(C) USG ASKS DADIS TO RESIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 000624 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019 TAGS: PREL ASEC PGOV KDEM PHUM SOCI GV SUBJECT: (C) USG ASKS DADIS TO RESIGN REF: CONAKRY 00538 Classified By: ECONOFF BRIANA WARNER FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Summary: In a heated meeting with the president of the junta yesterday, DAS of African Affairs, William Fitzgerald, recommended that Dadis relinquish power and allow for the formation of a transition government. Dadis initially seemed shocked by the message and argued that his presidency is in the U.S. interest. As the meeting dragged on for two hours, Dadis' circular arguments became increasingly erratic and desperate. In the end, Dadis emphasized that he will not be stepping down before elections are held. END SUMMARY. -------------- A STEP INTO THE DADIS SHOW -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Although the Guinean MFA had indicated that DAS Fitzgerald's meeting would take place on Tuesday, Embassy received a call Monday afternoon requesting that Fitzgerald go immediately to Cases Bellvue for the meeting. Cases Bellvue was Sekou Toure's old political entertaining facility and military outpost and is still used to host foreign dignitaries. Contrary to Dadis' habit of making people wait hours to see him, Dadis entered the room just ten minutes after the arrival of DAS, Charge, and EconOff, and demanded that Fitzgerald sit directly next to him on his leather couch, which was draped with a plush white faux fur cover. With the Prime Minister and Minster of Environment present, Dadis excused his group of guards and sat down to speak with the U.S. delegation. ¶3. (C) Explaining that his message came directly from the Secretary of State and the President, Fitzgerald demanded that Dadis step down from power immediately in order to make way for a transitional government leading to democratic elections. He stated that Dadis' departure would be not only in Guinea's best interest, but also in Dadis' best interest. After the September 28 massacre, Fitzgerald told Dadis that the CNDD no longer has the legitimacy to guide the country to elections. He suggested that if Dadis left the country immediately, Guinea might have hope for a peaceful resolution. However, Fitzgerald warned that if Dadis stayed, the USG is considering economic, political, and visa sanctions against the GOG. -------------- SHOCK AND DESPERATION -------------- ¶4. (C) Seemingly shocked by the message, Dadis claimed that America should be lauding his efforts, as he is "the only person in Africa that is good for the U.S. in fighting drugs and terrorism." He went on to express his belief that Al Qaeda and drug trafficking groups are trying to take over Guinea, and that he is the only force stopping them. ¶5. (C) When Fitzgerald told Dadis that his efforts in fighting drugs are moot after the September 28 massacre, Dadis attempted to defend himself. For nearly 30 minutes, Dadis explained the poor discipline and motivation of Guinea's armed forces, pleading that their disintegration was the reason for both the 2007 attacks and the September 28 massacre. "The Guinean army is one of confusion and non-direction," he said. According to Dadis, he has desperately tried to restructure the army over the past eight months, and he plans to keep doing so. He told Fitzgerald that if he resigns, the army would dissolve into chaos and Guinea would implode. He explained, ad infinitum, that his education in Germany and experience as a peace keeper in Sierra Leone gave him the perspective to effectively reshape the army, and made him "the only person who can fix the military." ¶6. (C) Dadis then said that he would immediately fly to the United States to explain his case and show Washington that Guinea would be thrust into war without him at the helm. Fitzgerald explained to him that he would be happy to see Dadis get on a plane and leave the country, but that he would not be allowed into the United States, as he is answerable for the September 28 massacre. Fitzgerald told Dadis that he will be henceforth looked upon as a pariah, and will never be seen as a legitimate leader of Guinea. As such, for the benefit of Guinea, Fitzgerald emphasized that Dadis should step down immediately and leave the country. -------------- ENTER KONATE -------------- ¶7. (C) Just as the meeting seemed to be ending, Minister of Defense Sekouba Konate abruptly entered the room. The Prime Minister quickly rose to offer his seat to Konate, who sluggishly dropped into it. Dadis asked everyone to sit down and Fitzgerald again delivered the message for Konate to hear. Konate calmly listened, and then asked that the message be delivered in the form of diplomatic note, for the CNDD to consider Washington's recommendations. (Comment: Konate subsequently tried to end the meeting several times over the next hour, but was instructed by Dadis to listen and wait. He may have wanted the meeting to end due to Dadis' erratic behavior, or it may have had to do with Blaise Compaore, the President of Burkina Faso and ECOWAS facilitator, was left waiting for an hour after his scheduled appointment with Dadis. END COMMENT.) ¶8. (C) Dadis again began to furiously defend himself. He argued that Iranian businessmen have come to Guinea to propose building Islamic schools and invest in bauxite and uranium mining. According to Dadis, these Iranian businessmen proposed paying millions of dollars to enter into Guinea's natural resource market, but Dadis said no, as it would be against U.S. foreign policy interest. He then repeated his earlier arguments regarding his efforts against drug trafficking, Islamic extremism and military disintegration for the next hour. ¶9. (C) When the issue of elections came up, Fitzgerald pressed him on the status of his candidacy. Citing Dadis' admission in front of the ICG that he would run as candidate (reftel),Dadis adamantly denied ever declaring his candidacy and stood up and screamed, "Where is the cassette?! Show me the cassette?!" He went on to explain what he sees as his universal popularity, mentioning that he would win in fair and free general elections because "people love me." Fitzgerald then reminded him that 50,000 protesters on September 28 disagree. ¶10. (C) Dadis finally confessed that he would not be leaving power, "not today, and not tomorrow," but possibly as late as one month before elections he would consider resigning from the military. According to Dadis, he will hold elections, they will be free and fair. If he doesn't win, he says that he will peacefully step down and hand over power. The meeting ended with Dadis demanding that Washington be informed about his fight against Iran, Islamic extremism, and drugs. Fitzgerald again reiterated his points, and the delegation was escorted out of the building by Red Berets. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (C) This meeting was the first between the CNDD and the USG since the December 2008 coup, and has been desperately and repeatedly requested by the CNDD. However, Dadis was clearly not expecting the message he got, and was not at all receptive to the USG's recommendations. ¶12. (C) Dadis seemed genuinely misinformed about his popularity among Guineans and the international community. The meeting reiterated the fact that Dadis is not interested in dialogue or dissenting opinions. His theatrics permeated the entire session. From Red Berets genuflecting in front of Dadis during the meeting to the way he stood up to scream about Islamic terrorism or poke Fitzgerald's knee to get his point across, the meeting suggested that Dadis is out of touch with reality. He did not seem to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but was certainly unbalanced in his behavior. Although the message was forcefully delivered, the receiver is anything but rational. By focusing on U.S. policy objectives such as combating terrorism and drugs, Dadis seemed to believe that he should have USG favor. He never recognized his responsibility for the September 28 massacre. While Fitzgerald was speaking with Dadis about resigning, Campaore was waiting outside to propose restarting dialogue between the CNDD and their opposition (septel). BROKENSHIRE