FOREIGN MINISTER'S TOUR D'HORIZON DOES NOT INCLUDE AU CHAIR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000330 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/S E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/14/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON ETRD LT SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER'S TOUR D'HORIZON DOES NOT INCLUDE AU CHAIR ISSUE REF: GABORONE 702 MASERU 00000330 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Elizabeth C. Power, Deputy Chief of Mission. REASON: 1.4 (b) ¶1. (C) Summary: Ambassador Rob Nolan was invited by Foreign Minister Kenneth Tsekoa to a meeting which resulted in a tour d'horizon discussion of the key issues in Lesotho's current political arena. Tsekoa stated that the government of Lesotho (GOL) is bringing together a commission of international experts to investigate the roots of the April assassination attempt on the Prime Minister, in an attempt to determine the source of the plot and the depth of Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) involvement in it. He also discussed atmospherics of the recent AU extraordinary summit in Libya and last week's SADC summit in Kinshasa, which he admitted was contentious, although he did not raise the issue of Lesotho's failed bid to be SADC's choice for African Union (AU) chair. Finally, Tsekoa provided the Ambassador a copy of a letter that the GOL is transmitting to Representative Charles Rangel of New York, in his capacity as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, requesting his further support of African textile factories through AGOA and related trade provisions. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Tsekoa engaged the Ambassador in a warm and open conversation that touched on all of the major issues facing Lesotho's political system. He advised the Ambassador that the Prime Minister will be announcing today the creation of a commission of international experts to investigate the assassination attempt of the Prime Minister in April, which was carried out by a group of South Africans, Basotho, and Mozambicans, many of whom were mercenaries. The commission will be made up of a Mozambican judge, military intelligence experts from South Africa and Botswana, an Indian who used to advise the LDF, and several unnamed Basotho representatives. This group's mission will be to determine the extent of LDF involvement in the planning and execution of the attack, as well as uncover the funding source and mastermind of the plot. The commission is expected to begin its work in October. ¶3. (C) The Foreign Minister shared his perceptions of the AU's extraordinary summit on conflict prevention and mitigation that took place in Libya in early September. He noted Moammar Qaddafi's strong, eccentric personality and stated that there were few African leaders who were willing to speak up to rein him in when he was speaking out of turn or attempting to push through proposals that were not palatable to the rest of the continent's leaders. In discussing this most recent summit, he state that Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili was the only one who spoke up and pushed back against Qaddafi as the Libyan leader was attempting to steamroll the group about the AU flag design. Tsekoa also lamented the "billions of dollars" spent on both the summit and the Libyan anniversary celebration, nothing that such money would be better spent on economic development in Libya and elsewhere. ¶4. (C) Turning to last week's SADC summit in Kinshasa, Tsekoa said that he saw "not a softening, but a maturation" of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's attitude towards working with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the coalition government; he also expressed his pleasure that the European Union had made a visit to Zimbabwe to review its sanctions and humanitarian assistance. Tsekoa spoke briefly about the report by SADC mediator Keturmile Masire, former president of Botswana, who Tsekoa indicated was "angry" about the lack of progress in his attempts to resolve Lesotho's dispute over the 2007 national elections. According to Tsekoa, Prime Minister Mosisili also became angry at SADC's failrure to accept the GOL position that the courts have ruled on the dispute and the case is now closed for further discussion. The SADC Organ will now take up where Masire left off and continue to monitor the dispute. Tsekoa did not mention the relationship between this issue and Mosisili's bid for the AU chair (reftel). ¶5. (C) At the end of the meeting, Tskeoa gave the Ambassador a copy of a letter that the Lesotho Embassy in Washington has sent to Rep. Charles Rangel of New York. The letter request Rangel's support for "a `hybrid' scenario through which US garment buyers who continue to source from Africa would be rewarded with opportunity to import equal volumes of garments from the Asian LDCs free of duty." Ambassador Nolan agreed to pass this letter on to the Department, noting the importance of AGOA and the textile industry to Lesotho's fragile economy. (Note: Post will email a copy of this letter to AF/S. End Note.) ¶6. (C) Comment: Tsekoa's usual warmth and frankness are a testament to the good relationship post has cultivated with him. His comments on the SADC summit are of particular interest, given Lesotho's unusual loss of support for AU chair to Malawi. Post contacts within the MFA have stated, "SADC does not respect us," indicating that Lesotho capitulated to Malawi for the sake of regional unity. Given the Prime Minister's public vehemence about not ceding to any of the opposition's demands in the election dispute, his anger during the summit is not surprising MASERU 00000330 002.2 OF 002 - and the lack of support from SADC for his AU chair bid is likely to be a big blow to him. It is not clear, however, that this new development will change his position towards the opposition. Talks with the opposition are planned to continue over the coming weeks, and post will report any developments. NOLAN