TANZANIA: FOREIGN MINISTER MEMBE CONFIRMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAR ES SALAAM 000389 SIPDIS AF/S FOR MJWILLS, AF/RSA FOR LMAZEL AF/FO FOR FSANNEH ALSO AF/E FOR JLIDDLE ADDIS FOR AU MISSION E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TZ ZI SUBJECT: TANZANIA: FOREIGN MINISTER MEMBE CONFIRMS EMERGENCY SADC TROIKA MEETING ON ZIMBABWE TO BE JUNE 25 IN SWAZILAND REF: A. WILLS/AF COM EMAIL 6/22/08 ¶B. DAR ES SALAAM 0382 Classified By: Ambassador Mark Green for reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Bernard Membe, Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told Ambassador Green in a June 24 phone call that an emergency meeting of the leaders of the Troika (Angola, Swaziland and Tanzania) of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security (OPDS) will be held in Swaziland beginning on June 25 (Ref A). According to Membe, President dos Santos, the Chair of the Troika, is not in good health, so asked the King of Swaziland to host the meeting. "A state of war exists in Zimbabwe; how is it possible to conduct fair elections?" Membe bemoaned. ¶2. (C) Membe also reported that President Kikwete has named the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, as his Special Envoy from the African Union to travel to Harare in order to meet separately with Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai in search of a way forward. Minister Membe confided to the Ambassador that the Government of Tanzania (GOT) had learned that "behind the scenes" Robert Mugabe and President Thabo Mbeki are "working hard" to quash the SADC Troika gathering and the meetings Obasanjo is trying to schedule. (Comment: The Ambassador noted that while he had heard Membe criticize Mbeki previously, the Minister's tone in this discussion indicated he was thoroughly fed up with Mbeki's refusal to confront Mugabe, even though evidence of the ongoing violence and atrocities in Zimbabwe are obvious. End Comment.) GREEN