MEETING WITH ISLAMIST LEADERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L NOUAKCHOTT 000098

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2017
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PINR MR
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH ISLAMIST LEADERS

REF: A. 06 NOUAKCHOTT 1193

B. NOUAKCHOTT 91

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES CHARLES H. TWINING FOR REASON 1.4 (B,D
)


1. (C) Charge and DCM called on newly elected National
Assembly member Jemil Mansour, coordinator of the RC
(Reformistes Centristes) group and head of the political wing
of the Islamist movement in Mauritania, January 30, as part
of our occasional contact with that group. Our last meeting
was reported ref A. Together with Mansour were former
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Moktar Mohamed Moussa, head of the
movement's religious wing, and its diplomatic relations chief
Amar Ould Mohamed Najem.


2. (C) As in the previous meeting, all insisted that the
movement's principal interests are democracy and moderation.
While there are differences between the views of their group
and the U.S. on "some issues," they also felt that our
support for democracy makes us an important partner in
Mauritania, and they welcomed the contact. The group's ire
was directed at President Vall and the Military Council for
their alleged interference in the electoral process. Indeed,
Mansour had left a press conference of the CFCD (Coalition
des Forces du Changement Democratique, of which his Islamist
movement is a part) denouncing Vall's recent statements
(septel forthcoming) in order to meet with us. As "evidence"
of Vall's less than neutral position, he observed that the
CFCD has requested a meeting with him several times, without
response.


3. (C) We said that most important of all is that the March
elections be clean, the regime neutral, and the best person
elected and take office. Mansour said he considered running
himself but knew the group had already exhausted itself, and
its finances, in the previous elections. He was clearly
pleased with the legislative and municipal seats the RC had
won (as independents) and the fact that it had just had a
woman senator elected. He said his group came out in the
elections overall third. He observed that the RC was under
no illusion that it could win a widespread victory in the
country and, thus, preferred to press the CFCD to unite
behind a single candidate. When that did not happen, it
decided to try to reach agreement on supporting a single
candidate and expects to announce its decision in a week.


4. (C) Asked whether at least two of the Presidential
candidates described as Islamists (ref B) are really a way
for the group, which the present regime refuses to recognize
as a party, to slip people in through a back door, the three
laughed and said, not at all. They said anyone and everyone
in this Muslim country can call himself an Islamist, and
indeed the GIRM uses that word in a perjorative sense to
label them, thus their preference to use the name Reformistes
Centristes. Mansour said the other candidates were not
affiliated with them. Asked whether it was true that the
ideologues in their movement had basically lost influence,
Mansour claimed that, while "one or two" members might be
more radical than others, his movement is truly composed of
moderates. A perception in the West and even among some in
the Military Council that all Islamists are in some kind of
radical worldwide movement is simply untrue, Mansour
insisted. He bemoaned the fact that the government continues
to try to exclude his group from the process, which will only
force it into a more extreme position. Mauritanian Islamists
are Mauritanian, first and foremost.


5. (C) Comment. The meeting was cordial, the group asking
for continued contact. We said we would be pleased to work
with any group committed to democracy. Despite Mansour's
belief that the government is working against him, he clearly
wants to work within the system. Unlike last time he made no
mention of boycotting elections. Najem said the RC was
pleased to be included in NDI's training efforts, despite its
lack of official recognition as a party.
Twining