UPDATE WITH FNDD FOREIGN MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L NOUAKCHOTT 000628 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2013 TAGS: PREL PGOV MR SUBJECT: UPDATE WITH FNDD FOREIGN MINISTER REF: NOUAKCHOTT 615 Classified By: CDA Dennis Hankins for reasons 1.4 (b and d) ¶1. (C) Aziz Tells Lies: Charge met October 26 with FNDD co-leader and effective Abdallahi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ould Maouloud to follow-up on press reports that General Aziz had been on the verge of releasing President Abdallahi as a gesture to the European Union when he had learned the FNDD planned to have Abdallahi immediately order the parliament dissolved. Ould Maouloud said that was fiction and that the General was simply trying to somehow shift the blame to the FNDD when he had simply decided not to release the President after he had made a commitment to do so. Ould Maouloud said the FNDD parliamentary strategy remains the same as described REFTEL -- to force gridlock unless the regime allowed the parliamentary session to serve as a real national dialogue. He added, "we want to maintain the Presidency of the National Assembly, we have no interest in dissolving it before the President comes back." ¶2. (C) Two International Communities: Ould Maouloud thanked Ambassador Boulware for his October 24 press conference underlining the U.S. position that the restoration of constitutional order requires the reinstatement of President Abdallahi. He saw the U.S. and the AU as one on this issue while the EU remains dangerously vague. While acknowledging that, once back in office, President Abdallahi may decide the best course of action is in fact to resign in favor of new elections, Ould Maouloud saw any prior decision to that effect as a victory for the military that will lead to future coups. He insisted that "the political dialogue cannot begin until the military agree to leave. ¶3. (C) Diplomatic Outreach: Ould Maouloud told Charge he had just heard from National Assembly President Messaoud Ould Boulkheir who had met that morning in Libya with Qadhafi. The FNDD, fearful a regime delegation might have convinced the Libyan to support them, had dispatched their senior statesman to bolster their position. Ould Maouloud said, "we heard the right things" from Qadhafi but he was obviously not convinced the Libyans would stick to what they said. Ould Maouloud thanked the U.S. for facilitating communications between the FNDD and AU Chairperson Kikwete confirming that he, the anti-coup Mauritanian ambassador to the AU, and FNDD partner Abdel Kaddous Ould Abeidna (a fluent English speaker) were ready to participate in an October 27 video conference with the Tanzanian Foreign Minister or his representative. HANKINS