CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE: ASSISTANT SECRETARY JENDAYI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000586

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NOFORN
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2016
TAGS: PREL PINR UNSC ASEC AU CF
SUBJECT: CONGO/BRAZZAVILLE: ASSISTANT SECRETARY JENDAYI
FRAZER'S MEETING WITH REPUBLIC OF CONGO PRESIDENT AND
AFRICAN UNION CHAIRMAN DENIS SASSOU-NGUESSO

REF: A. KINSHASA 00499

B. KINSHASA 00350

C. KINSHASA 00015

Classified By: CDA Mark J. Biedlingmaier, Reasons 1.4(B)(D)


1. (C) Summary: Assistant Secretary Frazer met with
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Foreign Minister Rodolphe
Adada for a tour d'horizon of African Union issues on April 3
immediately prior to Sassou's departure for a four-nation
tour to Senegal, Nigeria, Benin and Ivory Coast. Dr. Frazer
congratulated Sassou-Nguesso on the recent World Bank
decision to grant HIPC debt relief to the Republic of Congo
and noted that difficult steps remain before Completion Point
could be achieved. She encouraged his efforts, as Chairman
of the African Union, to mediate conflict situations in
Darfur and Abidjan, and to endorse the participation of both
UN and NATO forces in the AMIS re-hatting exercise.
Sassou-Nguesso offered his views on Arab League support in
the Darfur region and shared a cautious assessment of the
Democratic Republic of Congo electoral process following two
recent meetings with President Kabila. Sassou-Nguesso
welcomed an opportunity to visit Washington, prior to the
June 28 - July 2 Banjul Summit
to discuss Darfur and his AU mandate with President Bush and
Secretary Rice. End Summary.

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2. (U) During a brief visit to Brazzaville, Republic of
Congo, Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer met with ROC
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Rodolphe Adada and Ambassador Martin Adouki, Foreign Policy
Advisor to the President, to discuss a broad range of African
Union and regional issues. Sassou-Nguesso delayed his
departure for Dakar, Senegal, by several hours to accommodate
this April 3 meeting with Dr. Frazer. Dr. Frazer was
accompanied by Charge d'affaires Mark Biedlingmaier, Special
Assistant Kendra Gaither, and Pol/FSN Brice Biabaro.


3. (C) Dr. Frazer opened the meeting by offering good wishes
from President Bush and congratulated Republic of Congo on
successful achievement of HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries Initiative) by the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund. Sassou-Nguesso stated that Congo had to thank
its many friends for this accomplishment, but added that
postponing Completion Point to the year 2008 could prove
risky and perhaps would allow too much time to make mistakes
in the process. He noted satisfaction in discussions held
with a visiting IMF team, March 22 - April 3, on the second
review under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)
arrangement. Sassou-Nguesso stated that the Republic of
Congo was under great pressure and that it would make a "best
effort" to strengthen good governance, reach international
standards in the transparent use of Congo's natural
resources, and establish a consultative committee under the
Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) to oversee
oil-related transact
ions.


4. (C) Turning to ROC's participation on the United Nations
Security Council (UNSC),Frazer complimented Sassou-Nguesso
on the excellent cooperation received to date from the Congo
Permament Representative based in New York. The President
replied that he had had extended conversations with the
PermRep, Ambassador Basile Ikouebe, during the visit of UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan to Brazzaville, March 19-21, and

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took this opportunity to map-out a strategy on several
critical issues, e.g., Darfur, Ivory Coast, and the
anticipated June elections in Democratic Republic of Congo.


5. (C) Dr. Frazer stated that, following meetings in
Kinshasa the preceeding day, she was concerned by reports
that the DRC election might be postponed beyond the current
June 18 date. Sassou-Nguesso, who had met privately with
Joseph Kabila on March 31, noted that DRC Vice President
Azarias Ruberwa had decided to register for the elections,
while UPADS representative, Etienne Tshisekedi, had declined
to do so. He added that, although the security situation had
improved since 2003, difficulties remained in the Kivu,
Katanga and Ituri regions, and that negotiations with the LRA
(La Resistance Seigneur) on the Uganda border would need to
continue in full force. In response to Sassou-Nguesso's
query as to whether it was a good sign or bad sign that
Tshisekedi had decided not to register for the elections,

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Frazer replied that it was a bad sign, however, he should not
be allowed to be as a "spoiler" to the overall process.
Sassou-Nguesso concurred and likened Saketti to a "small
pebble (irritant) in one's sho
e."

