USAU: AU TO LEAD DELEGATION TO MAURITANIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 003185

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AND AF/RSA FOR WHALDEMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNSC EU AU
SUBJECT: USAU: AU TO LEAD DELEGATION TO MAURITANIA

REF: ADDIS ABABA 3066

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN A. SIMON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (U) Summary: A high-level delegation from the African
Union (AU) and partner international organizations will
travel to Mauritania within the next three weeks to meet with
ousted President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and junta
leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to find a way out of
the political crisis. The decision to send a delegation was
made during a November 21 consultative meeting of the AU and
the international community, and was announced in a
communique issued that evening. The communique also
reaffirmed the international community,s resolve to press
the junta to restore constitutional order by returning
President Abdallahi to power. Should this AU-led effort
fail, the communique left open the possibility of referring
the matter to the UNSC as well as the use of sanctions
targeting the junta. End Summary.


2. (U) On November 21, the AU convened a consultative meeting
in Addis Ababa with the international community to continue
searching for a solution to the Mauritanian political crisis.
The meeting was a follow-up to the November 10 meeting in
Addis that produced a communique giving the junta until
November 20 to demonstrate to the European Union that they
were taking positive steps to give the reins of power back to
President Abdallahi, who was ousted in an August 6 coup
d,etat. The communique issued after the November 10 meeting
called for the unconditional release of President Abdallahi
and his contribution as the President to the search for a
solution. It also called for the participation of all the
stakeholders, and for the full respect of the Constitution.


3. (U) Given the junta,s failure to respond satisfactorily
to the will of the international community by the November 20
deadline, and given the junta,s reported maneuvering to
consolidate their authority, participants at the November 21
meeting had the task of crafting a new communique aimed at
applying further pressure on the military rulers. The
deliberations lasted approximately five hours and included
separate interventions by French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner, in Addis for the AU-EU Troika meeting, and AU
Commission Chairperson Jean Ping. The text of the communique
can be found at the end of this message.


4. (U) At the suggestion of the UN and the League of Arab
States, a decision was taken to dispatch )- within the next
three weeks -- a high-level delegation composed of
representatives from the AU, the EU, the UN, the Arab League,
the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the
International Organization of the Francophonie, to Mauritania
to meet separately with President Abdallahi and coup leader
General Aziz. (Note: Exact travel dates are still to be
worked out among the various organizations. End note.) The
delegation,s goal will be to engage Abdallahi and Aziz &to
envisage a consensual way out of the crisis,8 according to
the communique. These organizations, as well as the UNSC P-5
and African representatives that were included in both the
November 10 and 21 consultative meetings in Addis, are
scheduled to convene again on December 12 to consider next
steps. That deadline also gives the EU sufficient time to
report to its ministerial council.


5. (C) French Foreign Minister Kouchner addressed the meeting
for about a half-hour, vacillating between a firm stance
against the coup and seeking some accommodation. He said in
the &new Africa,8 it is important &that we underscore that
constitutional order and good governance are the right path
and coup d,etats must be condemned outright.8 But Kouchner
said he was not personally supportive of sanctions, and noted
the coup had been &bloodless.8 He ended by saying that the
international community &cannot remain indifferent8 on the
Mauritanian issue. &We should keep pressuring the
Mauritanian junta.8


6. (SBU) In the ensuing debate, participants took note of the
fact that the junta had transferred President Abdallahi to
his home village of Lemden where he was free to meet and
speak with visitors, including foreign diplomats and the
media. The Arab League saw this transfer as a positive step
upon which the international community could build. But this
window of freedom might not remain open much longer, said the
Ambassador, who admonished meeting participants not to soften
their stance adopted on November 10 and to continue speaking

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with one voice to the junta. AU Peace and Security
Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra echoed the Ambassador,s
concerns. Abdallahi &is really scared that his freedom to
communicate with the rest of the world might be cut off,8
Lamamra said, recounting a recent telephone conversation he
had with the deposed president. The communique notes that
Abdallahi &remains deprived of the prerogatives of his high
office.8


7. (U) The EU described the two sides in Mauritania as being
at an impasse, with President Abdallahi steadfast in his
refusal to resign from power and General Aziz insisting that
Abdallahi only be allowed to return to the political scene as
a &former president.8 For its part, the Organization for
the Francophonie (OIF) saw &no progress on the part of the
Mauritanian authorities to return to constitutional order.8
The OIF was disturbed by what it saw as &signs of a
hardening8 on the part of the junta, including evidence that
they are actively streamlining the administration in their
bid to stay in power.


