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

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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

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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