KINSHASA 00000586 002 OF 002




6. (C) Dr. Frazer praised the strong engagement of Foreign
Minister Adada to resolve the Sudan/Darfur crisis, noting in
particular passage of the AU Peace and Security Council
decision of March 10 and UNSC Resolution 1663 of March 24.
Sassou-Nguesso replied that the Government of Sudan maintains
that a UN presence in Darfur is unnecessary and lobbied
forcefully for Arab League support of AMIS to thwart the
March 24 decision endosing rehatting of the troops. Frazer
noted that the UN is already present in the South, East and
other transition areas, and that AU and NATO teams worked
constructively in 2005 on strategic airlift support,
planning, training, intelligence and other forms of
assistance. She added that Sassou-Nguesso, as Chairman of
the African Union, should work with Salim and others to
advance the peace plan and that President Bush wished to move
quickly on humanitarian aid and efforts to strengthen AMIS
troops with NATO assets.


7. (C) Sassou-Nguesso explained that the AU has been totally
preoccupied with the Chad/Sudan combat frontier and that in
his meeting with Qadhafi in Tripoli, the warring parties
agreed not to destabilize the region. He added that the
Republic of Congo had already sent twelve advisors to the
border region and that he would propose to Qadhafi, during a
meeting scheduled later that day in Dakar, deploying an
observer contingent to the area. Sassou-Nguesso stated that,
in recent telephone contacts with Bashir and Qadhafi, Bashir
(and the Sudanese Parliament) expressed strong disagreement
to the presence of UN troops in Darfur. Bashir was
apparently encouraged by the Arab League in Khartoum to
accept a USD $150 million contribution to AU operations in
Darfur; however, Sassou-Nguesso believed that this initiative
was a bad approach and took steps to ensure that the decision
of the AU and UNSC would prevail. He stressed that financial
assistance to the AU for the next six months would be crucial
to preclude ins
tability prior to expiry of the AMIS mandate in Darfur.


8. (C) Sassou-Nguesso admitted that the intended
intervention of the Arab League was a sensitive issue and
that the period of transition, with deployment of 7000
troops, should be similar to the deployment facilitated
earlier in Burundi. He stated that he met recently with
members of the Sudanese opposition movement JEM (Justice and
Equality Movement),led by Mohammed Khalil, and separately on
March 30 with former Burundian President Pierre Boyoya, to
discuss probable scenarios for UN troop presence under AU
management coordinated by Peace and Security Council Chairman
Konare. Sassou-Nguesso advised the USG to proceed cautiously
on NATO engagement as he believed the Arab League would
exploit this intervention to maximum public relations value
and thereby seek to influence fence-sitters in the region.
He recommended that the sides take advantage of this six
month "experimental period" to accelerate talks in Abuja with
representatives of JEM, Bashir and Obasanjo, and to
concentrate on humanitarian support t
o the refugees who have been displaced during this crisis.


9. (C) Dr. Frazer closed the meeting by emphasizing
President Bush's commitment to alleviating the suffering of
the displaced refugees and his strong belief that NATO should
assist the efforts of AMIS and UN peacekeepers in the region
with planning, logistics, intelligence, and communication
resources. She explained that UN troops were spread thin
along the southern border region and that it would be unwise
to withdraw or redeploy assets at this time. Sassou-Nguesso
said he would welcome the opportunity to discuss these
issues, and his mandate as Chairman of the African Union,
with President Bush and Secretary Rice prior to the scheduled
June 28 - July 2 Summit in Banjul.


10. (U) Brazzaville Embassy Office - Biedlingmaier


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