Liberia Partners Forum -- Guinea

UNCLAS CONAKRY 000040 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EB/IFD/ODF - EMILY WAECHTER TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF AFRICAN NATIONS E.O. 12598: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON PPOL PREL PBTS EAID GV LI SL SUBJECT: Liberia Partners Forum -- Guinea REFS: (A) 06 State 201818 (B) 06 Conakry 1711 (C) 12/22/06 Winn-Davis e-mails ¶1. On January 9, Poloff delivered demarche on the Liberia Partners Forum (Ref A) to Ambassador Mamady Traore, Political Counselor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Traore saluted the U.S. efforts to support rebuilding Liberia but cautioned that any instability in the region would stymie progress. Traore urged us to look at Liberia through the lens of the recently re-invigorated Mano River Union (MRU). ¶2. Traore said the recent MRU conference (Ref B) demonstrated that Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are seeking common solutions to development and rebuilding. He said that Liberia's conflict severely impacted Guinea - with the long-term effect of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees weakening its economic and social institutions. Traore said the Partners Forum should include pledges of support for Guinea and Sierra Leone as well. ¶3. Traore said that to his knowledge, Guinea has not received any direct information or an invitation package for the Forum. He said that if the government receives an invitation, he is confident that it would deploy a delegation from Guinea or be represented by the Guinean embassy in Washington. Poloff promised to follow up with Traore and provide any additional information we have available. ¶4. Comment. We do not expect Guinea to provide any funding to Liberia. However, there may be assistance that Guinea and its neighbors can provide to otherwise support Liberian rebuilding. Post encourages Forum organizers to include time in the program to initiate ideas about non-traditional assistance from nations in the region. MCDONALD