COTE D'IVOIRE: DEMARCHE ON BUILDING SUPPORT FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000298 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/S FOR STEVE HILL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM ZI IV SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: DEMARCHE ON BUILDING SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE REF: SECSTATE 34009 Classified By: EconChief EMassinga Reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) EmbOff demarched Ambassador Bernard Tanoh-Boutchoue, Director of the MFA Office of UN and International Organizations, on U.S. concerns related to the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe as described in reftel. Ambassador Boutchoue and the Ivorian government were well aware of the situation, and privately confided the government's latest offenses against the opposition were deplorable. ¶2. (C) Boutchoue cautioned, however, that African continental politics make a public condemnation difficult. The Ambassador was much more positive about the possibility Cote d'Ivoire could lend its support to efforts in the UN's Human Rights Council to address the situation there. Boutchoue said he would raise the topic with the Foreign Minister as soon as he returned from meetings in Ouagadougou (related to the ongoing Ivorian "direct dialogue" being mediated by Burkina President Compaore) during the evening of March 20. Hooks