8. (SBU) Participants agreed that, should the current efforts
fail, the AU should consider the &possibility8 of referring
the matter to the UNSC, along with &concrete measures.8
This would occur alongside potential EU action, as well
action by other organizations present, which could target
individual junta members. The intent was to remind the junta
that they risked sanctions and isolation if they failed to
respond to the request of the international community.


9. (U) Unlike the November 10 communique, the November 21
communique left the door open for presidential elections &as
a step within a comprehensive, peaceful and democratic
solution to the crisis, which would be acceptable to the
people of Mauritania and supported by the international
community.8


10. (U) During his brief appearance at the meeting, AU
Chairperson Ping acknowledged the general consensus among
participants on the need to dispatch a delegation to
Mauritania as well as the need to &take effective action.8


11. (C) Comment: The room was divided between the League of
Arab States on one side consistently pushing for the softest
language possible, sometimes with support of the OIC, and the
UN and the U.S. on the other side who wanted a harder line
against the junta. The OIF also took a hard line, but rarely
intervened. The EU and French worked with the AU Commission
to seek a middle ground, but were very quick to accommodate
the Arab League in the interest of keeping the group together
and perhaps due to internal dissent within the EU ranks. End
Comment.


12. (U) The text to which the Consultative Meeting on the
Situation in Mauritania agreed follows:

BEGIN TEXT OF COMMUNIQUE

As agreed by the consultative meeting on the situation in
Mauritania held in Addis Ababa on 10 November 2008, another
consultative meeting on the situation in Mauritania was held,
at the initiative of the Chairperson of the Commission of the
African Union (AU),H.E. Mr. Jean Ping, in Addis Ababa, on 21
November 2008, on the margins of the meeting of the Troikas
of the European Union (EU) and the AU. This meeting brought
together the following organizations: the AU, the EU, the
League of Arab States, the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC),the International Organization of the
Francophonie (OIF),and the United Nations. The meeting was
held in the presence of H.E. Mr. Jean Ping and H.E. Mr.
Bernard Kouchner, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of
France, President of the Council of the EU.

The participants noted that, after the joint communique
issued at the end of the consultative meeting of 10 November
and marking the need for new proposals from the authorities
born out of the coup d,etat of 6 August 2008 to enable the
restoration of the constitutional order, these authorities
did not send either to the AU or the EU any new element
regarding the document submitted to the AU on 4 November
2008, and this response was deemed inappropriate by the
international community.

The participants recalled the communique of 10 November 2008,
in particular the elements for the resolution of the

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Mauritanian crisis contained therein: the release without any
condition of President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi,
his contribution as the President to the search for a
solution, the participation of all the stakeholders, and the
full respect of the Constitution. Within this framework,
this could lead to the organization of free and fair
presidential elections as a step within a comprehensive,
peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis, which would
be acceptable to the people of Mauritania and supported by
the international community.

The participants supported the communique of the AU Peace and
Security Council (PSC) of 11 November 2008 and encouraged the
AU, should the current efforts fail, to include among the
concrete measures to be taken upon the proposal of the AU
Commission the possibility of seizing the UN Security Council
with the matter, alongside the procedures of the appropriate
organs of the EU.

The participants expressed the intention of their respective
organizations to draw conclusions from the present stalemate
and to take, in due course, appropriate measures, notably
individual measures, on the basis of their respective
procedures.

The participants took note of the transfer of President Sidi
Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi to the village of Lemden where
he is now in a position to communicate with and receive
visitors and the fact that he could speak in his capacity as
the President of the Republic, though he remains deprived of
the prerogatives of his high office.

Given that the President can now receive and speak to
visitors, the participants agreed to dispatch to Mauritania,
before their next meeting, a high-level delegation to be led
by the AU and to comprise the representatives of the EU, the
League of Arab States, the OIC, the OIF and the UN. This
delegation is mandated to consult with President Sidi Ould
Mohamed Abdallahi and General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, to
engage them to envisage a consensual way out of the crisis
including the key elements mentioned in paragraph 3 above.

The participants reiterated their commitment to continue
their close coordination on the matter. To that end, they
agreed to hold their next meeting in Brussels, on 12 December

2008.

The participants met with the permanent members and the
African members of the UN Security Council, with whom they
had in-depth discussions on the situation. The members of
the Security Council reaffirmed their full support to the
efforts of the AU and partner organizations, and reiterated
their readiness to review the situation in light of the
evolution of the efforts aimed at resolving the crisis and
restoring constitutional order in Mauritania. They endorsed
this communique.

Addis Ababa, 21 November 2008

END TEXT OF COMMUNIQUE
YAMAMOTO