Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAMAKO290
2008-03-19 14:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bamako
Cable title:  

AUSTRIAN EFFORTS TO FOLLOW AQIM HOSTAGE CRISIS IN

Tags:  PREL PTER PINS PINR ML 
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VZCZCXRO9392
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0290/01 0791436
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 191436Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8913
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0390
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0025
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 0149
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0006
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000290 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

VIENNA FOR LEGATT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER PINS PINR ML
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN EFFORTS TO FOLLOW AQIM HOSTAGE CRISIS IN
MALI

REF: BAMAKO 00256

BAMAKO 00000290 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako,
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000290

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

VIENNA FOR LEGATT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER PINS PINR ML
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN EFFORTS TO FOLLOW AQIM HOSTAGE CRISIS IN
MALI

REF: BAMAKO 00256

BAMAKO 00000290 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako,
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1.(C) Summary: On March 18 the Ambassador met with the two
Austrian diplomats - Anton Prohaska, a former Austrian
Ambassador to France, and Alexander Erlich-Adam, a more
junior Austrian MFA Privileges and Immunities official fluent
in French - dispatched to Bamako to work toward the release
of two Austrian nationals being held by AQIM in northern
Mali. Mali does not appear to be the focus of hostage
release efforts - presuming such efforts are even ongoing.
Prohaska said Austria was reaching out to friendly Muslim
nations to drum up international pressure for the hostages'
release. While the Austrian government has ruled out
negotiations with AQIM, Prohaska said other
"well-intentioned" actors, including the right-wing Austrian
politician Joerg Haidar and Libyan leader Mouammar Qadhafi,
are seeking to interject themselves into the negotiation
process. End Summary.

--------------
Austria Spinning its Wheels in Bamako
--------------

2.(C) Prohaska and Erlich-Adam are leading a four person team
dispatched from Austria to Mali after AQIM apparently moved
two abducted Austrian nationals from north Africa to northern
Mali. An official from the Austrian Interior Ministry and a
member of the Austrian intel services are currently working
out of the French Embassy in Bamako. Austria, which does not
have an Embassy in Mali, decided to set up within the French
rather than the German Embassy in part to distance itself
from the 2003 hostage negotiations between Germany and what
was then the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
France is also standing in for Slovenia, the current holder
of the EU presidency, which does not have a mission in Mali.
Austria did not, said Prohaska, want to mix up the current
hostage case with that of the German tourists in 2003 who
were eventually ransomed for several million Euros.

3.(C) Mali does not appear to be the center of gravity for

hostage release efforts. Prohaska said he was perplexed by
Austrian news reports describing a whirlwind of activity by
Austrian officials on the ground in Mali. The reality is
much more sobering as Prohaska, Erlich-Adam and their two
colleagues attempt to navigate through the Malian bureaucracy
while undergoing a crash-course on the complex political and
security dynamics of northern Mali.

4.(C) Prohaska said he had met with Mali's Director General
for State Security Col. Mamy Coulibaly and also with
President Amadou Toumani Toure. He described Col. Coulibaly
as long on promises but short on information. Col. Coulibaly
told the Austrians during their last meeting that he didn't
know whether the hostages were in Mali. Prohaska and
Erlich-Adam are scheduled to meet with Col. Coulibaly again
on March 18.

5.(C) When asked about any on going release efforts,
Prohaska said he believed there was contact between Austria
and AQIM but that he was not privy to the details. He
reiterated Austria's refusal to negotiate with AQIM or meet a
ransom demand. Prohaska indicated that Austria was already
planning the logistics of evacuating the two hostages,
presuming AQIM were to release them in northern Mali, by
examining which airfields in the north were serviceable for
which type of aircraft. He said Austria was hoping to
capitalize on its good relations with the Muslim world to
increase pressure on AQIM to release the hostages. He noted
that other unofficial actors, including Joerg Haider and
Qadhafi, were attempting to insert themselves into the
picture by assuming the role of negotiator.

--------------
Frustration with Algiers
--------------

6.(C) Prohaska expressed concern that unrest related to the
bandit Ibrahim Bahanga in the area of Tinzawaten north-east
of Kidal, or the distribution of foodstuffs in Kidal planned

BAMAKO 00000290 002.2 OF 002


by the International Committee for the Red Cross for later
this week, could set the hostages' captors on edge or
otherwise interfere with release efforts. He also expressed
frustration with Algeria. He said the team of Austrian
officials sent to Algiers were in a "very difficult position"
and described the Algerians as "extremely tough and security
minded." "They are shaking their heads in Vienna," said
Prohaska, "because our people in Algiers can't do anything."


--------------
Comment: Qadhafi Again?
--------------

7.(C) If an effort to secure the release of the two Austrian
hostages is underway, it is clearly not being directed from
Mali. Although we tried to ease the Austrians' concerns
about collateral damage from Bahanga's exploits in Tinzawaten
- which we regard as unrelated and for the moment far removed
from the Austrian hostage crisis - Prohaska and Erlich-Adam
are in the unenviable position of having parachuted into
extremely unfamiliar terrain for Austrian diplomats. It is
therefore perhaps not surprising to see their attentions
diverted by an opposition newspaper's chronic rumblings of an
impending Tuareg revolt, concerns about the ICRC's
humanitarian efforts in northern Mali, and Col. Mamy
Coulibaly's empty promises. Qadhafi is fresh from having
just brokered an end to two other hostages crises in Mali and
Niger (Ref A). Although negotiating with AQIM is completely
different from dealing with small-time Tuareg bandits like
Ibrahim Bahanga, it would be consistent with Libyan actions
in Mali for Qadhafi to attempt tackle another hostage
situation, and thereby reinforce his self-appointed status as
leader of the Sahara.

8.(U) Tripoli minimized considered.
MCCULLEY