GUINEA PM BALKS AT MEETING SIERRA LEONE PRESIDENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 000470 SIPDIS DEA PARIS FOR HOUSTON, HALEY, HEDRICK DEA LAGOS FOR GAYE E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2018 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREF PREL SNAR GV SUBJECT: GUINEA PM BALKS AT MEETING SIERRA LEONE PRESIDENT REF: A. CONAKRY 468 ¶B. CONAKRY 445 ¶C. CONAKRY 443 ¶D. FREETOWN 405 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Kent C. Brokenshire for reasons 1.4 B and D ¶1. (C) Guinea Prime Minister Tidiane Souare on August 26 declined an offer by Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma to meet August 28 in Conakry to discuss narcotics trafficking issues. The refusal comes less than 10 days after the PM assured Charge and a representative of SL President Koroma that Guinea would crack down on narcotics activity inside its borders. The Prime Minister's Office did not provide Charge with a reason why the meeting could not take place. At the request of Embassy Freetown and the Sierra Leonean government (which does not trust its Embassy staff in Conakry),Charge had been coordinating efforts to bring the two leaders together ¶2. (C) It is possible that the PM declined to meet with Koroma because he was preoccupied with rumors swirling around Conakry August 26 of his imminent dismissal by President Conte (Ref A). The Prime Minister might also have been reluctant to meet with President Koroma because he has not yet made any visible effort to crack down on narcotics activity in Guinea. The PM has also not moved to apprehend known SL narcotics kingpin Gibril Gbessay Kamara who slipped into Guinea August 12 and is believed to be still hiding in Conakry. Kamara is of particular interest to the Government of Sierra Leone. It was his presence in Guinea that prompted the August 17 meeting between the PM, Charge, and a personal representative of President Koroma, Abdulla Mustapha, who is the Director General of Sierra Leone's Central Intelligence and Security Unit (Ref C). ¶3. (C) The PM's decision has left Mustapha confused over Guinea's willingness to press the drug war. In a recent e-mail to Charge, the SL President's representative speculated that perhaps someone at the Presidency or Ministry of Security has put the brakes on the PM's earlier vow to fight narco trafficking. Whatever the case, putting off the meeting with Koroma gives the outward appearance that Guinea, always short on action in drug matters, may be short on talk as well. We will continue to encourage the GoG to move decisively against narco traffickers in Guinea. BROKENSHIRE