OUSMANE BAH - IN OR OUT OF UPR?

UNCLAS CONAKRY 000131 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12598: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL ASEC GV SUBJECT: OUSMANE BAH - IN OR OUT OF UPR? ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Local press reports that Ousmane Bah ws relieved of his position as President of the UPR. The UPR thinks otherwise. Meanwhile, a rival politician reportedly is pulling the strings. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On April 21, several press reports stated that Ousamne Bah had been relieved of his post as president of the political party, Union pour le Progres et le Renouveau (UPR),and replaced by the wife of the late founder of the UPR. According to a subsequent interview with Amadou Oury Lemmy Diallo, the brother of the founder of the UPR, the 'coup' was put on by a small number of UPR dissidents, rumored to be financed by Cellou Diallo, head of the competing Union pour les Forces Dmocratiques de Guine (UFDG). (NOTE: Both the UPR and the UFDG are reportedly Fulani political parties competing for the same voters. END NOTE.) ¶3. (SBU) Later, on the evening of April 21, the UPR held a press conference at its office in Conakry. M. Moro Balde, the UPR Information and Communication officer, confirmed that the action taken against Bah was by twenty-two dissidents within the party led by Commandant Barou Diallo, and that they had no authority to dismiss Bah as president. He intimated that the dissidents would be disciplined by the party. (NOTE: Mr. Barou Diallo was a minister in President Conte's first government before joining the opposition. END NOTE.) ¶4. (SBU) The spokesperson said that Ousmane Bah is still the president of the UPR, and that he is continuing on this tour of the interior of the country, trying to install cadres in all regions of Guinea. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: At the same time as the UPR press conference was being conducted, the dissidents were swearing in Hadja Aissatou Bah Diallo, as the interim president of the UPR. She is the widow of Siradio Diallo, the founder of the UPR. The reason for the intrigue may be that Bah is supposedly trying to turn the UPR into a national, multi-ethnic political party. This is rumored to be the reason that Cellou Diallo is financing dissent within the UPR, as he reportedly wants to merge his party with UPR, with him as the presidential candidate of the merged Fulani party. This is a tricky situation as the government will not legalize a tribal or ethnic based political party. END COMMENT. CARTER