AGGRESSIVE EVOLUTION OF NOUAKCHOTT ANTI-ISRAELI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000005

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

SECSTATE FOR AF/W; DS/AF; NEA; DS/IP/AF; DS/DSS/ITA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2014
TAGS: ASEC KPAL KPAO MR PREL
SUBJECT: AGGRESSIVE EVOLUTION OF NOUAKCHOTT ANTI-ISRAELI
DEMONSTRATION

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES DHANKINS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B & D).


1. (U) Summary: Sporadic Anti-Israeli demonstrations have
grown in size and aggressiveness. Pre and post prayer
marches on Friday, January 2, numbered several hundred;
active but handily turned back from Israeli, Egyptian, and
other Mission precincts by riot police. The January 4th
return of students to the National University saw a
substantial increase in numbers (five hundred plus) and a
corresponding aggressiveness. By noon, January 5th, knots of
100 to 150 activists had formed but were being deterred by
heavy police presence. End Summary.

MOUNTING UNREST
--------------


2. (SBU) Until Friday, January 2, anti-Israeli
demonstrations sparked by the Israeli air strikes on Gaza
were limited to sporadic marches by groups of fifty to sixty
that were thwarted by highly visible, substantially
reinforced riot police and National Guard units stationed at
all major intersections leading toward the Israeli and other
Missions in the city.


3. (SBU) One exception to this was a direct attack on the
Israeli embassy by a lone activist who hurled three Molotov
cocktails, only one of which was lit, setting a small fire
outside the Israeli Mission compound. He was immediately
apprehended and later declared that he had attacked alone,
inflamed by the pictures of dead and injured Palestinian
children.


4. (SBU) On Friday, January 2, demonstrations and marches
both before and after Friday afternoon services increased in
number and organization. Coherent groups of fifty to one
hundred activists marched, starting in the downtown
market/plaza region surrounding the large so called Saudi
mosque and moved along streets leading to the Israeli
Embassy a mile or so away. These groups, waving Palestinian
flags and calling for an end to Mauritanian diplomatic ties
to Israel, pushed police harder than before and were turned
back with tear gas and pressure from the police. No injuries
were reported.


5. (SBU) On Sunday, January 4, the Israeli ground assault
on Gaza melded with the return of students to the National
University after the New Year's break to increase the size,
energy, and aggressiveness of the demonstrators. While
difficult to tell, there were probably as many as a thousand
demonstrators. Staging vastly improved with dummies
emblazoned with American and Israeli flags burned, placards
of President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert defaced and
burned, and tires/trash cans set alight in the market and
plaza area around the Saudi mosque and downtown business and
government centers.


6. (SBU) The demonstrators also appeared much more willing
to absorb punishment and hit back. In clashes on the avenues
there were injuries on both sides. The police perhaps took
the bulk of the injuries in an effort to avoid provoking the
crowds. A number of police vehicles were damaged by rocks
and paving stones but the marchers were pushed back to the
plaza area with tear gas and massed police in riot gear.
Even armored cars were struck now visible with their cracked
windows and pock-marked bodies.


7. (SBU) Focus: Marchers have generally centered on
reaching the Egyptian and Israeli Missions, some distance
from rallying grounds around the mosque. This has allowed the
police time and space to disperse them. Sunday's march saw
stops at the offices of the Palestinian Authority Mission
unfortunately close to the Saudi mosque to decry PA passivity
and an effort to deploy a banner at the US Mission. In the
latter case, a splinter from a larger avenue group was seen
moving downside streets towards the US Mission. Three of the
group (six to ten total perhaps) were apprehended. While they
could not produce a petition they said they wished to
deliver, they did have an anti-US banner in hand.


8. (SBU) Modality: Students went from class to class
gathering up manpower immediately after the opening of the
university Sunday morning. Enthusiasm was limited as one US

NOUAKCHOTT 00000005 002 OF 002


teacher noted that only five of her students of a hundred or
so left to join the marches. The Mission nonetheless
canceled a planned lecture by a USG language specialist
scheduled for January 5.


9. (SBU) Problems: Peace Corps occupies two floors of the
city's single modern high rise (nine floors) within a few
hundred yards of the Saudi mosque. The street on which it
stands is one of the main demo staging areas. Although Peace
Corps has not been targeted and is not generally known to be
housed in the building, we are aware of the danger and have
taken steps to avoid any action that would attract negative
attention. The Mission's set back, main entrance on a side
street, and National Guard as well as reinforced police
perimeter defense should insulate it from direct exposure to
the demonstrations unless they become much more violent.


10. (SBU Future: As of Monday, January 05, 2009, police
have moved to secure the downtown staging areas in an effort
to stymie the marches before they begin. However, short of a
resolution of the Gaza incursions, the chances for wider and
more violent demonstrations as the week winds towards Friday
prayers will increase.

Political Impact
--------------


11. (C) The Gaza crisis poses a problem both the military
High State Council (HCE) and the constitutional Abdallahi
administration would wish to go away. The demonstrations
come as the HCE's Etat Genereaux de la Democratie (EGD)
begins moving towards its final reports on/about January 7
and the Abdallahi forces plan/hope for a popular public
reception of the legally elected President on his return to
Nouakchott shortly thereafter. Neither side is able to
generate much interest in their domestic political cause as
Mauritanians focus instead on Gaza. Not only do the
demonstrations cloud their plans, they bring pressure on both
sides for a decision on Israeli diplomatic relations, a
decision neither side wants to make.


12. (C) Despite the security breach that allowed the Molotov
cocktail to catch fire in front of the Israeli Embassy, the
Israeli's have been satisfied with the additional security
the authorities have provided. The regime's Foreign Minister
has assured Israeli Ambassador Arbel that the regime has no
plans to severe diplomatic relations. The same assurance has
been provided to U.S. and French diplomats. The Israelis
accepted the early demonstrations as a necessary way to let
Mauritanians let off steam. The return of the students,
however, has increased the intensity of the demonstrations
testing the ability of the authorities to keep control
without excessive force.
HANKINS