Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAMAKO558
2008-06-13 10:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bamako
Cable title:  

FOREIGN MINISTER OUANE SAYS REGIONAL SECURITY

Tags:  PREL PINS PINR ML 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8599
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0558/01 1651036
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 131036Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9306
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0446
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000558 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2018
TAGS: PREL PINS PINR ML
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER OUANE SAYS REGIONAL SECURITY
SUMMIT ON TRACK

REF: A. BAMAKO 00366

B. BAMAKO 00507

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 000558

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2018
TAGS: PREL PINS PINR ML
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER OUANE SAYS REGIONAL SECURITY
SUMMIT ON TRACK

REF: A. BAMAKO 00366

B. BAMAKO 00507

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

1.(C) Summary: Foreign Minister Moctar Ouane met with
Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Moss and the Ambassador on
June 5 to discuss the situation in northern Mali and
President Amadou Toumani Toure's plan for a regional Heads of
State Summit on Sahel-Saharan security. Ouane described
references to a "northern crisis" as misleading because
hostilities are limited to a well-defined area north-east of
the city of Kidal and involve only a small number of Tuareg
bandits. He reiterated support for the Algiers Accords and a
negotiated solution, drawing a distinction between Mali's
response to renewed Tuareg unrest and that of President
Tandja in neighboring Niger. Ouane maintained that Mali has
implemented 15 out of 18 components of the Algiers Accords
and said the government remains open to discussing the final
three items (mixed military units, economic reinsertion
payments and Malian troop levels) with Tuareg leaders. Ouane
said Mali hoped to hold the Heads of State summit around July

10. DAS Moss asked the Malian government to encourage a more
flexible response from President Tandja in Niger and to
conduct a full and open inquiry of the April 10 executions in
Kidal of two members of the Tuareg rebel Alliance for
Democracy and Change (ADC). End Summary.

--------------
There Is No Northern Crisis
--------------

2.(C) Foreign Minister Moctar Ouane told DAS Moss and the
Ambassador that Mali was not confronted with a "northern
crisis" because Tuareg unrest was limited to a small area to
the north-east of the city of Kidal. Ouane described the
notion of a crisis in the north as misleading because the
northern regions of Timbuktu, Gao and most of Kidal remain
calm. He said descriptions of the conflict as a "northern"
or "Tuareg" crisis implied that the Malian government was
opposed to northern or Tuareg populations. He stressed that
this was not the case and noted that northern community
leaders recently issued a statement distancing themselves
from acts of rebellion. Ouane said bandits like Ibrahim
Bahanga had no political motivations, had formulated no

political demands, and were solely interested in securing a
portion of Malian territory for illicit trafficking.

3.(C) Ouane outlined several concessions made by the Malian
government in the interests of peace. He drew a clear
distinction between Mali's response to Tuareg unrest and that
of neighboring Niger, noting that Mali had opted for a
political rather than a military solution. To this end, Mali
signed the Algiers Accords and agreed to suspend, at the
ADC's request, the dysfunctional regional Assembly in Kidal
in July 2006. Ouane argued that the nine person Kidal-based
steering committee created by the Accords was still
functioning and reiterated a claim made two months ago by
Minister of Territorial Administration, General Kafougouna
Kone, that Mali had implemented 15 of the Algiers Accord's 18
components (Ref. A).

4.(C) Attacks by Bahanga, said Ouane, have prevented Mali
from implementing the three final components of the Accords:
economic reinsertion payments for Tuareg youth in Kidal,
mixed military units and the reduction of troop levels in the
north. "We are ready to discuss these points," said Ouane,
"but only within the framework of the Algiers Accords." Ouane
maintained that Bahanga remained bound by the Algiers
framework because Bahanga was a member of the ADC when the
Algiers Accords were signed by ADC spokesman Ahmada ag Bibi
in July 2006. Mali and Algeria have each set aside CFA 500
million, for a total of approximately USD 2 million, to
finance economic reinsertion payments for Kidal youth once
hostilities have subsided and life in Kidal has returned to
normal. While Ouane stressed that Mali "has not closed the
door" on the controversial mixed military units, he said it
was an issue "we have to discuss" with the Tuaregs.

--------------
Regional Security Summit Still On
--------------

5.(C) Mali appears to be moving ahead with plans for a
regional Heads of State summit on Sahel-Saharan security.

BAMAKO 00000558 002 OF 002


Ouane reported that Mali has received positive responses to
President Toure's summit proposal from countries stretching
from Mauritania to Sudan and that the summit would likely
take place in Bamako during the week of July 10. Mali hopes
the summit will produce a political declaration on regional
security and a road map for specific ways of combating
insecurity in the Sahel. Ouane said the summit would likely
be followed by a second conference for regional organizations
and international donors.

--------------
U.S. Concerns
--------------

6.(C) DAS Moss said the U.S. supported Mali's attempts to
revive the Algiers framework and that the U.S. will continue
to encourage Algeria to play a constructive role as Mali's
preferred mediator. He noted that Deputy Secretary
Negroponte had recently urged Algerian President Bouteflika
to resume mediation efforts. Ouane said the Algerians had
told him of this conversation when he was in Algiers. DAS
Moss also told the Minister that the U.S. was sending a
delegation to Algiers to encourage Algeria to continue its
mediation and to better explain U.S. intentions in the region
in order to assuage Algerian suspicions.

7.(C) DAS Moss said that the U.S., as a close friend of
Mali, was open to other ways it could support the negotiation
process and reiterated our offer to provide training for any
newly constituted mixed military units. He said he hoped
regional leaders would use the Heads of State summit to
encourage Niger President Tandja to be more like President
Toure in regard to his response to Tuareg unrest. He also
urged the Malian government to conduct a full and open
inquiry into the April 10 execution of two ADC members in
Kidal and noted that credible allegations of human rights
violations by members of the Malian military could seriously
impact our ability to provide military training in the
future. Minister Ouane thanked DAS Moss and the Ambassador
for the continued support of the United States and said an
investigation into murders was already underway.

--------------
Comment: Odds for a Summit
--------------

8.(C) While Minister Ouane's description of hostilities as
confined to a small area north-east of Kidal is generally
correct, clashes have occured south of Kidal as well as in
the regions of Gao and Segou. Minister Ouane's report of
positive feedback from Algeria, Chad, Niger and Mauritania on
President Toure's proposed Heads of State summit does not
correspond with assesments from others in Bamako regarding
regional interest in a high-level security summit (Ref. B).
The Malian government appears, however, to be committed to
the summit idea and the belief that if President Toure
invites regional Heads of State to Bamako, they will come.

9.(U) DAS Moss was not able to clear this message prior to
his departure.
MCCULLEY