MAURITANIA: POLITICAL ROUNDUP FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000385 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM KPAO MR SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: POLITICAL ROUNDUP FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 7-11 REF: A. NOUAKCHOTT 378 ¶B. NOUAKCHOTT 289 Classified By: Ambassador Mark M. Boulware for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In Nouakchott for the week of June 7-11, the horse trading for ministerial posts according to the Dakar agreement took center stage. As of June 11, though, a national unity government had not yet been finalized. Prime Minister Waghef and other detainees deemed political prisoners by the opposition were released after businessmen paid their bail amounts. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall announced his candidacy and began a full-court media press. Ahmed Ould Daddah announced his candidacy as well, while it was rumored that Messaoud Ould Boulkheir would be the FNDD's candidate. End summary. ¶2. (U) National unity government still not announced: The Dakar agreement, supposed to put an end to 10 months of political stalemate in Mauritania, had not led to a national unity government announcement as of mid-day June 11, despite intense negotiations and several meetings between the various actors, including President Abdallahi (Ref A). ¶3. (U) Political prisoners liberated: Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef and those detained in connection with the Air Mauritania case were liberated on June 4. While the FNDD insisted the detainees were political prisoners, General Aziz's camp stated that, as suspects in a corruption case, they had to pay bail to obtain conditional freedom. Bail payments amounting to 400 million ouguiyas (approximately $1.48 million US) were finally paid by the families of the detainees and Mauritanian businessmen Ahmed Baba Ould Azizi, Mohamed Ould Abdallahi, Mohamed Ould Bouamatou, Maurice Benza, Isselmou Ould Tajeddine and Ould Bouna Moctar. The press called this gesture "the contribution of Mauritanian businessmen to the resolution of the crisis." ¶4. (U) Vall announces his candidacy: Colonel and former President Ely Ould Mohamed Vall released a communique on June 5 celebrating the signing of the agreement and announcing his presidential candidacy. Vall will oppose his Ouled Bisbaa tribesman and cousin General Aziz in the upcoming July 18 election. According to local press reports, Aziz stated to his parliamentarian supporters that Vall was still a colonel; Vall, for his part, stated that he has already resigned. Local press reports also stated that Vall traveled to Lemden on June 8 to meet with President Abdallahi, and that the visit lasted "more than two hours." Vall also met with National Assembly President Messaoud Ould Boulkheir and other political actors. No details on the substance of these discussions were provided. Vall, who maintained complete silence after the coup d'etat of August 2008 for nearly ten months, has made up for lost time, granting interviews to RFI, France 24, and several other mass media outlets in the past week. ¶5. (U) Women demonstrate in favor of Salafist detainees: Female family members of suspected Salafists held in prison requested their liberation. The detainees include those suspected of murdering four French tourists on December 24, 2007 near Aleg, and others accused of attacking the Lemgheity garrison in 2005 and killing 15 soldiers. Other detainees are accused of wanting to start an AQIM cell in Nouakchott. ¶6. (C) Boulkheir will be FNDD's candidate: Messaoud Ould Boulkheir will be the only candidate for the FNDD, reported Nouakchott press. These reports were confirmed by Abdel Koudouss Ould Abeidna on his visit to the Ambassador on June ¶7. The FNDD believes that uniting behind one candidate will increase their chances of winning. ¶7. (C) Ambassador meets with Abdel Koudouss Ould Abeidna: Ambassador met UNAD President and FNDD member Abeidna on June ¶7. Abeidna declared himself satisfied with the Dakar NOUAKCHOTT 00000385 002 OF 002 Agreement but stated the FNDD and RFD had felt pressured to accept it. "We were afraid that if we did not accept it, the failure of negotiations would be blamed on us and the international community would recognize Aziz after the election," he intimated. The Ambassador reassured him that would not have been the case. Abeidna and Ambassador Boulware concurred it would be difficult to implement the agreement because many decisions had been verbal and there were question marks regarding important issues like the BASEP and the High State Council. For Abeidna, the crisis has helped Mauritania move from a tribalist society to an organized one by teaching Mauritanians that one can demand laws are respected and succeed. He accused Aziz's camp of trying to create confusion among the FNDD to block the process as well as push the Front to accept unacceptable things. He highlighted the importance of international community involvement in helping Mauritanians implement the agreement and achieve consensus. He questioned the legitimacy of both Vall's and Aziz's candidacy as Vall is still in the military and Aziz should not run based on the AU Charter stating that military officers staging coup d'etats should not run for elections. He told the Ambassador that Aziz had accepted to negotiate because he was afraid of a counter-coup and he knew it would have been bloody. ¶8. (U) Daddah announces his candidacy: RFD President Ahmed Ould Daddah officially announced his presidential candidacy June 9. ¶9. (C) Dinner with Tawassoul members: PolOff and A/DATT hosted an informal dinner with EconOff, PolAsst, and Tawassoul party members Mohamed Lemine Ould Mohamed Moussa and his wife Aminetou Mint Etchagha El Mokhtar on June 9. Moussa expressed hope for the Dakar agreement, and acknowledged that the national unity government was nearly complete. Moussa and El Mokhtar also squared off in a lively debate regarding the presidential prospects of Messaoud Ould Boulkheir. El Moktar stated that unfortunately, most White Moors were not ready to vote for a Black Moor; "this is reality," she said. She also predicted Ahmed Ould Daddah and Ely Ould Mohamed Vall would advance to the second round of presidential elections. Moussa, on the other hand, viewed Boulkheir as a very viable candidate that could pull in votes across ethnic and tribal lines. He stressed the need for a unified candidate from the FNDD. ¶10. (C) Ambassador meets with mayor of Atar: Ambassador Boulware met with Atar mayor Sid'Ahmed Ould Hmeimed June 10. In contrast to his previous meeting with the Embassy in April (Ref B),Hmeimed was full of praise this time for the United States. He thanked the internationally community, and especially the U.S. for helping to achieve the "extremely important" Dakar mediation agreement. Noting that Mauritanians were exhausted by the whole ordeal, he maintained that the lack of an agreement would have been a "catastrophe" for Mauritania. Hmeimed was equally complimentary of President Obama, and deemed his recent speech in Cairo to the Muslim world "impressive." Returning to the Dakar agreement, Hmeimed maintained that Aziz previously had no intention of accepting any mediation efforts. However, Hmeimed "and some friends" were able to convince him that it was in his interests to agree to a mediated solution. Towards the end of the meeting, Hmeimed raised the issue of electrical problems in his city, and reminded the Ambassador that the U.S. had "promised" him a generator for the city. He also said that water remained the "nearly unsolvable" problem that his city confronted, and asked the Ambassador several times to visit Atar. ¶11. (U) 11,394 refugees returned: According to the National Agency for the Support and Re-Insertion of Refugees (ANAIR), 11,394 refugees have been repatriated from Senegal since the start of the repatriation process in early 2008. BOULWARE