AGADEZ: THE KHADAFI SHOW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 000531 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - TRIPOLI ADDED SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL LY NG SUBJECT: AGADEZ: THE KHADAFI SHOW REF: A. NIAMEY 403 ¶B. NIAMEY 123 ¶C. NIAMEY 401 NIAMEY 00000531 001.2 OF 002 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) As reported reftel A, Libyan leader Mouammar El Khadafi celebrated Mouloud with regional heads of state in the northern Nigerien city of Agadez. While avoiding the sort of controversial pronouncements -- on, inter alia, an independent Tuareg state in the Sahel -- that characterized his 2006 Mouloud address in Timbuktu, Mali, Khadafi still managed to turn in a vintage performance. Promises of development assistance flowed freely, while Agadez was cleaned up by an estimated 1,500 Libyan workers in the week prior to the visit. Locals responses were ambivalent, as they ever are when Niger's eccentric and powerful neighbor is concerned. Nigeriens at all levels seemed content to get what they could from the Mouloud event while expressing skepticism about the nature and reliability of their VIP guest. END SUMMARY -------------- RELIGION & POLITICS / BREAD & CIRCUSES -------------- ¶2. (U) Accompanied by Niger President Mamadou Tandja, Khadafi visited ongoing Libyan aid projects and unveiled more. While one project -- a $2 million effort to irrigate the Ighazer valley north of Agadez -- seems practical, other initiatives such as a 1,427km highway from the Libyan town of Toumour to Agadez via Bilma / Dirkou, Niger seem speculative at best. Many Nigeriens remember Khadafi's promise to build an even more impractical north - south axis along the eastern border of their country from Libya to Lake Chad. Nothing ever came of that plan. ¶3. (U) Most Agadezians are traditional Sufi Muslims who follow the Sultan and his senior Imam, the Khadi, in a restrained form of worship (reftel B). Many considered the larger-than-life images of Khadafi and Tandja placed around town to be a politicization of religion. Khadafi also broke convention by preaching himself during the celebration. His hour-long address compared Islam and Christianity; the teachings of Mohammed and Jesus; and, concluded that Christianity was intended for the consumption of the Jews alone, while Islam was and is a religion for all persons. He punctuated his remarks by inviting a group of animists from Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo to come forward and publicly convert to Islam. Approximately 30,000 Agadezians were treated to this performance, as were Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, Ahmed Tedjan Kaba of Sierra Leone, Idriss Deby Ito of Chad, Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali, and Mohammed Ould Val of Mauritania. Nigeria and Burkina Faso sent delegations led by presidential advisors. ¶4. (U) Whatever the crowd thought of Khadafi's theology, they loved his furniture. In a scene captured on Nigerien television, a virtual riot broke out as Nigeriens grabbed up Libyan supplied prayer rugs, fans, and other furnishings as the proceedings adjourned. While some Nigeriens traveled across the country to see the Khadafi show, many Agadezians stayed at home to avoid the carnival atmosphere. Kiota, a small town in southern Niger, seat of the traditional Tidjaniya Sufi Sheikh, and usual focus of Nigerien Mouloud festivities was bypassed entirely as national media focused exclusively on Agadez. -------------- KHADAFI: KING OF THE TUAREGS? -------------- ¶5. (U) The word on the street in the lead up to Khadafi's visit held that he had chosen Agadez because his mother hailed from there. Whether by virtue of family associations or the city's rich Islamic heritage (an old caravan town, Agadez was a center of Islamic scholarship in the 16th century and still boasts a 200 year-old mud mosque),Agadez succeeded Timbuktu, where Khadafi celebrated Mouloud in similar fashion in 2006. However, the city and region of Agadez have history with Libya that put some on edge. Nigeriens' ambivalence toward Khadafi derives partly from the perception that Libya laid the groundwork for the 1991--1995 Tuareg rebellion, and that Khadafi continues to inspire secessionist aspirations among the Nigerien Tuareg, who comprise 11% of the country's population. During the 1980s, many unemployed Tuaregs received military training in Libya. Intended for inclusion in Khadafi's "Islamic Legion," they returned to Niger with guns, training, and ideas after he NIAMEY 00000531 002.2 OF 002 abandoned the legion concept in the late 1980s. Many of these men were later involved in the rebellion. ¶6. (SBU) Khadafi's 2006 Mouloud call for an independent Tuareg state in northern Niger and Mali brought this uncomfortable history up again. Mission contacts indicate that the GON sought to avoid the Government of Mali's embarrassment by keeping tighter reins on Khadafi and his program this year. They seem to have succeeded. Khadafi's public remarks, while theologically eccentric, didn't cross any political trip-wires. ¶7. (U) As in 2006, this Mouloud event coincided with a "Meeting of Tribes of the Greater Sahara," which in theory included representatives of tribal communities from Syria to Senegal. Most participants seemed to be Sahelian Tuaregs. On behalf of the group, the Sultan of Agadez presented Khadafi with a royal drum and shield and three honorary titles: "Sarkin Abzinawa," (Chief of all Sahara Tuaregs); "Sarkin Yakin Musulumci," (Chief Defender of Islam; and, "Sarkin Makiyaya," (Chief of all Herders' Communities). While some local media indicated that Tuaregs had thereby "pledged allegiance to Khadafi, submitted to his commandments, and put their future in his hands," this seems an exaggerated rendering of a symbolic gesture. The Sultan of Agadez was loyal to the Nigerien state even during the rebellion, and his court denied that the honorifics had any political implications. Such commentary does illuminate both Tuareg aspirations -- for an association with a rich patron in Libya -- and Nigerien concerns about their loyalty and Khadafi's meddling. -------------- COMMENT: ONE MORE DELICATE DANCE -------------- ¶8. (U) Khadafi is a frequent visitor to Niger. Yet, his unpredictable behavior and history of foisting "big ideas" on his African neighbors must put his hosts on edge. Given recent security incidents in northern Niger (reftel C),the GON undoubtedly hoped for a drama-free visit, which they got. Nigeriens continue to balance conflicting images of their eccentric northern neighbor: a source of vital development assistance, Khadafi's Libya also has a track record of stirring up tensions between Tuaregs and Niger's black African majority; a source of employment and material gain to which impoverished Nigeriens aspire, the country also deals brutally with illegal African migrants and trafficking victims; a "defender of the Islamic faith," Khadafi also weaves that faith into a cult of personality in ways that Niger's traditional Sufi authorities find troubling. Rational self-interest and local traditions of hospitality ensured that Khadafi got a warm Agadez welcome, even as his departure inspired a collective roll of the eyes and sigh of relief from many quarters. END COMMENT ¶9. (U) TRIPOLI: Minimize considered. KORAN