SUBJECT: Burkina Faso: Compaore Seeks to Win Favor

C O N F I D E N T I A L OUAGADOUGOU 000432


AF/W FOR TDOUGHERTY, EPLUMB, JHUTCHISON
NSC FOR KAREN O'DONNELL

E.O. 12958: DECLASSIFY ON 5/22/2018
TAGS: PREL EAID UV IS RW UG TO
SUBJECT: SUBJECT: Burkina Faso: Compaore Seeks to Win Favor
with United States during Visit to Israel

Classified by Ambassador Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (C) Key Points:

-- President Blaise Compaore visited Israel May 13-15 for
that country's 60th anniversary celebrations - the first
ever visit by a Burkinabe head of state.

-- Compaore was one of only three African heads of state
attending.

-- Previously, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi reportedly sent
a letter to Compaore demanding that he not go to Israel.


2. (C) Key Judgments:

-- Israel, eager to win favor with Burkina Faso while it is
a member of the UN Security Council (2008-2009),promised to
reinforce bilateral aid, now concentrated in agriculture,
education, and health. Compaore received acclamation by the
Knesset for his remarks about Israel's right to peacefully
co-exist with its neighbors, and was hailed as a "man of
peace" by Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel for his peace
mediation in Cote d'Ivoire.

-- Compaore mainly used the trip to Israel to win favor
with the United States. Compaore hopes to be invited to an
Oval Office meeting with President Bush as part of a trip in
which Compaore could also witness the signing on July 16 of
a $480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Compact with Burkina Faso.

-- Compaore, who agreed to return for a state visit to
Israel in 2009, skillfully deflected potential domestic
criticism of his visit by leading a mixed Muslim (about 52%
of Burkina Faso's population),and Christian (about 25%)
delegation of Burkinabe on a pilgrimage-like visit to holy
sites of Islam and Christianity.

End Key Points and Key Judgments.


3. (C) Making the first visit by a Burkinabe head of state,
President Blaise Compaore attended ceremonies May 13-15
commemorating the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding.
President Compaore also attended a dinner given by President
Peres with a number of Israeli cabinet members as well as
Ambassadors to Israel from Egypt, Mauritania, Cameroon,
Ghana and Nigeria. During that dinner, the President of the
Knesset invited President Compaore to the Israeli Parliament
for President Bush's address, according to Filippe Sawadogo,
Burkina Faso Minister of Culture, Tourism and
Communications. (Note: Sawadogo said that Compaore was the
only President invited to attend that event. We cannot
confirm the validity of this information, but note that
Compaore was "acclaimed" during a visit to the Knesset,
according to "Le Pays," a normally anti-Israeli private
daily published in Ouagadougou. End Note.)


4. (U) According to Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibrill
Bassole, Compaore discussed with Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni how to expand bilateral aid, currently focused
in agriculture, education, and health. They also discussed
Israel's support for Burkina Faso in its role as (2008-2009)
member of the UN Security Council, and Burkina Faso's peace
efforts in West Africa including Cote d'Ivoire. Bassole
added that he would return to Israel in a few weeks for more
detailed discussions.


5. (U) President Compaore also met with Nobel Peace Prize
Winner Elie Wiesel to discuss a wide range of world issues.
Wiesel is quoted in Ouagadougou newspapers as having said
"Blaise Compaore is a man of peace," referring to Compaore's
"direct dialogue" in resolving crises in the region
including Cote d'Ivoire.


Compaore Joins Other Heads of State
at Conference Marking Israel's 60th Anniversary
--------------

6. (SBU) Compaore also participated with 11 other former or
current heads of state in a "Tomorrow" conference to mark
Israel's 60th anniversary. These heads of state included
Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of
Rwanda, as well as ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. (The
fourth African head of state invited was Togo President
Faure Gnassingbe, who was represented by one of his
ministers.) Compaore's remarks about Israel's right to
"peaceful coexistence" with its neighbors earned him an
ovation at the conference, according to the official
Burkinabe daily "Sidwaya." (Sawadogo said that Compaore's
speech received more applause than any other.)


Libya's Qaddafi Upset By Compaore's Visit to Israel
--------------

7. (C) Sawadogo volunteered that, when Qaddafi learned that
President Compaore had agreed to attend the ceremonies, he
was outraged and sent a letter to the President demanding
that he reconsider. President Compaore was only encouraged
by this and stated to his advisors that "we must listen to
everyone." Compaore hopes that other African countries will
follow the lead of Burkina Faso, the Minister said.
Reflecting on the past, Sawadogo said that many countries
had listened to Libya for quite some time, but that many had
become disillusioned. He said that many people believe that
Africans cannot reflect, organize, manage, or maintain, and
that he believes Burkina Faso can prove them wrong.


