Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ADDISABABA2773
2009-11-24 12:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:
USAU: AFRICAN UNION TO NAME NEW SPECIAL
how-toVZCZCXRO7145 RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO DE RUEHDS #2773 3281240 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 241240Z NOV 09 FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6919 INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE RUEPADJ/CJTF HOA RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RUZEFAA/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 7988
C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 002773
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA, AF/E, AND IO/UNP
LONDON FOR PLORD
PARIS FOR WBAIN
NSC FOR MGAVIN
DOD FOR OSD AFRICAN AFFAIRS (VHUDDLESTON)
NAIROBI FOR SOMALIA UNIT
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2014
TAGS: PREL KPKO SO AU
SUBJECT: USAU: AFRICAN UNION TO NAME NEW SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE FOR SOMALIA
Classified By: USAU AMBASSADOR MICHAEL A. BATTLE, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D).
C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 002773
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA, AF/E, AND IO/UNP
LONDON FOR PLORD
PARIS FOR WBAIN
NSC FOR MGAVIN
DOD FOR OSD AFRICAN AFFAIRS (VHUDDLESTON)
NAIROBI FOR SOMALIA UNIT
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2014
TAGS: PREL KPKO SO AU
SUBJECT: USAU: AFRICAN UNION TO NAME NEW SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE FOR SOMALIA
Classified By: USAU AMBASSADOR MICHAEL A. BATTLE, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D).
1. (U) This message is from USAU Ambassador Battle.
2. (C) The African Union (AU) will soon announce the
appointment of Ambassador Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra as the
Special Representative of the Commission Chairperson (SRCC)
for Somalia, replacing Ambassador Nicolas Bwakira. Diarra, a
long-time Malian magistrate and diplomat, will leave his post
as director of the African Center for Studies and Research on
Terrorism (ACSRT) in Algiers and assume his new duties on
January 1, 2010.
3. (C) AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra
informed AF Deputy Assistant Secretary Karl Wycoff about
Diarra's selection during a November 19 meeting in his AU
headquarters office. Wycoff said he was pleased by Diarra's
nomination. Lamamra's assessment of Diarra was positive.
Diarra will report to Lamamra on the political developments
inside Somalia and on efforts to achieve a political
solution.
4. (C) Bwakira, a Burundian, was regarded by some AU
observers and AU interlocutors as being weak and ineffective,
and often not telling it like it is when asked to assess the
political situation in Somalia. Some believed that Bwakira
would distort the truth in order not to frighten away
international donors. In addition, there was tension between
Bwakira and UN Special Envoy for Somalia Ould Abdallah that
contributed to a dysfunctional relationship between the two
offices.
5. (U) At ACSRT, where he began working in 2006, Diarra was
responsible for overseeing programs intended to strengthen
the capacity of the AU and its member states to prevent and
combat terrorism. ACSRT staff also collects information
about terrorist activities and organizations threatening
Africa, and the organization also develops training programs
for national and regional entities across the continent.
ACSRT was established in Algiers by the AU in 2004.
6. (U) BIOGRAPHIC NOTES: Diarra was born in 1952 in Gao,
Mali, and is married with four children. He holds a law
degree from the University of Poitiers in France, and he has
a diploma from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration in
Bamako. He attended training on the U.S. judicial system in
1993. During his career, he has served as a prosecutor and
judge in Mali, but also as justice minister, labor and civil
service minister, secretary general of the presidency, and
ambassador to Tunisia. He speaks French and English.
MEECE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA, AF/E, AND IO/UNP
LONDON FOR PLORD
PARIS FOR WBAIN
NSC FOR MGAVIN
DOD FOR OSD AFRICAN AFFAIRS (VHUDDLESTON)
NAIROBI FOR SOMALIA UNIT
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2014
TAGS: PREL KPKO SO AU
SUBJECT: USAU: AFRICAN UNION TO NAME NEW SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE FOR SOMALIA
Classified By: USAU AMBASSADOR MICHAEL A. BATTLE, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D).
1. (U) This message is from USAU Ambassador Battle.
2. (C) The African Union (AU) will soon announce the
appointment of Ambassador Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra as the
Special Representative of the Commission Chairperson (SRCC)
for Somalia, replacing Ambassador Nicolas Bwakira. Diarra, a
long-time Malian magistrate and diplomat, will leave his post
as director of the African Center for Studies and Research on
Terrorism (ACSRT) in Algiers and assume his new duties on
January 1, 2010.
3. (C) AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra
informed AF Deputy Assistant Secretary Karl Wycoff about
Diarra's selection during a November 19 meeting in his AU
headquarters office. Wycoff said he was pleased by Diarra's
nomination. Lamamra's assessment of Diarra was positive.
Diarra will report to Lamamra on the political developments
inside Somalia and on efforts to achieve a political
solution.
4. (C) Bwakira, a Burundian, was regarded by some AU
observers and AU interlocutors as being weak and ineffective,
and often not telling it like it is when asked to assess the
political situation in Somalia. Some believed that Bwakira
would distort the truth in order not to frighten away
international donors. In addition, there was tension between
Bwakira and UN Special Envoy for Somalia Ould Abdallah that
contributed to a dysfunctional relationship between the two
offices.
5. (U) At ACSRT, where he began working in 2006, Diarra was
responsible for overseeing programs intended to strengthen
the capacity of the AU and its member states to prevent and
combat terrorism. ACSRT staff also collects information
about terrorist activities and organizations threatening
Africa, and the organization also develops training programs
for national and regional entities across the continent.
ACSRT was established in Algiers by the AU in 2004.
6. (U) BIOGRAPHIC NOTES: Diarra was born in 1952 in Gao,
Mali, and is married with four children. He holds a law
degree from the University of Poitiers in France, and he has
a diploma from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration in
Bamako. He attended training on the U.S. judicial system in
1993. During his career, he has served as a prosecutor and
judge in Mali, but also as justice minister, labor and civil
service minister, secretary general of the presidency, and
ambassador to Tunisia. He speaks French and English.
MEECE