CNDD MEMBERSHIP - A FIRST LOOK

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000811 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL BIOS GV SUBJECT: CNDD MEMBERSHIP - A FIRST LOOK Classified By: ECONOFF T. SCOTT BROWN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) On December 23, the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) released a list of its membership. Of the 32-member Council, only six were civilians not associated with the police, customs, or gendarmerie. Preliminary information on CNDD members is provided in this cable. Additional information will be sent in as it becomes available. ¶2. (U) Thus far, Embassy has identified the following breakdown by service branch and ethnicity: 11 army, 3 police officers, 3 gendarmes, and 2 customs officers. Of these 19 members, nine are Malinke, three are Forestier, three are Soussou, three are Puehl, and two are of undetermined ethnicity. -------------- THE PRESIDENT -------------- ¶3. (S) Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was named President of the CNDD on December 23. Allegedly, the upper-ranking members of the putschistes drew straws to determine who would get the top position, and Dadis won. Dadis Camara is a 44-year-old Catholic army captain from a Forestier family of limited means. After completing economic studies at the University of Conakry, he began universal military service with the so-called "90th Promotion," the last group of Guineans required to do obligatory military training. Thereafter, he remained in the army, attending military training courses in Germany twice. He has strong connections with CNDD-member LTC Mamadou Korka Diallo, who appointed Dadis to his last position in the army, a quartermaster in charge of fuel supply. Along with Claude Pivi (aka Coplan),Dadis Camara was one of the leaders of the May 2008 mutiny. Sensitive reporting indicates that Dadis Camara may have loose ties to narcotics trafficking through his association with Pivi. ¶4. (C) Political observers note that Dadis displays a high level of political savvy and assertiveness. For instance, after the coup, he was able to contact Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, whom he reportedly convinced over the telephone to support the CNDD. In addition, he is regarded as very generous, a trait that has won him loyalty among the rank and file. Dadis Camara reportedly often drinks to excess, and sources have told DATT that they have already seen him drunk on a few occasions since he became president. -------------- THE VICE-PRESIDENTS -------------- ¶5. (C) Brigadier General Mamadou "Toto" Camara is a controversial Soussou career army officer named as one of two CNDD vice presidents and provisional Minister of Security. During the Conte regime, he was jailed three times for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. While in the army, he served 14 years in the Soviet Union, four in Germany, four in France, and two in the United States as Defense Attache, a position he was supposedly given only to remove him from Guinean soil to stop his interference in Guinean politics. Some Guineans view Toto Camara as part of the generation responsible for many of Guinea's economic woes. Observers note that his style is gruff and no-nonsense. Rumors that he is related to former first lady Henriette Conte are unconfirmed. According to one source, Toto Camara sought the presidency of the CNDD, but stepped aside when Claude Pivi (aka Coplan) imposed Dadis Camara on the council through physical intimidation. ¶6. (S) Colonel Sekouba Konate is a career Malinke army officer, one of two CNDD vice presidents, and provisional Minister of Defense. Konate was head of BATA, Guinea's airborne battalion, and served on multiple peacekeeping missions in the region. Sources say that Konate was unprepared for the coup, and began to assert himself with the core putschists when his supporters encouraged him to do so. Konate was reportedly not happy when he lost the presidency to Dadis Camara, but is nevertheless perceived as highly influential in the CNDD. Observers believe that Dadis Camara will fall from power should Konate withdraw his support. Sensitive reporting indicates that he may have ties to narcotics trafficking. -------------- THE PRIME MINISTER -------------- CONAKRY 00000811 002 OF 003 ¶7. (U) Kabinet Komara is a Malinke from Kankan and was named Prime Minister on 29 December. Currently in his fifties, he studied economics at the University of Conakry, France, the U.K., and the U.S. (unknown university),where he received his Ph.D. Since 1992, he has been working as Administrative Director for Public Investment for the African Import/Export Bank in Cairo. Before that, Komara was in charge of large projects at the Ministry of Finance under Kassory Fofana. He also funded the Islamic Center of Kankan, a lycee in Kankan in Upper Guinea, and is considering a project to start an American-style university in Guinea. Komara is married and has four (possibly five) children. ¶8. (C) Tidiane Diallo, a former USAID employee and reliable source for Embassy described Kabinet as having a solid technical background and no