CHANTAL COLLE REPORTEDLY RETURNS TO GUINEA

S E C R E T CONAKRY 000464 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2018 TAGS: PGOV ASEC KDEM GV SUBJECT: CHANTAL COLLE REPORTEDLY RETURNS TO GUINEA REF: CONAKRY 00023 Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (SBU) Five months after having been stripped of her Guinean passport and then deported, close presidential confidant Mme Chantal Colle reportedly returned to Guinea via Air France from Paris on August 22, according to multiple sources. Colle had left the country under armed escort on March 19 by order of the former Minister of Interior and Security, Beau Keita (reftel). Her unexpected March 18 arrest and immediate deportation fueled widespread debate in the Guinean press for several weeks. ¶2. (S) Sensitive reporting later suggested that First Lady Henriette Conte may have played a role in Colle's deportation because of Colle's alleged past intimate relationship with the president, and because Colle may have been trying to influence the president's political decisions. Colle is considered a close friend of the former Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Fode Bangorah, as well as the recently fired Chief of Protocol Idrissa Thiam. At the time, sources suggested that Colle had been trying to push through a presidential decree to replace Sam Soumah, the former Secretary General of the Presidency, with Fode Bangorah. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (S) A series of recent shake-ups within the Guinean Government suggest that a number of different political players are jockeying for the seat next to the president in order to influence the decisions coming out of the presidential palace. Chantal Colle's return is likely another iteration of these maneuverings. The fact that she chose to return while Henriette Conte is out of the country on a religious pilgrimage is worth noting. Also of note is the fact that Idrissa Thiam made several trips to Paris over the last few months during which it is rumored that he visited Colle. END COMMENT. BROKENSHIRE