US embassy cable - 03HARARE1643

UNCLAS HARARE 001643 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR NEARY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION TAYLOR/MUGABE; HARARE 
 
 
  1.   Under headline "Curse of quiet diplomacy" the 
      independent weekly "The Daily News On Sunday" 
      dedicated its August 17 editorial to criticizing 
      South African President Thabo Mbeki's "quiet 
      diplomacy" towards Robert Mugabe, arguing, "It was 
      not quiet diplomacy which forced Charles Taylor to 
      leave his country, Liberia."  Excerpts: 
 
  2.   "It was not quiet diplomacy which forced Charles 
      Taylor to leave his country, Liberia, kicking and 
      screaming, for luxurious exile in Kalabar, Nigeria.  Both 
      the president of the United States and the leaders of the 
      African countries who helped the dictator to leave his 
      country must have used rather loud diplomacy to make him an 
      offer he could not refuse.  The carrot of an opulently 
      furnished mansion in Kalabar may have played its part in 
      persuading Taylor to leave.  The specter of his indictment 
      on human rights violations by the United Nations could have 
      had an impact on his king-size ego as well.  But there can 
      be no doubt that all the men discussing with Taylor the 
      paucity of his options told him bluntly that the only way 
      he could save his country - and his own political bacon - 
      was to leave Liberia.  The comparison with President Robert 
      Mugabe's situation may be different, but not because he can 
      contribute anything worthwhile to the survival of his 
      country any more.  Apart from inflaming his critics' 
      passions with his rhetoric of blasphemy, there is precious 
      little else he can do to bring his country back to normal. 
      President Thabo Mbeki, who played a crucial role in getting 
      Taylor out of Monrovia, must know that quiet diplomacy may 
      work well with leaders whose egos may be normal in size, 
      but that Mugabe's is nothing of the kind. . . ." 
 
SULLIVAN