Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MASERU487
2007-08-14 23:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Maseru
Cable title:
THE LESOTHO LIBERATION ARMY (LLA): BACK FOR MORE?
how-toVZCZCXRO0362 OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHRN DE RUEHMR #0487/01 2262301 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 142301Z AUG 07 FM AMEMBASSY MASERU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3272 INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 3665
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MASERU 000487
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR AF/S;
GABORONE FOR RSO;
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ASEC PINS PTER LT
SUBJECT: THE LESOTHO LIBERATION ARMY (LLA): BACK FOR MORE?
REF: a) Maseru 436; b) Maseru 439
MASERU 00000487 001.2 OF 003
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MASERU 000487
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR AF/S;
GABORONE FOR RSO;
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ASEC PINS PTER LT
SUBJECT: THE LESOTHO LIBERATION ARMY (LLA): BACK FOR MORE?
REF: a) Maseru 436; b) Maseru 439
MASERU 00000487 001.2 OF 003
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Lesotho Liberation Army, or LLA, is an
aging insurgent group dating back to the 1970's which appeared
to rest in obscurity until several of its former members were
recently implicated in attacks on ministerial residences. Born
out of opposition to the dictatorship of post-independence
Lesotho, the LLA launched a guerilla war against the GOL in 1978
and was largely defeated in 1979. After sporadic LLA bombings
and ambushes in the 1980's, the group was called back to Lesotho
from exile in Botswana and South Africa in 1990, but the Lesotho
Defense Forces (LDF) reneged on offers to fold its ranks into
the regular military. There is no evidence to indicate that the
purported reemergence of the LLA is anything more than a handful
of jobless former insurgents, with no identifiable political
support, reduced to begging for handouts. Their apparent
involvement in recent attacks, however, either undermines the
GOL's adamant theory that elected opposition parties are the
sole perpetrators or suggests that the political parties may be
hiring local mercenaries to weaken the LCD government. END
SUMMARY.
--------------
Guns Reclaimed, LLA Responsible?
--------------
2. (U) In the early morning of July 19, 2007, the Lesotho
Defense Forces (LDF) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service
(LMPS) launched a joint operation east of Maseru in an attempt
to recover weapons stolen from military guards at ministerial
residences in June 2007 (ref A). Military and police forces
recovered eight Israeli-made Galilee rifles, two M-16 rifles, a
9 mm pistol, two army radios, and an assortment of ammunition
during the operation. A man named Kantu Pakela was arrested
during the action, and another man named Setsoto Ranthimo was
killed during a firefight with authorities. According to police
sources, a cab driver who transported the two men tipped off
police after he suspected the men were carrying rifles. The
remaining weapons were found in a derelict house along with two
boxes of AK47 ammunition, and an assortment of military-style
clothing and equipment. The LMPS later verified that the
recovered weapons were among those stolen in the June 2007
attacks.
3. (U) In a separate operation, Thabiso Mahase, the estranged
husband of High Court Judge Mahase, was found with a cache of
illegal weapons. In this operation, Judge Mahase's home was
searched by police, leading to an outcry among opposition
figures and the Lesotho Law Society who claimed that the search
was related to her recent rulings against the GOL (ref B).
Thabiso Mahase is still at large. According to police, the link
between Kantu Pakela, Setsoto Ranthimo, and Thabiso Mahase is
their well known status as former members of the LLA. But what
is the Lesotho Liberation Army?
--------------
The History: The LLA is Born
--------------
4. (U) In January 1970, Lesotho held its first general election
following attainment of independence in 1966. Fearing that the
governing Basotho National Party (BNP) would be defeated, Prime
Minister Leabua Jonathan declared a state of emergency and
suspended the constitution prior to the announcement of election
results. Under pressure from cabinet members and paramilitary
leaders, Jonathan jailed opposition leaders. The 1970 election
was annulled and Jonathan ruled Lesotho by decree.
--------------
Coups and Defeats
--------------
MASERU 00000487 002.2 OF 003
5. (U) Militants within the opposition Basotholand Congress
Party (BCP) led by Ntsu Mokhele attempted to stage a coup in
1974 and fled into exile after its failure. The coup attempt
strengthened the government's hand and cast the BCP as a violent
faction, reducing its domestic standing. The BCP then created
the LLA as its armed wing. Masquerading as the Azanian People's
Liberation Army (APLA),the paramilitary wing of the
anti-apartheid Pan African Congress (PAC),the LLA received
military training in Libya. The group whose membership numbered
in the hundreds then moved to Tanzania, whose government
disarmed the group following a protest from the Government of
Lesotho. In 1978, 178 members of the LLA entered Lesotho with
outdated weapons to launch a guerilla war. The majority of
these guerillas were defeated by the Lesotho Paramilitary Force
(a predecessor to the current armed forces, the LDF) and
Lesotho's Police Mobile Unit in northern Lesotho in 1979.
