Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ADDISABABA3451
2008-12-24 16:34:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

USAU: AFRICAN UNION WARNS GUINEA COUP LEADERS OF

Tags:  PREL PGOV GV AU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4790
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHDS #3451 3591634
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241634Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3232
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUZEFAA/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 7650
C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 003451 

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV GV AU
SUBJECT: USAU: AFRICAN UNION WARNS GUINEA COUP LEADERS OF
STERN MEASURES

REF: ADDIS ABABA 3450

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 003451

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV GV AU
SUBJECT: USAU: AFRICAN UNION WARNS GUINEA COUP LEADERS OF
STERN MEASURES

REF: ADDIS ABABA 3450

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


1. (U) In the wake of Guinean President Lansane Conte's death
and the military takeover of the country, the African Union's
(AU) Peace and Security Council met December 24 in an
emergency session where it warned of "stern measures" if the
coup materializes. Those measures could include suspending
the Government of Guinea's membership in the organization.


2. (U) The Guinean Permanent Representative to the AU told
the PSC that he has been following events at a distance and
does not consider the coup a "done deal." He noted that
there is another faction in the military and his hope is that
Guinea will emerge with a proper government.


3. (U) PSC Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters after
the special session, "We strongly back constitutional
institutions set up by the people and the government of
Guinea." He added, "We are happy that there is no
bloodletting. We want a smooth transition according to the
constitution." He also called the developments in Guinea a
"setback for Africa on the path to democracy." As of the
moment, the PSC viewed what had happened in Guinea as "only
an attempted coup." Stronger action by the PSC at this time
would only serve to legitimize the group of military officers
who have been making pronouncements on the media of their
success.


4. (U) The meeting came a day after AU Commission Chairperson
Jean Ping issued a statement strongly condemning the coup and
the coup leaders' decision to suspend the constitution and
political institutions in Guinea. "This seizure of power
constitutes a flagrant violation of the Guinean Constitution,
which, in such an instance, provides that the Speaker of the
National Assembly assumes (the presidency in) the interim,"
Ping said. "It constitutes also a violation of the Lome
Declaration of July 2000, the Constitutive Act of the AU and
the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance."
Ping urged all Guinean stakeholders "to work within the
framework of legality, in a spirit of consensus and in the
higher interests of Guinea, in order to ensure a smooth
transition that will allow their country to meet the many
challenges, both political and socio-economic, facing it."


5. (U) Ping has initiated consultations with ECOWAS and
countries in the region to discuss how they will coordinate
their efforts in resolving the crisis "in a legal and
consensual manner," according to the AU press statement,
which also emphasized that resolution of the crisis is "a
precondition for the long-term stability and consolidation of
the democratic process in that country."


6. (U) Comment: The AU's swift response was reminiscent of
its response last August when it learned that military
officers had ousted Mauritania's democratically elected
President Abdallah. With the Mauritanian junta still in
power more than four months later, the PSC Ministers warned
on December 22 that if the junta does not restore
constitutional order by February 5, the AU will impose
sanctions on all the junta members and their supporters,
military and civilian (see reftel).


7. (C) Comment continued: As AU officials have discovered in
the aftermath of the coup in Mauritania, it is not enough to
express zero tolerance for military takeovers. There have to
be threats of concrete measures, such as targeted sanctions,
against the perpetrators of coups, and more importantly,
implementation of those measures. One AU official charged
with the organization's institutional transformation told us
he is worried that unless the AU succeeds in pressuring the
military juntas to return to their barracks, it will embolden
other coup plotters to take over governments by force.
YAMAMOTO