LESOTHO: DIPLOMATIC PUNCHES, HUGS, AND QUESTIONS FOLLOW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000626

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR AF/S

TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR PINS OFDP LY LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO: DIPLOMATIC PUNCHES, HUGS, AND QUESTIONS FOLLOW
LIBYAN ENVOY'S EXPULSION

REF: MASERU 621

MASERU 00000626 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Following revocation of the Libyan Ambassador
to Lesotho's credentials (REFTEL) on December 13, both Lesotho's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Libya's Embassy in Maseru
issued statements regarding the unusual expulsion. While the
GOL issued a strongly worded press release, it also included
language hinting that the move had been coordinated with the
Libyan government and may cause only limited damage to the
bilateral Lesotho-Libyan relationship. The polite Libyan
statement reinforced this impression. In the background, rumors
swirl that the whole affair was caused by ties between the
Libyan Ambassador and former Cabinet Member Thomas Thabane, who
poses a strong challenge to Lesotho's governing party in the
February 2007 national elections. END SUMMARY.

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Are All Politics (and Expulsions) Local?
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2. (SBU) As detailed in reftel, the credentials of Libya's
Ambassador to Lesotho, Mohamed Algamudi, were revoked on
December 13 (and the Libyan envoy departed Lesotho on December
17). While Maseru's pundits and local journalists have advanced
various theories on this unusual expulsion, drawing on a laundry
list of alleged negative personal and professional behavior
attributed to Algamudi, the strongest thread remains with those
now public rumors linking the affair to the Libyan Ambassador's
connections with former Cabinet Member Thomas Thabane. Thabane,
now leader of a fledgling opposition party, is predicted to pose
a strong challenge to Lesotho's governing party in the February
2007 national elections. Such rumors led Thabane to publicly
state this weekend at a political rally in Mafeteng that, while
he had long been friends with Algamudi, the Libyan Ambassador
had disagreed with Thabane in October over his prospective split
from the governing LCD party. Thabane maintained that the
Ambassador has not spoken to him thereafter.

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Lesotho MFA's Muscular Statement
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3. (U) On December 15, Lesotho's MFA issued the following press
release:

(BEGIN TEXT)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to make the following
announcement:

Due to persistent abuse of diplomatic privileges and flagrant
violation of municipal and international law, the Government of
Lesotho no longer find Libya's Ambassador to the Kingdom of
Lesotho, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Algamudi, acceptable as a
person holding a diplomatic immunity appointment in this country.

Consequently, arrangements are being made by both the
Governments of Lesotho and Libya to assist the Ambassador to
wind up and take leave of Lesotho on Sunday 17th December, 2006.

Both Governments remain committed to strengthening further the
already cordial relations existing between them.

(END TEXT)

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Libya's Demure Statement
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4. (U) Also on December 15, the Libyan Embassy in Maseru
released a statement to Maseru's diplomatic community, which
included the following language on the departure of Ambassador
Algamudi:

(BEGIN TEXT)

The Libyan People's Bureau of the Great Socialist Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya~.. has the honor to inform them that Mr. Mohamed F.
Algamudi, the Ambassador of the Libyan People's Bureau, will be
going home.

Mr. Abdulali H. I. Fadlallah, the Assistant Secretary for
Cooperation, will be the acting Charge d' Affairies [sic] ad
interim.

(END TEXT)

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Relations Intact... Thabane Backed?
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5. (SBU) COMMENT: While the MFA statement regarding Ambassador
Algamudi was strong, the positive language about Lesotho-Libyan
relations and Libya's placid response seem to indicate minimal
collateral damage inflicted to the bilateral relationship.
However, the real emerging story may prove to lie in how far the
Government of Lesotho will go to demonstrate ties between the
Libyans and Thomas Thabane, who it perceives as perhaps the most
capable and threatening political adversary in the upcoming
national elections. In one of several recent examples of the
latter, on December 17, authorities detained a bodyguard of
Thabane on suspicion of illegal firearm possession. Although
the individual was released after producing a valid permit,
Thabane's ABC party perceived the move as political harassment.
END COMMENT.


PERRY
MURPHY