U.S.-based Jewish Advocacy Group Praises Compaore,
Who Badly Wants Meeting with President Bush
--------------

8. (C) Burkina Faso Ambassador to the United States
Paramanga Ernest Yonli told Ambassador on May 21 that he had
received a letter from the American Jewish Committee -- an
advocacy group founded in 1906 with over 20 U.S. offices --
congratulating President Compaore on his visit to Israel.
Yonli confided to Ambassador that he was under tremendous
pressure to secure a meeting for Compaore with President
Bush.


Decision to Accept Israeli Invitation: Supported by
Burkinabe Christians, Useful for U.S. Bilateral Ties
--------------

9. (C) Sawadogo said that Israel had only invited a few
African heads of state, and that President Compaore and his
advisors had reflected carefully on the invitation prior to
acceptance. He said that 50% of decision makers in Burkina
Faso are Christian and that they all grew up learning about
Israel. Sawadogo mentioned the increased number of
pilgrimages to Israel undertaken by Burkinabe in the recent
past. So it was only natural that Burkina Faso be
represented at the anniversary celebrations, he concluded.
(Note: Christians make up only about 25% of the population,
but tend to be better educated and have a disproportionate
share of senior positions of the Compaore Government.
Compaore is Catholic. End note.)


10. (C) Sawadogo also emphasized that Burkina Faso
recognized that the United States was a good friend of
Israel, which made Compaore's Government even more confident
in its decision that Compaore attend the celebrations and
cultivate a closer relationship. Sawadogo said that
President Compaore desired to demonstrate his integrity to
the United States and has been "helpful" to Washington in
several areas. President Compaore recently received
Microsoft President Steve Ballmer in Ouagadougou (at the
time of the Microsoft Africa Best Practices Conference
here),Sawadogo noted, adding that some French businessmen
had seen this as yet another U.S. incursion into
traditionally French business in Francophone Africa.


Compaore Heads Off Opposition by Burkinabe Muslims
--------------

11. (U) Reframing his visit for a majority Muslim, domestic
audience, Compaore explained in an interview in Jerusalem
with "Le Pays" that he had come to Israel to "encourage the
international community to accompany Palestinians and
Israelis to reinforce their dialogue in order to reach an
agreement delineating the frontier between their two
states." Compaore also recalled that the African Union had
called for "two separate states, living side-by-side in
security and peace."


12. (SBU) Reflecting Burkina Faso's religious diversity and
his own finely tuned political instincts, Compaore invited
on the trip a large delegation of Burkinabe Muslims,
Catholics, and Protestants. Compaore and his delegation
made "pilgrimages" to holy sites of both Islam and
Christianity including the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex including
the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
according to "Sidwaya." In a moving gesture toward his
Israeli hosts, Compaore, wearing a skullcap, also relit the
eternal flame at the Museum of the Shoah, and called the
holocaust a "shameful history of our humanity."


Second Front in Israel's Charm Offensive:
Israeli Ambassador Woos Burkinabe in Ouagadougou
--------------

13. (C) Meanwhile, back in Ouagadougou, the Israeli
Ambassador to Burkina Faso, resident in Abidjan, hosted a
60th anniversary reception at a small restaurant attended by
Ambassador. Security was unusually tight. Burkina Faso
Prime Minister Tertius Zongo, who was also formerly
Ambassador to Washington and who rarely attends national day
receptions, attended along with a half dozen ministers, a
few businessmen and diplomats, and what were apparently
Burkinabe students who may have been on agricultural
exchanges in Israel. The Israeli Ambassador emphasized
Israel's admiration for President Compaore's role as
regional peacemaker, and lauded Compaore's future state
visit to Israel, expected in 2009. MOFA's Secretary General
and Cabinet Director told Ambassador that the Israeli
Ambassador was already driving them crazy with requests for
information for planning the state visit.


Historical Context of Burkinabe-Israeli Relations:
Broken in 1973, Reestablished by Compaore in 1993
--------------

14. (SBU) Burkina Faso's diplomatic relations with Israel
debuted in 1961 with the signature of an accord on bilateral
cooperation that included training of Burkinabe agronomists
and the establishment of a national lottery. Diplomatic
relations were severed in 1973 following Israel's October
War by then President Aboubacar Sangoule Lamizana, a Muslim
who had been head of the armed forces when he came to power
in a 1965 coup d'etat. Then Foreign Minister Malick Zorome,
also a Muslim, likely recommended Lamizana to break
relations with Israel, perhaps after pressure from other
member-countries of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC). Compaore, a Christian who came to power
in 1987 in a coup d'etat, reestablished diplomatic relations
with Israel in 1993 - a decision hailed during his Israel
visit as "courageous."

JACKSON