GABON: REGIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIBREVILLE 000245

SIPDIS

PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
KINSHASA PLEASE ALSO PASS CHARLES FORD AND EMBASSY
BRAZZAVILLE
AF/C PLEASE ALSO PASS MALABO AND BANGUI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PINR GB FR
SUBJECT: GABON: REGIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

REF: LIBREVILLE 0211

Classified By: Ambassador Eunice Reddick for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) Gabon is concerned about the future of the MICOPAX
peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic,
maritime security, potential Hezbollah activity in West and
Central Africa, and other issues, Defense Minister Ali Bongo
Ondimba told the Ambassador in a wide-ranging conversation.
End Summary.

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Tour d'Horizon
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2. (C) Still suffering from an intestinal condition that
left him recently hospitalized (septel),Gabonese Defense
Bongo offered the Ambassador a broad overview of Gabonese
security concerns in an hour-long meeting at his home May 30.
Bongo's comments on upcoming elections in the Republic of
Congo (Brazzaville),and potential infiltration of Sao Tome
and Principe by Niger Delta militants, are reported
separately. Ali Bongo, whose father President El Hadj Omar
Bongo Ondimba is seriously ill in a Spanish hospital, is a
leading contender in the ongoing behind-the-scenes scramble
for succession. Since becoming defense minister in 1999, he
has assiduously sought better relations with the United
States, China and other powers as a counterweight to Gabon's
strong but sometimes testy military relationship with France.


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Hezbollah Threat?
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3. (C) Ali Bongo, who often deputizes for his father as head
of Gabon's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs expressed
concern about possible support for Hezbollah by Gabon-based
ethnic Lebanese. The Lebanese community in Gabon has
"changed from twenty years ago," he said. The first Lebanese
in Gabon were Christian, Ali Bongo recalled. At present,
however, the community is predominantly Shiite and there are
elements within it sympathetic to Hezbollah. Ali Bongo said
he would welcome closer cooperation with the United States to
better understand the nature of the Hezbollah presence and
threat in West and Central Africa.

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MICOPAX
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4. (C) Gabon had been expected to withdraw its 120-person
contingent in the MICOPAX peacekeeping force in the Central
African Republic (CAR) later this summer, Bongo said, but it
would not do so in the current situation. "We have no other
solution but to stay," Bongo said. Gabon led the small
peacekeeping operation from its inception in December 2002 to
July 2008, when command passed to a military officer from the
Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) under the auspices of the
Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS, or CEEAC
in its French acronnym).


5. (C) Gabon has worked hard to promote political
reconciliation in CAR, Ali Bongo continued, but some elements
there are still tempted to "follow the example of President
Bozize" and seize power in a coup. Bozize has proved
obdurate in negotiating with his adversaries, Bongo lamented.
Bozize should "get serious about dialogue," Bongo said.
However, some of Bozize's adversaries are also "not willing
to come to the table," Bongo commented. He urged the United
States and other international players to continue to "signal
that there will not be a military solution."

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Maritime Issues
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6. (C) Gabon has joined its neighbors Cameroon, Equatorial
Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe (STP) in an initiative to
better coordinate maritime security strategy, Bongo said.
Operating as CEEAC's maritime "Zone D", the four countries
were at the very earliest stages of cooperation, Bongo said.
Nevertheless, he argued, you have to start somewhere. West
and Central Africa already have problems with piracy,

LIBREVILLE 00000245 002 OF 002


maritime banditry and the drug trade. Unless there is
effective and concerted regional action, he said, these
problems will only get worse.

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Comment
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7. (C) It was refreshing that the Defense Minister took time
in the midst of political drama created by his father's
illness to provide a workmanlike and generally astute review
of several regional security issues. Gabon's ability to
engage effectively on these issues, however, will be
uncertain until current political questions are resolved.
End Comment.
REDDICK