COMORAN PRESIDENT SEEKS HELP TO DISARM MILITIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000477 SIPDIS SIPDIS ADDIS FOR AMBASSADOR COURVILLE DEPT FOR AF/E AND AF/FO DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF/E RMEDRANO PARIS FOR D'ELIA PRETORIA FOR POL COUNSELOR E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM XA CN SUBJECT: COMORAN PRESIDENT SEEKS HELP TO DISARM MILITIA REF: ANTANANARIVO 454 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: AMBASSADOR JAMES D. MCGEE FOR REASONS 1.4B AND D. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador McGee met May 19 with Union of the Comoros President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, high-level Union officials, and island presidential candidates on both Grand Comores and Anjouan to urge all parties to work towards free, fair, transparent, and peaceful elections in the upcoming island presidential polls. Union officials and candidates agreed that disarming the forces on Anjouan would be the key to maintaining peace and stability on the islands. Sambi expressed concern the African Union (AU) is moving slowly in implementing the terms of the May 13 agreement brokered by the AU in Durban (reftel) and sought U.S. assistance in breaking the logjam. Former Island "President" Mohamed Bacar still seems to be calling the shots in Anjouan, hiding behind a weak interim president. END SUMMARY. UNION OFFICIALS BELIEVE DISARMING ANJOUAN IS THE KEY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (C) President Sambi, Vice President Idi Nadhoim, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ben Said Jaffar insisted to the Ambassador the key to maintaining peace on Anjouan lies in disarming the militia. They said all of the other inter-island jurisdictional concerns are manageable. AU forces are currently planning to stay in Anjouan through July 31, but Union officials are concerned Bacar and his followers, if still armed, will just lay low until after their departure; disarming Bacar's militia is the only permanent solution to stop the cycle of instability. With the exception of Bacar, all of the candidates with whom the Ambassador met subsequently on Anjouan agreed the militia must be disarmed and pledged to do so immediately if elected. ¶3. (C) Sambi expressed concern the AU is moving slowly in implementing the terms of the May 13 agreement brokered by the AU. Although a team of 14 South African police recently conducted an assessment mission on Anjouan, there is still no AU military presence on the island to dissuade troublemakers. Union officials hope the AU will provide as many as 250 soldiers to cover the 400 polling stations on Anjouan, but noted the financial constraints of the organization may preclude this. Jaffar requested USG assistance in lobbying partners, including the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, who could provide financial or material support. ¶4. (U) Sambi welcomed the news the USG is considering providing military training for Union soldiers, establishing a civic education program after the elections, and expanding its education program. Welcoming the warming of relations and increased frequency of high-level USG visitors, Sambi hopes the two countries can make progress on the topics raised at the May 19 bilateral talks, saying, "We need everyone's help in order for development in the Comoros to take off." ¶5. (C) When asked about France's role in recent problems on Anjouan, Sambi said official French actors have worked closely and sincerely with the international community to resolve the problem -- "We do not suspect them." However, he said, "we know 100 percent" there are Comorans on Mayotte with unofficial French connections who are working to destabilize the islands. ¶6. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's question about the problem of illegal shell banks on Anjouan, Sambi requested USG assistance in identifying the names of Comorans hiding laundered money in foreign banks. The Union Government recently requested international arrest warrants from the Court of Justice for ANTANANARI 00000477 002 OF 002 individuals, at least one of whom is a French citizen living in Reunion, for offshore bank activity. BACAR STILL CALLS THE SHOTS IN ANJOUAN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (C) In Anjouan, Ambassador McGee met with Interim Island President Dhoihiri Halidi and his staff for a discussion indicative of where power lies in Anjouan. Halidi stayed largely silent, while Bacar's former staffers - all of whom are still working at the presidency - did most of the talking. They complained Union officials are publicly against Bacar, citing a recent speech by Vice President Idi encouraging Anjouan residents to vote Bacar out of power. Insisting free, fair and peaceful elections are the only way to resolve problems in Anjouan, they requested election observers arrive on the ground as soon as possible to guarantee the transparency of the elections. ¶8. (U) In a brief private meeting with Ambassador McGee, former Island President and current presidential candidate Bacar said all of the right things, agreeing Anjouan needs free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections. Claiming the recent violence on Anjouan during the first week of May was instigated by Union officials at odds with the constitution, he explained quite unbelievably how the death of the Union soldier was due to "accidental drowning" rather than a shooting. Bacar is the only candidate who is already campaigning and he appears to believe he can win -- by hook or by crook. COMMENT: DEMOCRACY'S BIRTH PANGS; MIDWIFE NEEDED - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶9. (C) The May 13 agreement arranged by AU Envoy Madeira has brought a tense peace to the islands, but seems to have done little to assuage the concerns of Union officials or Anjouan presidential candidates about Bacar's power-hungry tendencies. Bacar cleverly pays lip service to the international community's demands but is still calling the shots on Anjouan. Both the Union Government and the candidates on Anjouan urged rapid deployment of a robust AU presence to ensure a fair electoral process as well as peace before, during, and after the upcoming election. They also expressed concern that without support -- and specifically U.S. support -- the AU might have difficulty meeting its obligations. The AU has a substantial investment in Comoros' nascent democracy -- an investment that paid off spectacularly in last year's free and fair Union presidential election. The process, however, is not complete. As long as Bacar can use the island police force as his own private militia, democracy in the Comoros will run the risk of being stillborn. Given that every one of the candidates on Anjouan, except Bacar, expressed a readiness to give up the weapons, the problem is not a desire for secession on the part of the people of Anjouan; rather, it is a power grab on the part of the island warlord. With less than three weeks to go before island presidential elections, any possible support the Department can offer to expedite deployment of AU military personnel and observers will be deeply appreciated by the people and the government of the Comoros. END COMMENT. McGEE McGEE