6. (U) The then-BCP leader subsequently sought assistance for
the LLA from the apartheid regime in South Africa. South
African-based American mercenary Bob MacKenzie began training
new LLA recruits. [NOTE: Mr. MacKenzie was the son-in-law of
senior Nixon-era CIA official Ray Steiner Cline, leading to a
number of wild conspiracy theories regarding U.S. involvement in
LLA activities. END NOTE.] Because of Lesotho's heavy
criticism of the apartheid regime, South Africa began to allow
the LLA to use its territory to launch attacks against the
Mountain Kingdom.
--------------
A Tool of the Apartheid Regime
--------------
7. (U) Throughout the early 1980's, the LLA claimed
responsibility for periodic bombings in Maseru, ambushes of
government officials, and attacks on police stations. The South
African government denied the GOL's claims that the LLA launched
attacks from their territory. Prime Minister Jonathan became
increasingly strident in his anti-apartheid proclamations, and
relations with South Africa continued to deteriorate. This
deterioration reached a new low on December 9, 1982, when South
African troops entered Lesotho and raided the homes of alleged
African National Congress (ANC) members in Maseru, killing 42
individuals.
8. (U) The BNP government ruled by decree until January 20,
1986 when a military junta overthrew it. The Military Council
that came to power granted executive authority to King
Moshoeshoe II, who was previously a ceremonial monarch. In
1989, exiled BCP members, including LLA soldiers, began
returning to Lesotho under the new government's national
reconciliation policy. Military government chairman Major
General Justin Metsing Lekhanya was ousted in 1991 and replaced
by Major General Elias Phisoana Ramaema. Rameama ceded power to
a democratically elected BCP government in 1993.
--------------
LLA Disbands, But Find No Home
--------------
9. (U) As a condition for the return of the LLA and other
exiled BCP members to Lesotho, the LLA agreed to disband and be
incorporated into the LDF. However, widespread opposition
within the LDF to this integration led to unrest in the army
culminating in fighting among opposing army factions in January
1994. In the aftermath of this confrontation, the LDF did not
allow LLA members to be folded into their ranks. While some
former LLA members found jobs in government (including several
as members of Parliament) and in the private sector, most were
unemployed and left to fend for themselves without government
support. In letters to donors, they reported becoming
disillusioned by the lack of support from the new GOL.
MASERU 00000487 003.2 OF 003
10. (U) In 1997, the ruling BCP split, and most LLA members
remained with the BCP rather than joining the new factions.
Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party, the Lesotho
Congress for Democracy (LCD),and created a new government with
the support of a majority of Parliament. Pakalitha Mosisili
(Lesotho's current Prime Minister) then succeeded Mokhehle as
party leader, and the LCD won the general elections in 1998.
Opposition political parties rejected the election results,
however, leading to a downward spiral ending in political
meltdown and the burning of large portions of Maseru. Amid the
chaos of 1998, former LLA members appealed to the government to
no avail to address their needs.
--------------
Begging for Support, Getting Little
--------------
11. (U) In September 2004, ex-LLA members launched the Lesotho
Liberation Army Veterans Association (LLAVA). A steering
committee wrote a letter to the BCP and all of its splinter
factions asking for financial assistance. An LLAVA press
release stated that the organization was created to provide
support services for ex-LLA members and their families. Former
LLA members met Prime Minister Mosisili in 2006. While the
Prime Minister promised to look into their grievances, the LLAVA
has not received any GOL support to date. In recent months,
LLAVA sent letters to resident international organizations and
diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy, requesting
financial assistance for income generating projects for their
elderly members who are no longer able to participate in the
labor force.
--------------
An Inconvenient Political Truth?
--------------
12. (SBU) COMMENT: The LLA's long history closely tracks that
of independent Lesotho itself. As LLA veterans appeared to be
reduced to begging for GOL and donor handouts, the possible
reemergence of remnants of the group has surprised some local
observers, but poses no visible threat to the current political
equation. The LCD-led government of Lesotho firmly and
unequivocally places the blame for recent attacks on the
nation's legally elected political opposition (particularly the
All Basotho Convention party under Thomas Thabane). Police
allegations that former LLA members may be involved, however,
either undermines the GOL's adamant theory that the opposition
parties are the sole perpetrators or suggests that the parties
may be hiring local mercenaries to weaken the LCD government.
