CAR PM PLEDGES TO HELP US IMPLEMENT PROJECTS; FRUSTRATED BY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGUI 000262 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/C USUN FOR DMUERS PARIS FOR RKANEDA LONDON FOR PLORD NAIROBI FOR AKARAS AFRICOM FOR JKUGEL GTIP FOR VZEITLIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR ECON CT SUBJECT: CAR PM PLEDGES TO HELP US IMPLEMENT PROJECTS; FRUSTRATED BY TIP ACTION PLAN REF: A. BANGUI 0238 ¶B. BANGUI 0235 BANGUI 00000262 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Ambassador and DCM met with Prime Minister Touadera on December 2 to discuss a number of issues; including the CARG approval of the road rehabilitation project, the still-pending MOU for the Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) project, the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Action Plan, and the USG Afghanistan Strategy. Touadera pledged to work with us on these issues, though he expressed considerable frustration with the TIP Action Plan, commenting that TIP is not a major problem in the CAR and that it is not the government's business to tell NGOs what their priorities should be. He also remarked that the CARG has noted the amount of assistance that the USG has provided to Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA),and lamented that similar aid has not been forthcoming for the CAR. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) CAR Prime Minister Faustin Touadera accepted a meeting with Ambassador and DCM on December 2 to discuss several issues, starting with our two major bilateral development projects: the road rehabilitation project in Ouham/Ouham-Pendi prefectures, and the PRADD project. Ambassador thanked the CARG for accepting the conditions presented in our diplomatic note (ref B),which will allow us to move forward with this major $2.75 million initiative. Touadera agreed that the jobs provided by this project will help bring stability to a region that suffers from unemployment and insurgency. Ambassador then requested Touadera's assistance in securing a new MOU to allow the PRADD project to move forward, noting that we have waited several months for the Minister of Mines to sign the MOU. The Prime Minister was surprised that the MOU was still pending as he had been assured that it had been signed. He asked for a duplicate copy and promised to intervene with the Minister of Mines. ¶3. (SBU) We presented to the Prime Minister a copy of the TIP Action Plan demarche delivered to the Foreign Ministry in October (ref A),stressing that the CARG should demonstrate actions to combat TIP to avoid a Tier 3 ranking. Reading the Action Plan, Touadera commented that anti-Tip legislation has already been included in the updated Penal Code, and that TIP elements could be included in the National Poverty Reduction Strategy. He took issue, however, with the point that the CARG should encourage the establishment of NGOs to address TIP issues, saying that it was not the business of government to create NGOs and tell them what to do. Becoming angry, Touadera argued that Central Africans do not have the cultural practice of selling or prostituting their children and that the Bozize government has taken steps to advance the status of women. TIP is not a major problem in CAR, he said, so how can the CARG prove it is fighting something that is not prevalent? He denied the existence of CARG supported self-defense groups and noted that the child soldiers found in the CAR are all members of rebel groups and thus, by definition, beyond the legal writ of the CARG. ¶4. (U) Ambassador passed Touadera a copy of President Obama's Afghanistan speech and commented that the Embassy plans to continue outreach to the Muslim community on USG policies in the Muslim world, which has so far proven quite successful. (Note: CAR has an ethnically mixed Muslim minority of about 15 percent that is largely ignored by the government. End Note.) We also requested CARG support for our Afghanistan policy in international fora. Touadera nodded, but accepted the speech without any specific comment. ¶5. (SBU) During the conversation, Touadera complained about LRA incursions into southeastern CAR, which have resulted in BANGUI 00000262 002.2 OF 002 murders, kidnappings, and considerable dislocation of the population. He noted the assistance of the Ugandan army (UPDF), but said that the Central African army (FACA) should have the capability to defend Central African territory. He asked why the USG is willing to assist the UPDF but not the FACA to counter the LRA. Ambassador responded that AFRICOM has opened channels with the FACA through the Embassy, but emphasized that the relationship is incipient and asked for Touadera's patience. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Prime Minister Touadera, an academician by trade, appears to be one of the more sincere partners for the international community in the Bozize administration. He has proven helpful in the past, and we hope that he will be able to convince Minister of Mines Sylvain Ndoutingai to cooperate with the PRADD project. Possibly our biggest challenge in working with the CARG is accurately determining which officials truly share a vision of growth and prosperity for CAR, which are incompetent and must be circumnavigated, and which are simply unredeemable kleptocrats determined to steal as much as possible while the current government is still in power. We hope that Touadera is in the first group and will continue to work with us to steer the rest of the CARG in the right direction, but must note that he is not/not considered to be close to President Bozize or to have major influence in the CARG. End Comment. COOK