FATE OF THE COMZONES MAY BE STALLING OUAGA IV

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000220


E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2019
TAGS: PGOV MARR KDEM IV
SUBJECT: FATE OF THE COMZONES MAY BE STALLING OUAGA IV

REF: A. ABIDJAN 104

B. ABIDJAN 68


Classified By: PolEcon Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary. Implementation of the fourth supplementary
agreement (Ouaga IV) to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement
(OPA) is proving challenging, particularly with regard to the
fate of the comzones. The Office of the OPA Facilitator's
Special Representative told Poloff that, according to Ouaga
IV, the comzones cannot remain in command positions. The
Prime Minister's legal advisor told Poloff that the FAFN must
continue to be recognized as an army until a new national
army is set up. She said the comzones would leave their
commands since their troops will be brought into the
Integrated Command Center (ICC),but that they will become
members of the FAFN general staff in Bouake. End Summary.


2. (C) The ceremony to mark the transfer of power from the
Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) to the prefects in the areas of the
country under FAFN control, scheduled to take place on March
4, has not yet been re-scheduled. A difference of opinion,
whether real or contrived, seems to exist between the FAFN
and President Gbagbo's camp regarding what the Ouaga IV
accord envisions as the role to be played by the Zone
Commanders (comzones). President Gbagbo held a meeting on
March 23 with security and defense forces to draw up a
timeline for Ouaga IV and the ICC met on March 27 to move
this process forward. Gbagbo was scheduled to meet again
with security and defense forces on March 30, but the meeting
was postponed. Affoussy Bamba, the Prime Minister's legal
advisor, told Poloff on March 31 that Gbagbo called Prime
Minister Soro after the conclusion of the ICC meeting to
cancel the appointment. She also said that the official
reason given by the Ministry of Interior for postponement of
the transfer ceremony was the fact that President Gbagbo has
created a handful of new departments throughout the country
over the last year and prefects had not yet been appointed
for these new administrative divisions. Their nominations
have just been announced.

Transfer of Power Linked to ICC Deployment
--------------


3. (C) Daouda Diallo, Political Advisor to Ambassador Badini,
the OPA Facilitator's Special Representative, told Poloff on
March 27 that President Compaore has sent a clear message to
the OPA signatories that the transfer of power between the
comzones and the prefects must take place. Diallo said the
FAFN have finally given the Facilitator the names of the
4,000 troops that are to be deployed with government police
and gendarmes in ICC brigades. Diallo said the transfer of
power from the comzones to the prefects must occur
concurrently with the deployment of these mixed ICC units.
Diallo indicated there was a difference of opinion about
whether the ICC mixed units would be deployed in the areas
under FAFN control and that President Gbagbo has made it
clear that he wants them to be deployed nationwide.

Comzones Can't Command Any More
--------------


4. (C) Diallo told Poloff that Ouaga IV does not provide for
the comzones to continue as military commanders while they
turn over administrative duties to the prefects. He said it
is up to the FAFN to figure out what to do with them until
the peace process is completed.


5. (C) Affoussy Bamba, legal advisor to the Prime Minister,
told Poloff on March 31 that since the FAFN troops will be
integrated into the ICC, the comzones have no soldiers to
command. She said the FAFN plan to have the comzones
attached to the FAFN general staff. Bamba noted that Ouaga
IV recognizes two armies: the FAFN and the national army
(FANCI). Bamba told Poloff that the FAFN will continue to
exist as an army until the country's new army is set up one
month after the presidential inauguration. Bamba described
the ICC with its mixed brigades of FAFN and FANCI troops as a
"transitory" army that is the embryo of the new national army.


6. (C) Comment. It is unclear to Embassy whether the FAFN
and Gbagbo camp negotiators really came away from Ouaga IV
with different interpretations of the text or whether
misunderstandings continue to arise because one or both sides
could not sell the deal they agreed to in Ouagadougou to the
rank and file. The recognition of the FAFN as an army has
always been critical for the FAFN; otherwise they are just a
band of treasonous rebels. Having the FAFN continue to exist
as an army until the creation of the new national army may
well be a non-negotiable point for the FAFN. Whether the
comzones have actually agreed to give up their command
positions and work in the FAFN staff in Bouake remains to be
seen, and the ICC exists in name only. The notion that there
are military officers ready and waiting to take over command
of their troops is a fiction. What is clear is that the OPA
signatories are once again grappling with the very thorny
military issues that have stymied the peace process for so
long.


NESBITT