known involvement in corruption. Diallo wondered if Komara would be a strong enough leader to resist military pressure to stock the government with cronies. "If the military lets him do his work, he'll be a good guy," noted Diallo. -------------- COUNCIL MEMBERS -------------- ¶9. (S) Lieutenant Colonel Mathurin Bangoura is a Soussou gendarme from Maritime Guinea and the younger brother of former first lady Henriette Conte. Before the coup, Bangoura served as chief of intelligence for the Guinea Armed Forces. Prior to that, he was deputy chief of intelligence for the gendarmerie. Upper-middle class by Guinean standards, Bangoura served in peacekeeping in Sierra Leone where he "made his money" on U.N. per diem payments of $115 per day over a period of two years. (NOTE: A captain in the Guinean army earns a salary of roughly $200 per month. END NOTE.) Over his career, he worked in the Presidency in the late 80s or early 90s, received four years of military training in Germany, and participated in an exchange program with Spain. Sensitive sources suspect his involvement in narcotics trafficking. Bangoura is a devout Catholic, a teetotaler, and has loose ties to the 19th Promotion, the group of young, idealistic military officers who planned and carried out the early stages of the coup. ¶10. (C) Lieutenant Colonel Aboubakar Sidiki "Idi Amin" Camara is a career Malinke gendarme from Faranah in Upper Guinea who earned his nickname from his imposing physical stature. On the CNDD, he drafts and issues all communiques with the press. Sources sometimes describe Camara as the best educated and one of the most intelligent officers in the Guinean military. He received extensive military training in France and Morocco, and is the youngest recipient of Guinea's Ordre Nationale de Merit, Guinea's equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor. In his last position, Camara occupied the third most important post in the Ministry of Defense. Sources describe him as quiet and "tough to read." Camara has loose ties to the 19th Promotion. -------------- LOWER-RANKING CNDD MEMBERS -------------- ¶11. (C) Alpha Yaya Diallo is a Puehl inspector in Guinea's customs service, a member of the 90th Promotion, and a schoolmate of Dadis Camara. Most recently, Diallo was the head of customs at Conakry's main fuel depot, a plum position for the customs service. In this position, Diallo came to know and closely collaborate with Dadis Camara, his military counterpart. Diallo is viewed as a trusted ally of the National Director of Customs, Olga Syradin, who appointed him to his position at the depot. He is also a longtime Embassy contact. ¶12. (C) Lieutenant Colonel Mamadou Korka Diallo is a Puehl career military officer. Before the coup, Diallo was the head of logistics, personnel and finance for the Guinean military, and assigned Moussa Dadis Camara as head of fuel provisioning for the army. During the military mutiny of 2008, mutineers saw him as responsible for fraud and mismanagement at the ministry and shot him in the arm as he was driving past the airport. ¶13. (S) Second Lieutenant Claude Pivi (aka Coplan) was one of the leaders of the May 2008 military mutiny. A Forestier, he is reportedly behind a recent incidence of torture (septel) of several Cameroonians, and the ringleader of a group of bandits in Conakry. A strong believer in local animistic traditions, Pivi wears traditional "gris-gris" and a leopard-skin tunic that he believes makes him invincible. He has a history of insubordination, erratic behavior, and drug CONAKRY 00000811 003 OF 003 abuse. Sensitive reporting has connected him to narcotics kingpin Ousmane Conte. -------------- OTHER CNDD MEMBERS -------------- ¶14. (U) Lieutenant Colonel Kandia Mara is a Malinke police officer from Faranah in Upper Guinea. ¶15. (U) Colonel Sekou Mara is Malinke police officer from Faranah in Upper Guinea. ¶16. (U) Morcire Camara is a Malinke customs officer from Mamou in Middle Guinea. ¶17. (U) Lieutenant Colonel Fodeba Toure is a Malinke career army officer from Siguri in Upper Guinea. He was a member of the 90th Promotion. ¶18. (U) Major Cheick Tidiane Camara is a Soussou army officer from Maritime Guinea. ¶19. (U) Aedor Bah is Assistant Commander at Camp Alpha Yaya and the assistant to Sekouba Konate. ¶20. (U) Major Bamou Lama is a military trainer from the Forest Region. ¶21. (S) Adjutant Chief Issa Camara is Malinke army sergeant major and former of presidential security guard from Faranah in Upper Guinea. Sensitive sources suspect that he is involved in illegal activities, such as kidnapping. ¶22. (U) Major Amadou Doumbouya is a Malinke army officer and a member of the 90th Promotion. ¶23. (U) Lieutenant Moussa Keroko Camara is a career gendarme. A Malinke, Keroko Camara was recently assigned to the Army General Staff, where he served as secretary of operations. ¶24. (U) Doctor Diakite Aboubakar Cherif is an army physician and a member of the 90th Promotion. He is seen has having close ties with political leader Sidya Toure. ¶25. (U) Lieutentant Colonel Kandia Mara is head of the police anti-riot division. He was a member of the 90th Promotion. RASPOLIC