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