ALGERIAN MFA PRAISES NEGROPONTE REMARKS IN MALI,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001724

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2022
TAGS: AG MA PREL PTER
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN MFA PRAISES NEGROPONTE REMARKS IN MALI,
SAYS MALI WILL BE TOUGHER ON ALGERIAN TERROR GROUPS

Classified By: Ambassador Robert Ford, reason 1.4 (b) and (d)

. (C) SUMMARY: A senior Algerian MFA official told the
Ambassador November 28 that Algerian President Bouteflika
highlighted border security issues during the November 25-26
visit of Malian President Toure to Algiers. Reportedly,
Bouteflika pressed Toure to do more to confront Algerian
terrorist groups circulating in northern Mali, and Toure
agreed. (In this regard, MFA officials expressed
appreciation for remarks made by Deputy Secretary Negroponte
during his recent visit to Bamako.) Bouteflika also pressed
the Malian President to ensure the implementation of the
terms of the Algiers Accord brokered between the Malian
Government and Tuareg rebels. The MFA official said this
would include more meetings of the existing security
follow-up group and the establishment of a new economic
development group. The official said that Algeria is
watching U.S. military engagement with the Malians and is
comfortable with it since the GoA wants Mali to develop more
capable security forces. Meanwhile, the MFA official said
the GoA is watching with concern the instability in northern
Niger as well, especially after a November 8 attack on a
small Algerian airport by a group coming out of Niger.
Algeria, he stated, doubts that the Niger government has the
security resources to repress Nigerien Tuaregs and should cut
a political deal like the Malian President did. End Summary.

--------------
ALGERIA WANTS MORE BORDER SECURITY
--------------


2. (C) MFA African Affairs Director General Chergui
(Assistant Secretary equivalent) told the Ambassador on
November 28 that Algerian President Bouteflika pressed hard
on border security issues during the visit of Mali President
Toure. There were two aspects, according to Chergui.
Bouteflika raised the circulation of Algerian-related
terrorist groups in northern Mali and urged Toure to be more
forceful in confronting them. Toure allegedly agreed. (In
this regard, Chergui pointed to the remarks made by Deputy
Secretary Negroponte in Mali and said Algeria entirely agreed

SIPDIS
with their thrust.)


3. (C) Bouteflika also emphasized to the Malian President
that the GoM must move forward on implementing the Algiers
Accord concerning the Tuareg rebels. According to Chergui,
the ceasefire in northern Mali is holding. Chergui, said
Algeria hopes to have more good news about the ceasefire in
the next weeks. (Comment: He likely was hinting at Malian
prisoner releases. End Comment.) Chergui said that as per
the Algiers Accord, the three-party committee overseeing
security arrangements is to meet regularly. Also as
envisaged in the Accord, the Malian Government has stood up
two "special units" of Tuareg fighters to help police the
border area. Algeria, he said, hopes for more such units,
especially as Bamako has now recognized the principle of
"special units." Chergui added that there will be a new,
second commission to concentrate on economic development
issues in northern Mali. Again, the Malian Government, the
Tuareg Alliance and Algeria will be represented. The
commission is to enable the Tuaregs to decide upon local
projects in their region and get help implementing them,
according to Chergui.

--------------
BOUTEFLIKA WARNS OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE
--------------


4. (C) Ambassador asked Chergui about Bouteflika's odd
remark warning Toure against "foreign interference" during
his November 26 official welcoming remarks. (Comment: Both
el-Watan and el-Khabr newspapers here, both very respected,
have reported that Bouteflika was warning Mali not to engage
with the U.S. military. End Comment.) Chergui was adamant
that Bouteflika was not referring to the United States. Like
the U.S., he said, the GoA wants to see a strong and united
Mali and it wants to see Mali develop a stronger security
capability. Chergui pointed to Bouteflika's pledge of
support to a regional conference that the Malian Government
has proposed to address Sahel stability issues. Libya, he
claimed, is seeking to be included in such a conference and
Bouteflika told Toure in private that the attendance should
be limited to Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Algeria. Algeria
did not think Libya should be at the meeting, nor should
France or the U.S. This was the "foreign interference" to

ALGIERS 00001724 002 OF 002


which Bouteflika was referring, according to the MFA
official. Chergui welcomed U.S. efforts to train Malian
forces and added that if Algeria sees the U.S. activities in
Mali with which it is uncomfortable, it will not hesitate to
inform us.

--------------
NIGER: GOA URGING PRUDENCE ON NIAMEY
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador pointed to a recent report in el-Watan
newspaper here about the November 8 attack on a military
aircraft at Djannet airport in southeastern Algeria and asked
if the GoA had confirmed that the attackers had come in from
and fled back to Niger. Chergui said this was his
understanding, although he hastened to add he did not always
have the latest security information. He said that Algeria
viewed the arms trafficking and instability in northern Niger
much as it did the arms trafficking and instability in
northern Mali. Another Tuareg group, this time the MNJ, has
social and economic demands, he stated. Nigerien President
Tandja refuses to negotiate with the MNJ. Instead, he seeks
a security solution, but he lacks the resources to repress
the Tuaregs in the region. Algeria has told the Nigeriens
that they should accept that they need a political solution
much as Toure had accepted the need in Mali. At the same
time, Chergui underlined, the GoA would not "accept" any
Tuareg effort in Niger or Mali to establish a separatist
movement. Algeria strongly supports the unity of all the
Sahel states, he underlined. The MNJ, he added, has no
separatist agenda and should be a reasonable negotiating
partner.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) Chergui is usually very well-informed on Algerian
policy on Africa even though large segments of the execution
of policy fall to the Algerian security establishment. As
the Ambassador was going into his office, Chergui was bidding
good-bye to the Algerian ambassador to Bamako, Abdelkrim
Ghraib. In a brief chat before Ambassador sat with Chergui,
Ghraib also praised Deputy Secretary Negroponte's public
remarks in Bamako and said he thought Algeria and the U.S.
were working well together on Sahel stability issues. The
November 26 meeting between Bouteflika and Toure lasted about
two hours longer than planned, but Chergui wanted to paint a
picture of broad agreement between the two men. We defer to
our colleagues in Bamako about whether the Malians saw such a
convergence. Looking at Bouteflika's public remarks November
26 and Chergui's comments in private, it appears to us that
the Algerians were quite forceful in urging Bamako to do more
on security and to facilitate Tuareg cooperation on security
to be more forthcoming on the Tuareg demands included in the
Algiers Accord.
FORD