ANGOLA DENIES IT IS SENDING POLICE TO ZIMBABWE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUANDA 000288 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S LONDON AND PARIS FOR AF WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ZI AO SUBJECT: ANGOLA DENIES IT IS SENDING POLICE TO ZIMBABWE REF: LUANDA 252 Classified By: Amb. Cynthia Efird for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Angolan government has officially denied it is sending 3000 police militia to Zimbabwe. The denials come in response to a report originating on TalkZimbabwe.com following a visit by Angolan Interior Minister Roberto Leal Monteiro, &Ngongo8 to Zimbabwe, which has since been repeated by news services around the world, including the Times of London. Minister Monteiro categorically denied to Ambassador Efird on March 21, 2007 that Angola was sending police troops. In addition, the Angolan Chief of Police has issued formal statements denying the report and the Angolan Embassy in Harare has also issued a statement calling the story &completely false.8 End Summary. ¶2. (U) Background: Angolan Minister of Interior Roberto Leal Monteiro, &Ngongo,8 traveled to Zimbabwe from March 14th to March 17th to meet with his GOZ counterpart. His visit also followed a two-hour airport stop-over of President Mugabe to Luanda on March 7, 2007 on his return from the independence ceremonies in Ghana. While in Harare, Monteiro signed a cooperation agreement with the GOZ on stemming international criminal activity such as trafficking and smuggling of precious metals. However, an article on Talk Zimbabwe.com alleged that Monteiro pledged to supply 3000 Angolan police officers to help quell the violence in Zimbabwe. This article has been picked up and repeated in western news services. The Minister and others Deny the Report -------------- ¶3. (SBU) When the first report surfaced on March 19, 2007, Ambassador Efird immediately called Minister Monteiro to question him on the report. His Chief of Staff conveyed the Minister,s denial and at that time Amb. Efird strongly suggested to the Minister that the GRA issue a strong denial. On March 21, 2007 Ambassador Efird met with Minister Monteiro to discuss the issue and he categorically denied the report. He stated that he normally meets on a semi-annual basis with his GOZ counterpart, and that meeting which had been originally planned for December was postponed due to the death of the Zimbabwean Minister,s mother at the end of last year. It was rescheduled to follow-on his trip to Kinshasa to examine some Angolan-DRC border issues. Monteiro told the Ambassador, &Zimbabwe can handle its problems on its own.8 The Angolan Embassy in Harare sent a letter to Talk Zimbabwe.com calling the report &completely false8 and provided the Diplomatic Corps in Harare with copies of the letter. The letter reinforced that the bilateral accords signed dealt with the exchange of best practices and did not pertain to police reinforcements. The Angolan Chief of Police has also denied the report on Angolan television and radio. ¶4. (C) Embassy Comment: Few in Angola, including government officials and opposition members, believe that Angola has the capacity to deploy 3000 police to Harare. Further, the GRA normally reacts cautiously and prudently with regard to its southern African neighbors. Given the international attention on Zimbabwe, we believe it highly unlikely that the GRA would take such a step. However, it is assumed that President Mugabe, relying on his personal relationship with President dos Santos, as the two longest standing Presidents in southern Africa, requested assistance - fuel and cash - during his two-hour visit at the Luanda airport. It is also likely that part of Monteiro,s trip to Zimbabwe was also to evaluate first-hand the situation in Harare to inform the President,s decision on the request for humanitarian assistance. Ambassador Efird has demarched President dos Santos on Zimbabwe (Reftel A) and is awaiting an appointment with the Minister of External Relations who returned from bilateral meetings in Portugal only yesterday (March 21, 2007). End Comment. EFIRD