(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.


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A STEP INTO THE DADIS SHOW
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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.


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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.


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ENTER KONATE
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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.


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COMMENT
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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