Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ABIDJAN879
2008-12-16 17:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abidjan
Cable title:  

FORCES NOUVELLES SPOKESMAN DISCUSSES DISARMAMENT

Tags:  PGOV MARR KDEM EAID IV 
pdf how-to read a cable
P 161725Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4787
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000879 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV MARR KDEM EAID IV
SUBJECT: FORCES NOUVELLES SPOKESMAN DISCUSSES DISARMAMENT
ISSUES

REF: A) ABIDJAN 870 B) ABIDJAN 878


Classified By: PolEcon Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000879


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV MARR KDEM EAID IV
SUBJECT: FORCES NOUVELLES SPOKESMAN DISCUSSES DISARMAMENT
ISSUES

REF: A) ABIDJAN 870 B) ABIDJAN 878


Classified By: PolEcon Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary: Moussa Dosso, who headed the Forces Nouvelles
(FAFN) delegation that met with President Gbagbo on Dec. 9,
told Ambassador that the FPI wants a truncated disarmament
process which is unacceptable to the FAFN. Dosso said that
after 5-6 years of loyal service, the FAFN cannot ask its
soldiers to go home empty-handed or with a token payment;
training and/or social reinsertion programs are essential.
Dosso acknowledged that the main impediment is financing and
announced that joint customs teams would begin operating in
January 2009. The revenue collected will be shared by the
FAFN and the government. Dosso dismissed FPI allegations of
widespread fraud in the north as a political ploy to
discredit the identification process and said that FPI
President Affi N'Guessan could not have made provocative
public statements on disarmament without Gbagbo's approval.
End Summary.


2. (C) Ambassador met December 11 with Moussa Dosso, Minister
of Technical Education and Vocational training, and a senior
spokesman for the Forces Nouvelles, to get a readout on the
FAFN's meeting with President Gbagbo and to discuss
implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA).
Following the December 9 meeting with Gbagbo, Dosso told the
press that the incident between the FPI and the FAFN (see
reftels) was "closed", but he explained to Ambassador that
this did not mean that the two had resolved their
differences. According to Dosso, the FPI wants the FAFN to
simply lay down their arms and go home. And despite the fact
that the OPA calls for the creation of a new army, the FPI
continues to talk about 'reintegration' of FAFN elements into
the existing national army (the FANCI).

FAFN SATISFIED WITH OPA PROCESS
--------------


3. (C) Dosso told Ambassador that the FAFN had three goals
when the rebellion was launched in 2002: 1) a fair
identification process; 2) free and fair elections; and 3) a
new, republican army. An identification process that the FAFN
has so far found acceptable is underway, as are preparations
for elections. Overall, the FAFN is satisfied that the

crisis-resolution process envisioned in the OPA is bearing
fruit. Creating a new army is the last hurdle. Dosso pointed
to Section III of the OPA, which states: "The parties,
signatories to the Agreement, aware of the fact that the
national army must be the symbol of unity and cohesion of the
nation and the guarantor of stability of the institutions on
which the Republic stands, are committed to engage in a
restructuring and revision of the two armed forces, with a
view to setting up new defense and security forces committed
to the values of integrity and republican morality." He
stressed that President Gbagbo and the FPI could not reject
the need to create a new army without jeopardizing the entire
OPA.


4. (C) For the moment, however, the FAFN's focus is on
disarmament. A thorough DDR (demobilization, disarmament and
reintegration) process is critical to the peaceful resolution
of the crisis, Dosso warned. Without it, millions of young
men will have no prospects and no hope for the future and
will become a severe problem for the country. Dosso, who as
Minister of Technical Education and Vocational Training, has
a direct role to play in the process, said his Ministry has
technical and professional centers nationwide where FAFN
elements could be sent for training. There is no real need,
he admitted, to build training centers purely for the DDR
process. Dosso said he has discussed this option with UN
agencies working in Cote d'Ivoire as well as with the IOM
(International Organization for Migration). Financing for the
process is the only obstacle. Dosso confirmed that DDR is
one of the issues currently under discussion with the
presidential camp and is likely to be addressed in the fourth
supplementary agreement to the OPA.

FAFN READY TO SHARE REVENUE AND POWER IN THE NORTH
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Ambassador shared with Dosso concerns raised by FPI
President N'Guessan about the need for government authority
to be restored in the north to ensure a fair identification
process. Dosso was adamant that these concerns are baseless,
pointing out that all of the prefects and sub-prefects have
returned to their jobs, as have a majority of other civil
servants. The problem, he said, is not that the ComZones or
FAFN impede them from doing their work, but the fact that the
government has not been able to give their own
representatives the resources they need to be effective.
Dosso questioned the government's competence in terms of
carrying out the redeployment of its authority, noting that a
committee set up solely for this purpose (the CNPRA) has not
been given a budget to carry out its assignment.


6. (C) Minister Dosso volunteered that to help resolve
financing issues, joint customs teams, composed of government
and FAFN elements, will begin operating in January 2009.
Dosso said that Finance Minister Diby has already agreed that
the revenue collected will be shared by the government and
the FAFN. According to Dosso, the FAFN already uses most of
its resources to cover food and lodging for its troops. Once
the joint customs operation is underway, a priority for the
FAFN will be regularize (register, license, and inspect) all
vehicles brought into the north since the rebellion began.
Revenue from this operation will be used to help pay
demobilized troops the 90,000 CFA they have been promised.
Dosso was confident that the FAFN would have no problem
'retiring' the Comzones once a complete disarmament process
was assured.

WIDESPREAD FRAUD IN THE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS IS A FANTASY
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Returning to the FPI's war of words with the FAFN over
disarmament, Dosso said that FPI allegations that there is
widespread fraud in the north are a fabrication. At the Dec.
9 meeting with President Gbagbo, three key officials
confirmed that they had no evidence of massive fraud in the
north. According to Dosso, the Head of the Gendarmerie,
General Kassarate, said that not a single case of fraud had
been brought to his attention. The Director General of the
Police, Gen. Brindou, said the same thing. The President of
the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) and the head of
the INS (National Institute of Statistics) said that the
incidence of fraud in the north was no higher in areas under
FAFN control than elsewhere in the country.
Dosso said it was possible that some FAFN elements had
encouraged, even pushed, residents to register but he said it
was clear that fraud is not a major problem.


8. (C) Comment: The Forces Nouvelles have always said that
they would not disarm before the identification/ election
process was largely completed because they do not trust the
Gbagbo administration to follow through without the threat of
military pressure. Minister Dosso's argument that the FAFN
also cannot disarm until they can provide hope for the future
to their soldiers is credible (the Ministry recently
completed a study that puts the number of unemployed youth
nationwide at 4 million, or one fifth of the population). No
one believes that the FAFN is using most of its resources to
support its troops, and it is well known that the Comzones
continue to have de-facto control of the north despite the
presence of civil authorities. Divisions and resentments
within the Forces Nouvelles have probably made it critical
than ever for the FAFN to give each soldier something more
lasting and potentially useful than a cash payment. Dosso's
solution of using the revenue garnered from legalization of
motor vehicles is an innovative one. If the Finance Minister
has agreed to this scheme, as well as to a joint customs
collection and revenue retention operation, we may soon see
the process advance to a new level. End Comment.

NESBITT