LESOTHO GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ASSASSINATION PLOT

UNCLAS MASERU 000045

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ASSASSINATION PLOT

REF: 07 MASERU 630 AND PREVIOUS


1. (SBU) Summary: The Lesotho Government's senior spokesperson
stated publicly in January that the GOL had uncovered a plot by
opposition political parties to assassinate government ministers
and business figures, an issue he revisited with the Ambassador
during a January 30 courtesy call. In the absence of arrests or
other visible law enforcement action in the interim, local
observers have questioned the credibility of the alleged plot.
Nonetheless, unresolved attacks in 2007 on GOL ministers during
the country's post-election impasse clearly continue to trouble
senior officials who remain suspicious about the political
opposition's motives. The Minister described one immediate
political benefit of going public with the alleged plot when he
observed that the country's leading taxi association, closely
aligned with the political opposition, had cancelled a late
January/early February strike and publicly disassociated itself
with the alleged plot. End Summary.

--------------
A Plot Exposed?
--------------


2. (U) In early January, Minister of Communications, Science,
and Technology Mothojoa Metsing appeared on both state-owned
television and radio stating that the GOL had uncovered a plot
by opposition political parties to assassinate government
ministers and business figures. The Minister alleged that the
plot was to be undertaken during a work stoppage protest planned
for February 2008. Metsing claimed to possess a list of
targeted government ministers and businesspersons, but said that
he would not reveal their identities. Metsing offered, however,
that business owners who had not supported an opposition-led
strike in December 2008 were specifically targeted. Lesotho
Workers' Party (LWP) leader Macaefa Billy, a key opposition
figure, expressed publicly his shock at the allegations and
denied any plotting on behalf of Lesotho's opposition parties.

--------------
The Ambassador's Courtesy Call
--------------


3. (SBU) On January 30, Ambassador Nolan, accompanied by DCM and
Poloff, paid a courtesy call on Minister Metsing to discuss
general bilateral issues. During the meeting, Metsing raised
the assassination plot, reiterating that unidentified elements
among Lesotho's political opposition sought to use violence to
undermine the GOL, as they had allegedly done during attacks by
unidentified assailants on him and other ministers in mid-2007.
Metsing suggested that his statement had delivered immediate
political benefit, observing that the country's leading taxi
association, closely aligned with the political opposition, had
cancelled a late January/early February strike and publicly
disassociated itself with the alleged plot.

--------------
More Questions
--------------


4. (SBU) Comment: In the absence of arrests or other visible
law enforcement action, local observers have questioned the
credibility of the alleged plot. Nonetheless, unresolved
attacks in 2007 on ministerial residences during the country's
post-election impasse clearly continue to trouble senior
officials. According to a visiting British diplomat from
Pretoria, Lesotho's MFA formally complained to the British
Embassy in Pretoria about her February meetings in Maseru with
political opposition leaders, an unusual posture for the GOL but
one that reflects deep suspicion about opposition motives. The
Minister described one immediate political benefit of going
public with the alleged plot when he observed that the country's
leading taxi association, closely aligned with the political
opposition, had cancelled a late January/early February strike
and publicly disassociated itself with the alleged plot. End
Comment.

NOLAN