CAMEROONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PRAISES BILATERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000486

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2019
TAGS: AMGT CM ECON MAS PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: CAMEROONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PRAISES BILATERAL
RELATIONS

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Scott Ticknor for reasons 1.4 (d) and (e)


1. (SBU) Summary: On May 18, Ambassador met with
Cameroonian Minister of External Affairs Henri Eyebe Ayissi,
who praised bilateral relations and cited regional and
maritime security as his top foreign policy priority. He
claimed to know little about an ongoing case of piracy
involving an American company. He noted presidential support
for a planned Africa-wide gendarme training center outside
Yaounde. End summary.

US-Cameroon Relations
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2. (SBU) Ayissi praised Cameroon-U.S. cooperation and
congratulated us for being voted into the Human Rights
Council, adding that human rights is a priority for President
Biya. He hoped the Obama administration would develop close
ties to Africa, especially Cameroon, and that President Obama
would keep Cameroon in his future travel plans. "We
appreciate what you do for us," he added.

Priorities
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3. (SBU) When asked about his foreign policy priorities,
Ayissi said security in Central Africa topped the list,
especially maritime security. He appreciated U.S. assistance
in this area and noted the recently signed maritime security
agreement signed by the Economic Community of Central African
States (CEAC). He hoped the U.S. would support Cameroon's
aspirations to be a logistics base for an Africa-wide standby
force. Ayissi also pointed to the priority need to address
the global economic crisis and said Cameroon planned to have
high level participation at a G-20 meeting on the world
economic situation in New York in June.

Other Issues
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4. (C) Tidewater: Ambassador asked if the Foreign Minister
had any update on the Tidewater hostage situation. (Note:
pirates attacked a ship owned by Tidewater, a U.S. company,
in Cameroonian waters on March 14, taking four non-Amcit
hostages. The ship is now reportedly in Nigerian waters and
sources in Delegate General of National Security (Chief of
Police) told us that the Foreign Minister had been charged
with approaching the Nigerian government to help resolve the
problem, which the Nigerian High Commissioner to Cameroon
later confirmed to Ambassador. End note.) Ayissi said this
matter was being handled by the Minister of Defense and
required "great discretion".


5. (SBU) EIFORCES: Ambassador asked about how the
government views EIFORCES, a planned gendarme peacekeeping
training center based outside of Yaounde. Earlier in the
week the Foreign Ministry had helped organize a visit by the
entire diplomatic corps and a visiting African Union/European
Union delegation to the EIFORCES site, including a briefing
and a live demonstration of riot control techniques. Ayissi
affirmed that the President was committed to creating
EIFORCES but that the timing and funding were to be
determined. He hoped the U.S. would support it (Ambassador
noted we have a small amount of money for such support).


6. (U) American School Murder: Ambassador explained that
in 2005 Franck Abega, a Cameroonian student whose father is a
Mayor of Yaounde and a former soccer star, murdered a fellow
student at the American School of Yaounde (ASOY). Abega had
since been under guard at a Yaounde psychiatric hospital but
on April 20 he showed up at ASOY asking for a specific
teacher. Ambassador noted that this was deeply disturbing to
ASOY and the Embassy. Abega was detained with RSO help and
is now under guard again in the hospital but Ambassador
stressed concerns for the safety of the school and the
importance of this not happening again. The Foreign Minister
understood our concern and the importance of the issue and
promised to look into it. (Note: Embassy had demarched the
Ministry formally about our concerns in a diplomatic note on
April 23. Ambassador had also raised this issue earlier with
the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of
Justice. The Justice Minister is investigating the case and
promised to seek a more satisfactory solution for Abega and
the school. DCM also reinforced our concerns with the Deputy
Secretary General at the Presidency and the Director of the
Americas at the Foreign Ministry. End note.)

Comment
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7. (C) In his typically awkward style, Ayissi brought seven
note takers into the meeting, staged the press outside, and
expounded in flowery, legalistic French without saying much.
We believe he knows more about the Tidewater issue than he
was willing to discuss. He seemed genuinely positive about
U.S.-Cameroon relations, suggesting that Biya might seek a
meeting with President Obama on the margins of the UNGA in
September. Ayissi asked specifically about U.S. Middle East
policy, whereas his Director of Americas asked earlier in the
week for information about U.S.-Latin America policy -
pointing to an interest in the Obama Administration's broader
approach to foreign policy.
GARVEY