END COMMENT.
MURPHY
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR AF/S;
GABORONE FOR RSO;
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ASEC PINS PTER LT
SUBJECT: THE LESOTHO LIBERATION ARMY (LLA): BACK FOR MORE?
REF: a) Maseru 436; b) Maseru 439
MASERU 00000487 001.2 OF 003
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Lesotho Liberation Army, or LLA, is an
aging insurgent group dating back to the 1970's which appeared
to rest in obscurity until several of its former members were
recently implicated in attacks on ministerial residences. Born
out of opposition to the dictatorship of post-independence
Lesotho, the LLA launched a guerilla war against the GOL in 1978
and was largely defeated in 1979. After sporadic LLA bombings
and ambushes in the 1980's, the group was called back to Lesotho
from exile in Botswana and South Africa in 1990, but the Lesotho
Defense Forces (LDF) reneged on offers to fold its ranks into
the regular military. There is no evidence to indicate that the
purported reemergence of the LLA is anything more than a handful
of jobless former insurgents, with no identifiable political
support, reduced to begging for handouts. Their apparent
involvement in recent attacks, however, either undermines the
GOL's adamant theory that elected opposition parties are the
sole perpetrators or suggests that the political parties may be
hiring local mercenaries to weaken the LCD government. END
SUMMARY.
--------------
Guns Reclaimed, LLA Responsible?
--------------
2. (U) In the early morning of July 19, 2007, the Lesotho
Defense Forces (LDF) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service
(LMPS) launched a joint operation east of Maseru in an attempt
to recover weapons stolen from military guards at ministerial
residences in June 2007 (ref A). Military and police forces
recovered eight Israeli-made Galilee rifles, two M-16 rifles, a
9 mm pistol, two army radios, and an assortment of ammunition
during the operation. A man named Kantu Pakela was arrested
during the action, and another man named Setsoto Ranthimo was
killed during a firefight with authorities. According to police
sources, a cab driver who transported the two men tipped off
police after he suspected the men were carrying rifles. The
remaining weapons were found in a derelict house along with two
boxes of AK47 ammunition, and an assortment of military-style
clothing and equipment. The LMPS later verified that the
recovered weapons were among those stolen in the June 2007
attacks.
3. (U) In a separate operation, Thabiso Mahase, the estranged
husband of High Court Judge Mahase, was found with a cache of
illegal weapons. In this operation, Judge Mahase's home was
searched by police, leading to an outcry among opposition
figures and the Lesotho Law Society who claimed that the search
was related to her recent rulings against the GOL (ref B).
Thabiso Mahase is still at large. According to police, the link
between Kantu Pakela, Setsoto Ranthimo, and Thabiso Mahase is
their well known status as former members of the LLA. But what
is the Lesotho Liberation Army?
--------------
The History: The LLA is Born
--------------
4. (U) In January 1970, Lesotho held its first general election
following attainment of independence in 1966. Fearing that the
governing Basotho National Party (BNP) would be defeated, Prime
Minister Leabua Jonathan declared a state of emergency and
suspended the constitution prior to the announcement of election
results. Under pressure from cabinet members and paramilitary
leaders, Jonathan jailed opposition leaders. The 1970 election
was annulled and Jonathan ruled Lesotho by decree.
--------------
Coups and Defeats
--------------
MASERU 00000487 002.2 OF 003
5. (U) Militants within the opposition Basotholand Congress
Party (BCP) led by Ntsu Mokhele attempted to stage a coup in
1974 and fled into exile after its failure. The coup attempt
strengthened the government's hand and cast the BCP as a violent
faction, reducing its domestic standing. The BCP then created
the LLA as its armed wing. Masquerading as the Azanian People's
Liberation Army (APLA),the paramilitary wing of the
anti-apartheid Pan African Congress (PAC),the LLA received
military training in Libya. The group whose membership numbered
in the hundreds then moved to Tanzania, whose government
disarmed the group following a protest from the Government of
Lesotho. In 1978, 178 members of the LLA entered Lesotho with
outdated weapons to launch a guerilla war. The majority of
these guerillas were defeated by the Lesotho Paramilitary Force
(a predecessor to the current armed forces, the LDF) and
Lesotho's Police Mobile Unit in northern Lesotho in 1979.
