BOSNIA - TIHIC THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND DURAKOVIC FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 001056

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR(DICARLO),EUR/SCE(HOH/FOOKS/STINCHOMB),
S/WCI(WILLIAMSON AND LAVINE); OSD FOR BEIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR KAWC KJUS BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - TIHIC THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND DURAKOVIC FOR
SREBENICA MAYOR

REF: A. SARAJEVO 870

B. SARAJEVO 816

C. SARAJEVO 793

D. SARAJEVO 757

Classified By: Ambassador Charles English. Reason 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 19, the Party for Democratic Action
(SDA) announced that it would nominate Camil Durakovic, the
notorious leader of the Srebrenica separatist movement and
organizer of the Srebrenica tent settlement, as their
candidate for mayor of Srebrenica. Several senior SDA
members have told us that party president Sulejman Tihic
drove the decision. The Ambassador called Tihic on June 20
to urge him in strong terms to reconsider and warned about
the consequences for U.S.-SDA relations if the party went
ahead with the Durakovic nomination. Tihic dug in his heels
and accused the U.S. of caring more about Durakovic's
nomination than about "war criminals walking the streets" of
Srebrenica. Srebrenica residents, including three of the
four major "Mothers of Srebrenica" associations, strongly and
publicly attacked Tihic, stressing their support for
incumbent mayor Abdurahman Malkic. They characterized his
decision as risking a split in the Bosniak vote that would
enable to election of a Serb mayor, which would aid and abet
the "Greater Serbia project" of indicted war criminals
Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. The Party for BiH (SBiH),
which is running in coalition with SDA in Republika Srpska
(RS),has not endorsed Durakovic, and several SBiH officials
have signaled to us that they will not do so. We recommend
DAS DiCarlo raise the issue with SBiH President Haris
Silajdzic at their bilateral on the margins of the June 24-25
Peace Implementation Council (PIC). Some SDA insiders, most
notably Federation VP Mirsad Kebo, have suggested to us that
the decision to nominate Durakovic could be reversed, but
Tihic is stubborn and generally not prone to changing course
once he has staked out a clear public position. END SUMMARY

SDA Decides to Nominate Durakovic for Srebrenica
-------------- ---


2. (SBU) On January 19, the 24-member SDA Presidency decided
to nominate Camil Durakovic as the SDA candidate for the
Srebrenica mayoralty. Durakovic is the public face of the
2007 Srebrenica secessionist movement that developed in the
wake of the February 2007 International Court of Justice
(ICJ) ruling that genocide took place in and around
Srebrenica in July 1995. Durakovic was the primary organizer
of the Sarajevo tent settlement that was part of the
secessionist campaign. SDA President Sulejman Tihic
announced the SDA decision in an interview with "San," a low
circulation, pro-opposition daily, which appeared on the
morning of June 20. Tihic publicly justified SDA's decision
by citing Durakovic's lack of a wartime past, his current
residence in Srebrenica, his English language skills, and his
educational background. (Note: Durakovic, a Bosniak refugee
and now U.S. citizen, spent the war in the U.S. End Note)

Tihic Drives Decision on Durakovic
--------------


3. (C) Over the last several weeks, we have engaged
repeatedly with key SDA party members, including the nominal
leader of the party's hard line faction, Bakir Izetbegovic,
and urged them to select a candidate who could help heal
Srebrenica's wounds (Ref A). We have been clear that, in our
judgment, Durakovic, given his past, lacks these
qualifications. Prior to the SDA Presidency meeting,
Izetbegovic told us that the party would back someone other
than Durakovic, and in a June 18 meeting with the Ambassador,
Tihic had all but promised the party would nominate someone
more suitable than Durakovic. Several party insiders,
including Federation Vice President Mirsad Kebo, told us on
June 20 that Tihic, working closely with Sadik Ahmetovic, SDA
MP and President of the SDA's Srebrenica Municipal Board,
drove the decision on Durakovic. Kebo also suggested that
the decision "is not irreversible" since the party has not
finalized its full list of mayoral candidates, let alone
registered them with the Central Election Commission.

