FRENCH VIEW OF THE COMOROS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000692

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR D'ELIA AND RKANEDA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2017
TAGS: CN EAID FR PGOV PINR PREL
SUBJECT: FRENCH VIEW OF THE COMOROS

REF: ANTANANARIVO 685 AND PREVIOUS

ANTANANARI 00000692 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES GEORGE N. SIBLEY FOR REASONS 1.4 B,D


1. (C) French Ambassador to the Comoros, Christian Job, met
Charge July 9 in Moroni and provided an overview of
French-Comoran relations. According to Job, from the French
side the relationship is grounded in four facts. First, the
shared history dating from 1841. Second, legitimate French
interests in the Indian Ocean that they will defend
vigorously. Third, the large Comoran diaspora residing in
France. Fourth, the need to provide development assistance
in an effort to reduce the economic disparity between the
Union of the Comoros and the French administered island of
Mayotte, and thus to reduce -- or at least not to further
increase -- the magnet appeal of Mayotte for illegal
migration.


2. (C) Job remarked that some saw a competition between the
U.S. and France in the Comoros, but that he saw our interests
as being almost entirely aligned. He noted that a U.S. firm
(Frontier Resources) was conducting initial seismic surveys
in a search for oil within the Comoros' territorial waters,
but that he had earlier offered this opportunity to the
French oil giant Total who had shown no interest whatever in
the Comoran prospects. In reply, Charge noted that
ExxonMobil had likewise evinced no interest and expressed the
hope that the Government of the Comoros was not bearing any
of the exploration risk given the miniscule likelihood of
success. Rather than competing economic interests, Job
stressed our common interest in stability and in ensuring the
Comoros do not become a source of or haven for terrorists.


3. (C) As he has in the past, Job was highly critical of
Union President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, repeating his earlier
characterization of Sambi as an extremist Muslim cleric who
was seeking to radicalize the Comoros. Job noted that the
Comorans are all Muslims, but "relaxed" Muslims who do not
wear conservative dress or practice the religion rigorously.
In Job's view, Sambi intended to change that and the Comoran
people were likely to resent the President for doing so. In
fact, Job doubted that Sambi would last the remaining four
years of his term in office. Job noted that Sambi's
popularity was waning as the economy declined and as promised
aid from Muslim countries failed to materialize. In
particular, Job noted, there had been no follow through on
the aid promised by the large Iranian delegation who had
visited shortly after Sambi's inauguration.


4. (C) Job stressed that the French Government had no
interest in fomenting instability in the Comoros and was not
involved in any way in the power struggle on Anjouan. Charge
noted that Sambi has been careful -- in his public speech on
July 6 as well as in private meetings with us -- to
distinguish private French citizens who were believed to be
supporting rebel Anjouan warlord Mahamed Bacar as opposed to
the French Government which certainly was not. Job scoffed
at the notion that any French citizens, except perhaps some
of Comoran origin, would involve themselves in the Comoros'
internal affairs. Job said that, at the Union Government's
request, he had personally cancelled the French visa of
Mohamed Bacar's brother (and head of the Anjouan gendarmes)
the day before that individual was interdicted on Mayotte and
returned, by the French authorities, back to Anjouan. He was
not clear why the French honored one Union Government request
-- to cancel the visa -- but did not honor the other -- to
deliver Bacar's brother to the capital rather than back to
Anjouan. According to Job, Bacar's brother was not carrying
cash, the rumor that is extant throughout the Comoros.


5. (C) COMMENT and BIO NOTE. Wearing a bow tie and smoking
an enormous cheroot, Job is a bit of an eccentric and his
slightly condescending approach to the Comoros suggests a
yearning for the "good old days" when the French were lords
of the land. In this context, his ongoing critique of
President Sambi as a radical Islamist reflects -- from our
perspective at least -- an anti-Muslim bias that is not
confirmed in either Sambi's words or actions to date. Job
was frank in acknowledging that the French had hoped to see
former Vice President Caabi win the Union elections and
remained disappointed that Caabi had not even made it through
the primaries. Job comes out of the gendarmerie and has made
a late career specialty of small island entities, serving in
the Seychelles (1995-1998) and Wallis and Futuna (2002-2005)
before being named Ambassador to the Union of the Comoros.
After his mandatory retirement in 2008 he said he intends to
enter politics, noting he has ties to senior members of

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President Sarkozy's party. END COMMENT and BIO NOTE.
SIBLEY