania would also "volunteer" for a UN force
in Darfur.


4. (C) Kikwete elaborated on his efforts to encourage
Sudan's Government of National Unity to allow a UN
peacekeeping mission in Sudan. "I have made my position
clear to Sudanese leaders in person at recent AU Summits and
with two letters that I sent to President Omar el-Bashir,"
Kikwete said. He also told the Ambassador that he had tried
to persuade one of South Sudan's ministers, who was
originally from the Darfur region, that African peacekeepers
would merely be turning in their green helmets for blue ones.

DAR ES SAL 00001533 002 OF 004


"I believe that I convinced the minister with this point but
that he did not have enough sway over the higher leadership."
Kikwete assured the Ambassador that he would meet with
Sudanese leaders during the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit
in Havana and continue encouraging Sudan to accept a UN
force.

Sudan's Refusal of UN Mission: Fears of al-Qaeda?
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5. (C) On the topic of Sudan's reluctance to allow a UN
Mission in Darfur, President Kikwete raised a concern that he
recently learned about through South African President, Thabo
Mbeki. During Burundi's recent Peace Summit in Dar es Salaam
on September 7 (Ref B),President Mbeki told Kikwete about
the fear of South Sudan's President, Lt-Gen. Salva Kiir
Mayardit, that al-Qaeda would use the UN Mission as an
occasion to become active in Sudan. Ambassador Retzer
thanked Kikwete for raising the issue and acknowledged fears
in some quarters about al-Qaeda potentially exploiting the
issue.

Guatemala or Venezuela for UNSC?
--------------

6. (C) Noting that Guatemala had never served on the UNSC
before, while Venezuela had held a seat four times,
Ambassador Retzer asked for Tanzania's support in electing
Guatemala to the Security Council. President Kikwete said
that Venezuela had sent an envoy to Tanzania, expressing
Venezuela's desire to serve again on the UNSC and asking for
Tanzania's support. Kikwete explained what he told the envoy
and what he planned to tell Venezuela's President, Hugo
Chavez, during his meeting with him in Havana: "Countries in
Latin America should work to develop consensus and then
propose a candidate. Otherwise, we will vote in a rational
way based on the merit of each candidate." President Kikwete
noted that he did not think Latin America would reach
consensus nor did he think anyone could convince President
Chavez not to pursue a seat in the UNSC. He likened the case
of Venezuela to Sudan, highlighting the time when Sudan ran
against Mauritius for a seat on the Security Council and
lost. "I think the same thing will happen with Venezuela,"
Kikwete said, noting pointedly that Sudan had failed to carry
the day (Comment: and, we believe, intimating that Tanzania
would vote for Guatemala in similar circumstances).

Tanzania's Stance on Iran and Burma
--------------

7. (C) The Ambassador also urged President Kikwete to
support USG efforts urging Iran to stop enriching uranium and
addressing Burma's persistent human rights violations in the
UNSC. President Kikwete said that he had met with Iran's
President and that Ahmadinejad had assured him that the
Government of Iran was pursuing nuclear technology for
peaceful purposes of energy generation only. Reiterating
Tanzania's bottom-line position (Ref A),President Kikwete
emphasized that Tanzania had no problem with the peaceful use
of nuclear technology but adamantly opposed the spread of
nuclear weapons and emergence of new nuclear states.
Tanzania would not, therefore, support Iran's acquisition of
nuclear technology to amass weapons. Regarding Burma,
President Kikwete said that what the Burmese military leaders
were doing was terrible and that the house arrest of Aung San
Suu Kyi for decades amounted to torture. While clearly
expressing his abhorrence of the Burmese regime, however, he
did not address whether the Security Council rather than the
Human Rights Commission was the proper forum.

