MAURITANIA: POLITICAL ROUNDUP FOR THE WEEK OF MAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NOUAKCHOTT 000330 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO KDEM PHUM CVIS ASEC PTER MR SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: POLITICAL ROUNDUP FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 10-14 REF: NOUAKCHOTT 321 Classified By: Ambassador Mark M. Boulware for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: For the week of May 10-14, there were rumors of possible arms from Iran. An embassy travel notification to the MFA was rejected, and Taqadoumy touched off another sensation in the media. There was a sit-in at the National Assembly, and the Ambassador traveled to Lemden to visit President Abdallahi. Another joint FNDD/RFD protest was dispered by police, while Senegalese President Wade arrived in Nouakchott at the head of an African delegation to continue his mediation efforts. End summary. ¶2. (C) Meeting with Mauritanian-American: PolAsst met May 10 with Di Ould Mohamadin. A Mauritanian with US citizenship, Mohamadin was back in Mauritania for a few weeks visiting family and friends, and requested a meeting with the Embassy. The noteworthy part of the meeting was Mohamadin's own observations of conversations he had had recently in the various tea rooms and salons of Nouakchott. He claimed that people were not discussing the U.S. in the flap over alleged USG funding to the opposition (Ref A),but rather, Ahmed Ould Daddah himself. Specifically, he said people were labeling Daddah "naive" in thinking that his comments would not be recorded during an interview with the press. (Note: Daddah and the RFD formally denied making statements regarding U.S. Embassy funding and interference from French intelligence agencies. ANI, the media outlet that conducted the interview, countered that it had a recording of the interview, and then posted a section of it on the internet, leaving Daddah looking foolish. End note.) Moreover, people were questioning why Daddah, after having claimed to be in common cause with the FNDD, would then accuse it of collaboration with "foreign elements." ¶3. (SBU) Possible arms from Iran: As related in last week's roundup, General Ghazouani traveled to Sudan (Ref A). Several local press reports now state that the purpose of the visit was to inspect various weaponry (including a military plane). The weaponry was allegedly purchased from Sudan by Iran, who will present it to the Mauritanian army as a "gift." ¶4. (C) Embassy travel notification rejected: The POL section's proposed trip to the south of the country (Rosso) to discuss election-related matters and narcotics trafficking was rejected by the Mauritanian authorities. After sending a diplomatic note to MFA on May 7, Post received a response May ¶10. The letter from MFA stated that the ministry "did not see the appropriateness of the proposed mission." The letter went on to state that matters relating to the presidential election should be sent directly through the MFA "in coordination with the central authorities in Nouakchott." There was no mention in the reply letter of the security-related portion of the proposed trip. Comment: A senior POL LES who has worked at the embassy for many years says this is the first time he has ever seen a diplomatic note for travel within the country rejected. The Ambassador raised this issue during a call on the junta's "foreign minister" (Septel). End comment. ¶5. (SBU) Sex, lies, and videotape: The popular news site "Taqadoumy" created a sensation when it posted an article May 10 concerning a "pornographic video" allegedly filmed by Senate Vice President (and staunch Aziz supporter) Mohcen El Hadj. The video supposedly includes footage of a female parliamentarian in a "compromising situation." El Hadj reportedly threatened her with public release of the video if she ever wavered from her pro-coup stance. Thus far "Taqadoumy" has not posted the video itself, "out of respect for our readers." Nevertheless, the article has received nearly 14,000 hits as of May 12 -- an enormous amount of traffic for a web site in Mauritania. ¶6. (SBU) Sit-in at National Assembly: Anti-coup parliamentarians interrupted a session at the National NOUAKCHOTT 00000330 002 OF 003 Assembly May 11, pounding on desks and shouting anti-coup slogans. Pro-coup parliamentarians subsequently left the building, and the anti-coup parliamentarians staged a 24-hour sit-in at the National Assembly. Anti-coup protesters who had gathered outside the National Assembly building were dispersed by police using tear gas. The sit-in was the lead story on Al Jazeera's nightly edition of "Maghreb Roundup." At the end of the 24-hour sit-in, parliamentarians held a press conference at UNAD party headquarters where they vowed to "continue the struggle." (Note: The UNAD party, formerly known as PND, is the party of FNDD co-leader Abdel Koudouss Abeidna. End note.) ¶7. (C) Meeting with Imam: PolAsst met with Imam Abdallahi Ould Cheikh Sid Mohamed at his request on May 12. Abdallahi claims to have regular meetings with Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall. This time, Imam Mohamed said he had met with Vall the day before (May 11). Imam Mohamed claimed that Vall said he was convinced that the military was "completely committed" to the June 6 election date, and there was no way they would delay the elections, despite