AU SUMMIT -- AF ACTING A/S CARTER MEETS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 000318

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AND AF/RSA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV AU MR
SUBJECT: AU SUMMIT -- AF ACTING A/S CARTER MEETS WITH
MAURITANIANS

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DONALD YAMAMOTO, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: AF Acting Assistant Secretary Phillip Carter
met with Mauritania's National Assembly President Messaoud
Ould Boulkheir on February 1 on the margins of the AU Summit
in Addis Ababa. Boulkheir thanked the USG for its unwavering
support of the legitimately elected government of President
Abdallahi and requested our assistance in persuading the rest
of the international community, and France in particular, to
continue pressuring the Mauritanian junta to leave power.
End Summary.


2. (C) The strategy of the National Front for the Defense of
Democracy (FNDD) is to ensure the junta fails, Boulkheir told
Carter. President Abdallahi, who is seeking a way out of the
political crisis, made an important concession when he
announced recently that he would support holding new
presidential elections -- on condition that the junta did not
participate in them. Boulkheir placed the onus on the
military to comply, but he acknowledged that the junta has
shown no inclination to relinquish power. He praised the USG
for its rejection of the coup. "It's what keeps us going.
The struggle continues," he said. The election of President
Obama had helped keep Mauritanian hopes alive, he added.


3. (C) AU and international pressure appears to be having
some effect. Boulkheir said coup leader General Aziz has
lost the support of Ahmed Ould Daddah, head of the Rally of
Democratic Forces party, and he is talking less in public
about his candidacy for president. "We should find ways to
increase the problems for him," Carter suggested. Boulkheir
was also grateful to the AU for speaking out against coups,
and noted that the AU's recent communique reaffirming its
opposition to the Mauritanian coup seems to have quieted the
junta's unilateral call for June elections. Of concern,
however, is Senegal's lobbying of other West African states
to support the junta. Senegal has also extradited a
Mauritanian military officer who had been openly critical of
the junta.


4. (C) Carter asked if Abdallahi's supporters were lobbying
other West African states and noted that Ghana's Vice
President was supportive of the Abdallahi camp. Carter added
that he had advocated for a restoration of constitutional
order in Mauritania and Guinea at each of his meetings on the
margins of the AU Summit. Carter and Boulkheir agreed that
while there was a worrying anti-democratic trend in Africa,
states such as Nigeria had taken strong positions against
military coups.


5. (C) Carter inquired whether Arab League states continued
to be supportive of Abdallahi. Boulkheir replied that he was
disappointed with the Arab League, particularly after it
invited coup leader General Aziz to its meeting in Doha. "We
don't want to see that happen again," he said. Libyan
President Qadhafi had taken a more favorable stance in
support of the legitimate government.


6. (C) The EU presents the major obstacle, Boulkheir
asserted. The French government, as a "privileged partner"
of Mauritania, is split on how to respond to the Mauritania
crisis, with the French presidency generally taking a harder
line than the MFA on the issue of sanctions. Boulkheir
appealed to the USG to intervene with President Sarkozy and
the GOF.


7. (C) If the junta holds elections in June as it has
announced, the elections will not be legitimate and the
junta's credibility will be further called into question,
Carter said. He asked Boulkheir about his contacts with the
military. Boulkheir said he had met General Aziz three times
since the August 2008 coup. During their most recent meeting
ahead of the junta-organized national days of consultation,
Boulkheir said he told General Aziz that the FNDD would not
participate and he denounced the arrest of President
Abdallahi's prime minister.


8. (C) Boulkheir appealed for U.S. assistance in lobbying the
international community. He said the junta has used the
state coffers to build up its support, including paying 14
lawmakers to travel to Addis to lobby on the margins of the
AU Summit. "We would welcome help in the name of democracy,"
Boulkheir said, noting that he and two fellow lawmakers had

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"difficulties" reaching Addis. (Note: Those lawmakers and
the Mauritanian ambassador that President Abdallahi had sent
to Addis attended the February 1 meeting with Carter. End
note.) Carter replied that USG resources were tight given
domestic economic challenges, but the USG would see what can
be done to help. He told Boulkheir that the United States
would work to influence others.


9. (C) Regarding concrete measures that could be taken
against the junta, Carter told Boulkheir that the USG would
continue to urge the AU to impose sanctions should the junta
not restore constitutional order. These sanctions would send
a message to other would-be coup plotters, Carter said.


10. (C) The Mauritanian delegation provided examples of
worsening conditions in their country, including civil
servants being systematically replaced by cronies of the
junta, and pro-Abdallahi officials being arrested on trumped
up charges and incarcerated like common criminals. (Note:
The Department and Embassy Nouakchott will want to coordinate
the USG's response to these allegations. End note.)


11. (U) Acting A/S Carter approved this message.
YAMAMOTO