Ambassador Urges Tihic to Reconsider
--------------

SARAJEVO 00001056 002 OF 003




4. (C) On June 20, the Ambassador called Tihic to express our
grave disappointment with SDA's decision to nominate
Durakovic. The Ambassador recalled that the U.S. had
brokered the Srebrenica election law agreement at the request
of the Bosniaks, who had assured us that their aim was to do
the right thing for the people of Srebrenica. We had passed
on these assurances to Serb political leaders (Ref B). SDA's
decision to nominate a separatist amounted to a slap in the
face, and it would undermine our ability to broker
compromises among Bosnian political leaders and to assist the
people of Srebrenica in the future. The Ambassador also
reminded Tihic that the U.S. is funding, at Tihic's request,
a voter registration/get-out-the-vote campaign that will
assist 1991 residents of Srebrenica vote in that municipality
regardless of their current place of residence. The
Ambassador closed by urging Tihic to reconsider his decision
and warning that Tihic will damage relations between his
party and the U.S. if he goes ahead with Durakovic.


5. (C) Tihic characterized Durakovic as a "uniter" and
claimed Durakovic's absence during the war would allow him to
move Srebrenica "in the right direction." Tihic assured the
Ambassador that SDA could "control Durakovic" and that
Durakovic "would cooperate with the U.S." Tihic reviewed
decisions SDA had taken that demonstrated its "friendship
with the U.S.," including support for the Citizenship Review
Commission and deployment of Bosnian troops to Iraq. When
pressed, Tihic characterized Serb support for the Srebrenica
amendment to BiH Election Law and RS investments in the
municipality as "worth zero," since Serbs had committed
genocide there. He added that there were no good candidates
available because "they had been massacred at Srebrenica."
Tihic intemperately attacked the U.S. for being more
concerned with Durakovic's nomination than with "war
criminals walking the streets" of Srebrenica, adding "every
RS politician is a bigger separatist than Durakovic."

Srebrenica Associations Attack Tihic
--------------


6. (SBU) A "Coalition Board of Srebrenica," which consists
of eight Srebrenica-based associations, including three of
the four major "Mothers of Srebrenica" associations, reacted
angrily to SDA's decision. In an open letter to the SDA
Presidency, the Coalition characterized Durakovic as "a
puppet and instrument of certain wheelers and dealers...who
live outside the town." They also questioned how someone who
tried to organize a collective movement of Bosniaks from
Srebrenica could effectively represent the interests of those
who have returned. The Coalition reminded SDA that Malkic,
the incumbent, enjoyed their support and the support of "an
enormous number of citizens of both ethnicities living in
Srebrenica." In a strongly worded passage, the Coalition
warned that if SDA does not nominate Malkic, Tihic "will have
to take the historical consequences for (Bosniaks) losing
power in Srebrenica...and for the definite realization of the
Greater Serbian project started by Radovan Karadzic and Ratko
Mladic."

Comment
--------------


7. (C) Tihic's reasons for selecting Durakovic are likely
varied. Some attribute it to his feud with the Reis, who
supports Malkic; some to internal SDA party politics. Some
believe that Tihic wants a malleable mayor, who will do his
bidding. Malkic had to be pushed by Tihic and others in SDA
hierarchy into supporting the Srebrenica Special Status
movement in 2007, and Tihic was upset with Malkic in May this
year for reaching agreement with the local Serb political
leadership on amendments to the Srebrenica Municipal Statute
that would have ensured reasonable protections against
outvoting for all of Srebrenica's ethnic groups. Finally,
some characterize Tihic as a helpless Othello who was
maneuvered into a poor decision by a conniving Iago, in this
case Sadik Ahmetovic, who is himself seeking to manipulate
Durakovic for political and financial gain.


8. (C) It is unclear whether the SBiH, which is running in
coalition with the SDA in the RS, will support Durakovic. In
theory, the coalition agreement allows them to block his

SARAJEVO 00001056 003 OF 003


nomination. Several party leaders have told us that they
would, but the decision ultimately rests with party leader
Haris Silajdzic. We have raised our concerns about Durakovic
with Silajdzic in the past, and we plan to approach him again
on June 23. We recommend DAS DiCarlo do the same during
their bilateral on the margins of the PIC. Regardless, Tihic
is notoriously stubborn, and the scathing public attacks on
him by the Coalition Board of Srebrenica may prompt him to
dig his heels in farther. Thus far, Tihic's public and
private rhetoric suggests he is likely to approach this
decision in the same short-sighted and unyielding manner in
which he approached his decision to withdraw from the
political agreement on police reform.
ENGLISH