the oft-repeated stories in the press claiming Aziz would in fact delay them. ¶8. (C) Ambassador meets President Abdallahi: Ambassador Boulware met with President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi May 11 in Lemden (Septel). ¶9. (U) Aziz to France: Some local media outlets report that "resigned" General Aziz will take a trip to France in the next few days in an attempt to drum up support from the French government for his election plan. ¶10. (C) Ambassador meets Malian counterpart: Ambassador Boulware and PolOff met Malian Ambassador Souleymane Kane on May 12 and called for Mali's cooperation in defending democracy and supporting Mauritanian political actors in finding a consensual solution to the crisis. A very uncomfortable Malian Ambassador responded that even though his country was opposed to coups d'etat, it had to take in consideration the reality of 2,400 kilometers of borders shared with Mauritania. Ensuring border security and the stability of populations in four high density Malian regions with diverse communities, said the Malian Ambassador, was already difficult during peaceful times. Ambassador Kane stated that the fluidity of transports between Mali and Mauritania had been affected by the crisis and that the Mauritanians had taken badly Mali's delay in accrediting their Ambassador to Bamako. Mali will be an observer, he stated, as Mauritanians need to find a solution to the crisis by themselves. Ambassador Kane, who behaved like someone who had been provided a script and was sticking to it, swiftly ended the meeting by stating Mali would be interested in any information concerning border security. ¶11. (U) Aziz provides free health consultations to potential voters: A medical team composed of two generalist doctors, an eye doctor, a dentist and a gynecologist visited the village of M'Botto on May 8 to offer free medical consultations and medications. Villagers from M'Botto and neighboring communities rushed to take advantage of this rare opportunity in a region where medical care is non existent. While the consultations were taking place, General Aziz's cousin Mohamed Yeslem Ould Lahah and Aziz supporter colonel Mangane Ousmane organized a political meeting inviting the villagers to vote for General Aziz. ¶12. (U) Prosecutor requests death penalty for terrorists: The death penalty in accordance to article 67 of the Legal Code has been requested for high treason and firearm possession against two suspected Salafists who participated in the 2005 Lemgheity attack. Taher Ould Abdel Jelil Ould Biye and Teyeb Ould Saleck are accused of participating in an attack that took the lives of 15 Mauritanian soldiers and wounded 17. If enforced, this would be the first application of the death penalty in decades. The prosecution has also requested 20-year sentences of forced labor for the remaining NOUAKCHOTT 00000330 003 OF 003 12 suspects. ¶13. (C) FNDD/RFD protest dispersed: Protesters from the FNDD and RFD were dispersed by anti-riot police May 13 after they tried to set up tents in downtown Nouakchott. The location of the protest was where several housing blocs were recently demolished to make way for new construction. According to local press reports, a protest permit had been granted, but was then revoked. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the protesters, and there were reports of several injuries, two of them serious. Local press reports and RSO SD staff estimated there were a few hundred protesters present. ¶14. (C) Abdallahi and Wade in Nouakchott: President Abdallahi arrived in Nouakchott the morning of May 14, and Senegalese President Wade was also scheduled to arrive the same day at the head of an African delegation. They are supposed to meet at Abdallahi's private residence. Reports also state that Wade will meet with General Aziz, interim president Ba M'Bare, RFD President Ahmed Ould Daddah, and FNDD leaders (no specific names listed). The African delegation is composed of Wade, Libyan diplomat Abdelsalaam Triki, AU Commission President Jean Ping, and UN SRSG for West Africa Said Djinnit. ¶15. (U) Another journalist attacked: Press reported that Mohamed Ould Zeine, Radio Mauritania journalist and Editor in Chief of Al Watan newspaper, was savagely beaten and stabbed on May 12. The motives and the identity of the aggressors remains unknown but the journalist apparently had received numerous telephone threats. Zeine's attack follows last week's RFD attack against an ANI journalist. ¶16. (U) Mauritanian terrorist sentenced in Algeria: On May 12, El Mokhtar Ould Mohamed Ould Mahoud AKA Abou Alqama, was sentenced by the Algerian tribunals to five years in jail for belonging to AQIM and for illegally entering Algerian territory with the intention of committing acts of terrorism. Abou Alqama publicly accepted that he had joined AQIM training camps with the intention of going to Iraq to fight American forces. ¶17. (U) CENI publishes list of polling stations in Mauritania and organizes vote of Mauritanians abroad: The official journal published a list of polling stations in Mauritania and announced a partnership between CENI and the MFA to open 66 voting stations in 21 countries to allow Mauritanians abroad to cast their votes. CENI President Professor Cheikh Saad Bouh Kamara stated that all CENI commissions are already in the field and are working in the utmost transparency. BOULWARE