SENEGAL'S FOREIGN MINISTER'S VISIT TO MAURITANIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAKAR 001488 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/AE AND INR/AA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PINR MR SG SUBJECT: SENEGAL'S FOREIGN MINISTER'S VISIT TO MAURITANIA REF: DAKAR 1486 Classified By: Political Counselor David G. Mosby for reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Summary: On December 30 Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheikh Tidiane Gadio briefed Charge and Political Counselor on his December 17 visit to Mauritania and his meetings with ousted President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and coup leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Gadio said President Abdoulaye Wade sent him to ascertain the positions of Abdallahi and Aziz and to encourage them to find a solution. End summary. ¶2. (C) Gadio informed EmbOffs that during his meeting with Abdallahi, the ousted President initially insisted on a principled position of an unconditional return to power as the democratically elected president. Moreover, Abdallahi said he would not participate in talks to organize new elections. However, when pressed by Gadio who implied this principled stand is unrealistic, Abdallahi acknowledged that he might need to begin developing another position, according to the Foreign Minister. Gadio said he told Abdallahi that Senegal wants him to be part of the solution. In addition, according to Gadio, Abdallahi asked the Foreign Minister to intercede on his behalf with Aziz to obtain a guarantee of security for him and his family, which Gadio claims he did. ¶5. (C) With regard to any disparity between the AU's position and that of Senegal, Gadio said, "We don't want to have a different position. We are against coups." But he emphasized that the closeness of the country and the family and ethnic links obliges Senegal to take a different position than it could take with Zimbabwe, for example, because that country is far away. He used the same argument to explain President Wade's backing of the coup leaders in Conakry (retel). ¶6. (C) Commented: As noted reftel, Senegal's commitment to democratic principle and opposition to coups in other countries is mostly rhetorical. While Senegal would clearly prefer to have stable democratic neighbors with which it maintains good relations, Senegal will settle for stable neighbors with which it maintains good relations, even if those neighbors do not always respect democratic and constitutional norms. SMITH