Article 98: Still on the Table
--------------

8. (C) Discussing the promising expansion of U.S-Tanzanian
military-to-military relations, Ambassador Retzer informed
President Kikwete about the upcoming strategy conference
under the African Contingency Operations Training and
Assistance (ACOTA) program, and the October visit to Tanzania
of General Ward, Commander of European Command (EUCOM). The
Ambassador also directly raised the issue of Article 98,
saying that the USG and GOT should come to a decision on
whether there was a way to reach an agreement. The
Ambassador told Kikwete that the USG would need a signal from

DAR ES SAL 00001533 003 OF 004


GOT on its willingness to move forward. Kikwete replied that
he had asked his legal department to look at the Article 98
and "see what they might do," but that he was still waiting
for a report on its views. President Kikwete noted that both
General Ward's visit and the ACOTA Conference would be
welcome and beneficial.

Kikwete Now Ready to Begin Reconciliation on Zanzibar
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9. (C) After praising President Kikwete's role in the
Burundi peace process, Ambassador Retzer inquired about
progress on reconciliation efforts to help overcome
Zanzibar's political stalemate. Responding with greater
clarity and confidence than in past meetings (Ref A),Kikwete
told the Ambassador that movement on reconciliation would
become a top priority when he returned from the UNGA.
Kikwete explained that he had only been in office nine months
and had been busy getting his feet on the ground. "Now, I
feel satisfied and ready to take up the matter." He
emphasized that the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Central
Committee had recently come to an understanding that
something needed to happen on Zanzibar reconciliation and
that he had made "a firm decision to move ahead with the
process." President Kikwete assured the Ambassador that
"Before 2007, reconciliation efforts will be active on
Zanzibar."


10. (C) President Kikwete offered his own insight on the
root cause of Zanzibar's political distress: over-reliance on
the State. He explained that the political leadership on
Zanzibar put too much focus on the State instead of using
democratic means and good leadership. "In elective politics,
you may not be able to prevent change. There are limits to
what the State can and cannot do." Kikwete emphasized that
at the end of the day, in a democratic system, people want to
elect a good leader who they feel can help them sort out
their problems. The leader, however, must go out and
convince the people because it is the people who vote, not
the State."

Ambassador Congratulates GOT on MCA Compact Proposal
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11. (SBU) The Ambassador also congratulated President Kikwete
on the GOT's recent submission of its Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) Compact proposal. With a sigh of relief,
President Kikwete said that he was happy the GOT had
completed its component and exclaimed that "this type of
development was needed yesterday!" Ambassador Retzer noted
that if all goes well MCC Compact signing could take place
toward mid-to-late 2007. From his side, President Kikwete
said that he was looking for ways to expedite the process and
that if the topic were raised with President Bush, he would
like to extend an invitation to President Bush to visit
Tanzania for signing of the Compact.

Coming Soon: Four Proposals to Assist Presidential Office
-------------- --------------

12. (C) Finally, Ambassador Retzer updated President Kikwete
on his recent request for technical assistance to reform the
administration of Tanzania's Presidential Office (Ref A).
Ambassador Retzer explained that he would soon send President
Kikwete proposals from Harvard University, the National
Democratic Institute (NDI),Carnegie Mellon, and the
International Republican Institute (IRI) for his review.
Kikwete thanked the Ambassador and said he was looking
forward to seeing the proposals. "We want to build the
Presidency not the President," Kikwete stressed. "If you only
have the President, then you have to always be directing
people what to do; people don't take action in your absence,"
Kikwete added.

Comment: Bilateral Relations Continue to Blossom
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13. (C) With the news of President Kikwete's bilateral
meeting with President Bush, and open discussion on topics
ranging from Sudan, to expanded military-to-military
relations, to U.S. technical assistance for Tanzania's
President's Office, Ambassador Retzer's meeting with
President Kikwete reflected the warm and rapidly expanding

DAR ES SAL 00001533 004 OF 004


relationship between the U.S. and Tanzania. President
Kikwete expressed his excitement about meeting with President
Bush as well as the opportunity to participate in the
Democracy Roundtable, which he promised to attend. Of
particular note was Kikwete's offer to participate in a
Darfur peacekeeping force and Kikwete's marked change in tone
on Zanzibar. For the first time since assuming Presidency,
Kikwete set a timeframe for reconciliation activities to
begin - before January 2007 - and portrayed open and very
visible concern over the political impasse. We will continue
to keep an eye on developments there, and look for innovative
ways to support reconciliation. END COMMENT.
RETZER