LESOTHO: FRESH ATTACKS ON HOMES OF GOL MINISTER AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000353

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR AF/S, DS
GABARONE FOR RSO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM ASEC LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO: FRESH ATTACKS ON HOMES OF GOL MINISTER AND
OPPOSITION LEADER

REF: A) MASERU 340; B) MASERU 337; C) MASERU 94; D) MASERU 178

MASERU 00000353 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) SUMMARY: Only four days after the June 10 attack on the
residences of two government ministers, unidentified gunmen
carried out a new attack on the residence of Mothojoa Metsing,
Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, on the night
of June 14. Post sources indicated that the attackers fired
weapons randomly inside and outside the home and escaped in the
Minister's official vehicle, commandeered at gunpoint shortly
before the attack. Metsing and his family were home at the
time, but uninjured. On the same night, unknown assailants
sprayed the residence of Thomas Thabane, leader of the
opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC) political party, with
automatic gunfire. Thabane was also uninjured. This spate of
mysterious attacks on political figures, similar to attacks over
the past year and taking place in the background of an ongoing
SADC initiative to promote dialogue between the governing LCD
and opposition parties, is a highly disconcerting and troubling
development. END SUMMARY.



--------------

Another Minister's Residence Attacked

--------------


2. (U) According to the Office of the Commander of the Lesotho
Defense Force (LDF),a chauffer driving Minister of
Communications Mothojoa Metsing's official vehicle was returning
to the minister's residence in Maseru West on the evening of
June 14, after dropping off two bodyguards assigned to his
personal protective detail. At approximately 8:10 p.m., five
gunmen stopped and commandeered the Minister's vehicle at
gunpoint and instructed the driver to travel to Metsing's home.
Upon their arrival, the group disarmed two LDF guards who later
stated that they were initially unaware of anyone in the vehicle
other than the driver. The gunmen proceeded to fire automatic
rifles randomly at the residence's exterior windows and walls.
Several attackers are reported to have entered the house, firing
automatic weapons inside. Minister Metsing was reportedly in
his residence at the time of the attack, but was uninjured.


3. (U) The assailants left the residence in Minister Metsing's
official vehicle. The police were immediately notified, and a
search for the vehicle ensued. Just before 9:00 p.m., a fire
brigade unit of the Lesotho Mounted Police identified the
ministerial vehicle on a highway east of Maseru and attempted to
stop the carjackers. The gunmen opened fire on the fire truck
and forced it to stop (no reported injuries). Police found the
Minister's vehicle later that evening abandoned on the outskirts
of Maseru.


4. (U) A June 15 press release issued by Lesotho's Ministry of
Communications on the incident reads as follows: (informal
translation from Sesotho)

BEGIN TEXT:

The family of the Minister of Communications, Science and
Technology and government spokesperson Mothojoa Metsing was
attacked on the evening of Thursday, 14 June, 2007.

According to a report by the Minister's driver, five gunmen
traveling in an Isuzu pick-up bearing known registration numbers
(of which the owner is also known),blocked the Minister's car
which was traveling back to the residence after dropping off the
Minister's bodyguards at their homes. They tied the hands of
the driver, gagged him, and drove to the Minister's residence
where they fired randomly at the house.

No one was injured in this incident, but the Minister's
residence is riddled with bullets.

15 June, 2007

END TEXT.

--------------

The Thabane Factor

--------------


5. (U) In a separate incident also on the evening of June 14,
unknown gunmen also reportedly attacked the exterior of the
Maseru home of leading political opposition figure Thomas
Thabane with automatic rifles. On June 15, Thabane, a former

MASERU 00000353 002.2 OF 002


senior minister who left the governing LCD party to form the ABC
in October 2006, claimed on a private radio station broadcast
that gunmen had fired at the windows and walls of his home the
previous evening. He said that no one was injured, and called
for police to investigate the matter. On air, Thabane stressed
that his supporters should allow the judicial process to take
its course and urged ABC members not to interfere with ongoing
investigations.


6. (SBU) On June 14, prior to the attack on Thabane's house, the
UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) told Charge that the ABC leader
had called her to complain that authorities had earlier that day
disarmed his personal bodyguards despite, he claimed, their
legal and permitted possession of firearms. On June 15, the
Minister of Communications cancelled a scheduled meeting with
the UNRC, stating that the GOL was convening for an emergency
session, but provided no further details.


7. (U) Law enforcement authorities and the LDF responded to
these events by mounting roadblocks on all major roads to Maseru
on the morning of June 15. This move was criticized on local
radio call-in shows, a key barometer of public opinion, by
callers complaining that the lengthy searches for illegal
weapons resulted in morning traffic grinding to a standstill
without producing any public safety benefit.

--------------

A String of Similar Incidents

--------------


8. (SBU) COMMENT: The brazen June 14 attack on the Minister
Metsing's vehicle and residence was substantially similar to the
June 10 attacks, except that a great deal more damage was done
to Metsing's residence. These recent attacks bear similarly to
a November 2006 armed assault which killed a Dutch aid worker at
the residence of then Minister of Trade Malie, as well as to a
March 2007 attack on a home owned by Minister of Tourism Ntsinyi
and occupied by two American aid workers. While mere
speculation, some observers postulate that the attack on
Thabane's home may have been retribution by a pro-government
group for the attacks on GOL residences during the week. While
the Kingdom of Lesotho has shown many signs of increasing
political maturity, such as improved judicial independence, the
current attacks, taking place in the background of an ongoing
SADC initiative to promote dialogue between the governing LCD
and opposition parties, represent a highly disconcerting and
troubling development. END SUMMARY.
MURPHY