Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LIBREVILLE196
2006-03-30 11:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Libreville
Cable title:  

LONG-TERM REPUBLICAN GUARD COMMANDER REMOVED

Tags:  PGOV PINR GB 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0005
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLC #0196 0891144
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301144Z MAR 06 ZDK (MULITPLE REQUESTS FROM MULITPLE POSTS)
FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8922
INFO RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 1243
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0282
RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0892
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 0366
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0774
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0607
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000196 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
LONDON AND PARIS PLEASE PASS MILITARY ATTACHES
KINSHASA PASS BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR GB
SUBJECT: LONG-TERM REPUBLICAN GUARD COMMANDER REMOVED

REF: LIBREVILLE 0050

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASON 1.4 (B)

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000196

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
LONDON AND PARIS PLEASE PASS MILITARY ATTACHES
KINSHASA PASS BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR GB
SUBJECT: LONG-TERM REPUBLICAN GUARD COMMANDER REMOVED

REF: LIBREVILLE 0050

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASON 1.4 (B)


1. (C) General of the Army Andre Oyini, the commander of
the Gabonese Republican Guard for more than twenty years, was
quietly removed from his post along with several other senior
officers. Oyini was replaced by former Deputy Commander
Brigadier General Gregoire Kouna. The shakeup is
significant, as Gabonese observers believe Oyini was
unwilling to support Minister of Defense and presidential son
Ali Bongo's presidential ambitions. The Republican Guard
answers directly to the President, rather than the Defense
Ministry, and is the best paid and equipped Gabonese security
force. The removals would have been a presidential decision
and were announced in a general list of government
appointments in the national press without comment March 27.


2. (C) Other announced changes in the Guard include the
appointment of Commandant Emmanuel Mboumba Packou as the
Deputy Director General. Mboumba Packou visited US
intelligence facilities at Molesworth, UK, in January 2006 as
part of a Gabonese delegation invited by the US European
Command (reftel). The delegation was organized at the
request of Ali Bongo, and Bongo likely personally approved
the selection of other delegation members.


3. (C) Comment: Many believe the removal of Oyini and
others was done to solidify Ali Bongo's influence over the
security forces. The Republican Guard is outside Ali's chain
of command, but the substitutions bring in a new generation
of leadership perhaps much more supportive of the Defense
Minister and his allies. The elevation of Mboumba Packou,
who worked comfortably with a delegation likely containing
supporter of Ali, adds further credibility to that argument.

WALKLEY