GOS REQUEST FOR U.S. ASSISTANCE AGAINST PIRATES

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT LOUIS 000101


AF/E FOR MARIA BEYZEROV
ANTANANARIVO FOR DAO
NAIROBI FOR KUSLO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2019
TAGS: MARR PREL MASS MOPS SE
SUBJECT: GOS REQUEST FOR U.S. ASSISTANCE AGAINST PIRATES
PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY TO PUSH SOFA

REF: A. A. PORT LOUIS 316

B. B. BARBER/MCMANUS/BLASER EMAIL JAN 27 2009

C. C. BLASER/BEYZEROV EMAILS MARCH 17

D. MARCH 25

E. AND MARCH 31 2009


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Virginia M. Blaser for reasons 1.4 b
and d.


1. (C) SUMMARY: On March 30, Post received a GOS diplomatic
note requesting more frequent surveillance patrols by U.S.
forces in Seychellois waters to help deter piracy. The
diplomatic note was a follow-up to an earlier telephone call
between the Acting Foreign Minister (A/FM) and the Charge.
Charge was noncommittal about the GOS request, but did opine
that the USG would possibly look more favorably on a request
for more U.S. military ships in the area if there was a SOFA
agreement in place. Post believes this GOS request presents
an excellent opportunity for a call from a senior Department
official to the Seychelles President in order to reinforce
USG interest in SOFA completion, particularly in the context
of piracy issues. For protection of the tens of thousands of
U.S. military personnel visiting Seychelles each year, the
SOFA completion remains one of Post,s highest priorities.
END SUMMARY.


2. (C) On OOB of Monday, March 30, 2009 the Embassy received
a diplomatic note from the GOS requesting more patrols by
U.S. forces in Seychellois waters to help deter piracy. The
diplomatic note was a follow-up to a 26 March telephone call
between the Acting Foreign Minister, J. Nourrice, and the
Charge. During this call, Nourrice said his government is
extremely worried about pirate attacks on Seychelles ships
and citizens, most particularly the current situation wherein
pirates captured three Seychellois citizens and took them to
Somalia, where they are being held for ransom. Nourrice
acknowledged that the GOS request for more U.S. patrols was
falling at a time when his government had not responded to
repeated Embassy requests for finalization of the ten-year
pending SOFA. He noted the link between the (then proposed)
diplomatic note and the need for the GOS to finalize their
internal review of the SOFA. Charge did not respond to the
specific request for assistance, but did opine that the USG
would possibly look more favorably on a demarche for more
U.S. military ships in the area if there was a SOFA agreement
to protect US military personnel who would be present on the
islands. Nourrice agreed to carry this informal message back
to GOS interlocutors reviewing the current SOFA agreement.


3. (SBU) Copy of the text, as written in original English,
from the diplomatic note is as follows:

BEGIN TEXT OF DIPLOMATIC NOTE:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Seychelles
presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States
of America and would like to bring to the latter's attention
an incident whereby three Seychellois nationals have been
captured and are presently being detained by Somalian pirates.

Given the gravity of this particular incident and having also
noticed a surge in the piracy activities in and around the
Exclusive Economic Zone of Seychelles, the Government of
Seychelles is of the view that there is an urgent need to
intensify the security in this area.

To this effect it would be appreciated if the Government of
the United States of America could kindly consider taking all
appropriate measures to strengthen the surveillance patrol in
these zones in order to deter criminal activities related to
the acts of piracy, which could be very detrimental to the
security of our region.

The Ministry would be grateful for the collaboration of the
Government of the United States in our joint efforts in
combating this worrying phenomenon.

In thanking the Embassy of the United States of America for
its usual cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Seychelles avails itself of this opportunity to
renew to it the assurances of its highest consideration.

END TEXT.


4. (C) COMMENT: The US-Seychelles SOFA has been pending for
the past ten years, with Post actively negotiating for SOFA's
completion the past year or so. The signing of a SOFA is one
of Post,s top priorities, given that the tens of thousands
of U.S. military members who visit the islands every year are
unduly vulnerable without a SOFA in place. Post considers it
fortunate we have had no major incident in the past few
years, but note the frequent ship visits mean that the
potential for a problem is constantly present. We credit our
CCE team, who handles most ship visits, and the experienced
NCIS agent typically assigned to Seychelles ship visits for
the low rate of incidents.


5. (C) Since the most recent DOD revisions (in response to
Seychelles' last proposed changes) to the draft SOFA were
forwarded to the GOS in the Fall of 2008, the Embassy has
engaged the GOS at multiple levels, including ambassadorial
calls on the President, in attempts to address remaining
issues and conclude the agreement. In recent weeks, repeated
GOS promises to submit a draft agreement to the Cabinet by a
given date have been broken, and, while a 16 March call from
the Charge to President Michel on the issue pushed the
agreement to the Attorney General for "final" review, no
tangible result surfaced since that time. Post will continue
to push at multiple levels, and believes the above diplomatic
request provides an excellent opportunity to push the
immediate passage of the SOFA in Seychelles. Post recommends
the Department consider a call between he President of the
Seychelles and a senior AF representative. Such a call would
reinforce the Embassy's repeated message and, in so doing,
help complete the outstanding agreement.


6. (C) ACTION REQUESTED: Post recommends Department consider
a Washington-based call to Seychelles President to reinforce
Embassy points on SOFA and piracy. Post believes that the
GOS-generated diplomatic note provides an excellent context
for such a call. Please advise, and Post will be pleased to
arrange for the call and provide talking points as
appropriate.


BLASER