Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ANTANANARIVO477
2007-05-21 13:41:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Antananarivo
Cable title:  

COMORAN PRESIDENT SEEKS HELP TO DISARM MILITIA

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM XA CN 
pdf how-to read a cable
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OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAN #0477/01 1411341
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 211341Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4796
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 0905
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
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RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
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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.

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
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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
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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