6. (U) The then-BCP leader subsequently sought assistance for
the LLA from the apartheid regime in South Africa. South
African-based American mercenary Bob MacKenzie began training
new LLA recruits. [NOTE: Mr. MacKenzie was the son-in-law of
senior Nixon-era CIA official Ray Steiner Cline, leading to a
number of wild conspiracy theories regarding U.S. involvement in
LLA activities. END NOTE.] Because of Lesotho's heavy
criticism of the apartheid regime, South Africa began to allow
the LLA to use its territory to launch attacks against the
Mountain Kingdom.
--------------
A Tool of the Apartheid Regime
--------------
7. (U) Throughout the early 1980's, the LLA claimed
responsibility for periodic bombings in Maseru, ambushes of
government officials, and attacks on police stations. The South
African government denied the GOL's claims that the LLA launched
attacks from their territory. Prime Minister Jonathan became
increasingly strident in his anti-apartheid proclamations, and
relations with South Africa continued to deteriorate. This
deterioration reached a new low on December 9, 1982, when South
African troops entered Lesotho and raided the homes of alleged
African National Congress (ANC) members in Maseru, killing 42
individuals.
8. (U) The BNP government ruled by decree until January 20,
1986 when a military junta overthrew it. The Military Council
that came to power granted executive authority to King
Moshoeshoe II, who was previously a ceremonial monarch. In
1989, exiled BCP members, including LLA soldiers, began
returning to Lesotho under the new government's national
reconciliation policy. Military government chairman Major
General Justin Metsing Lekhanya was ousted in 1991 and replaced
by Major General Elias Phisoana Ramaema. Rameama ceded power to
a democratically elected BCP government in 1993.
--------------
LLA Disbands, But Find No Home
--------------
9. (U) As a condition for the return of the LLA and other
exiled BCP members to Lesotho, the LLA agreed to disband and be
incorporated into the LDF. However, widespread opposition
within the LDF to this integration led to unrest in the army
culminating in fighting among opposing army factions in January
1994. In the aftermath of this confrontation, the LDF did not
allow LLA members to be folded into their ranks. While some
former LLA members found jobs in government (including several
as members of Parliament) and in the private sector, most were
unemployed and left to fend for themselves without government
support. In letters to donors, they reported becoming
disillusioned by the lack of support from the new GOL.
MASERU 00000487 003.2 OF 003
10. (U) In 1997, the ruling BCP split, and most LLA members
remained with the BCP rather than joining the new factions.
Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party, the Lesotho
Congress for Democracy (LCD),and created a new government with
the support of a majority of Parliament. Pakalitha Mosisili
(Lesotho's current Prime Minister) then succeeded Mokhehle as
party leader, and the LCD won the general elections in 1998.
Opposition political parties rejected the election results,
however, leading to a downward spiral ending in political
meltdown and the burning of large portions of Maseru. Amid the
chaos of 1998, former LLA members appealed to the government to
no avail to address their needs.
--------------
Begging for Support, Getting Little
--------------
11. (U) In September 2004, ex-LLA members launched the Lesotho
Liberation Army Veterans Association (LLAVA). A steering
committee wrote a letter to the BCP and all of its splinter
factions asking for financial assistance. An LLAVA press
release stated that the organization was created to provide
support services for ex-LLA members and their families. Former
LLA members met Prime Minister Mosisili in 2006. While the
Prime Minister promised to look into their grievances, the LLAVA
has not received any GOL support to date. In recent months,
LLAVA sent letters to resident international organizations and
diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy, requesting
financial assistance for income generating projects for their
elderly members who are no longer able to participate in the
labor force.
--------------
An Inconvenient Political Truth?
--------------
12. (SBU) COMMENT: The LLA's long history closely tracks that
of independent Lesotho itself. As LLA veterans appeared to be
reduced to begging for GOL and donor handouts, the possible
reemergence of remnants of the group has surprised some local
observers, but poses no visible threat to the current political
equation. The LCD-led government of Lesotho firmly and
unequivocally places the blame for recent attacks on the
nation's legally elected political opposition (particularly the
All Basotho Convention party under Thomas Thabane). Police
allegations that former LLA members may be involved, however,
either undermines the GOL's adamant theory that the opposition
parties are the sole perpetrators or suggests that the parties
may be hiring local mercenaries to weaken the LCD government.
END COMMENT.
MURPHY