US embassy cable - 01ABUJA1439

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001439 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2011 
TAGS: PREL, NI, ECOWAS, OAU 
SUBJECT: ECOWAS: KOUYATE'S OAU CANDIDACY (ROUND TWO) 
 
 
REF: ABUJA 579 
 
 
Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter, reason 1.5 (B/D). 
 
 
1.  (C) Ambassador Jeter met with ECOWAS Executive Secretary 
Lansana Kouyate on June 18.  Regional issues, particularly 
Liberia, were the focus  of their exchange (septel). 
Kouyate, in a private sidebar, also asked once again for USG 
support for his candidacy for Secretary General of the OAU, 
as he orginally did at the end of March (reftel).  Kouyate 
suggested that the dynamics of the contest had changed with 
the exit of one main candidate for the position: Ibrahima 
Fall (Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs at 
the UN) had withdrawn from the race.   Furthermore, President 
Konare of Mali, rumored to be strongly supported by Nigeria 
and South Africa, was also not interested. 
 
 
2.  (C) Kouyate said that of his two main rivals for the 
position, the Namibian Foreign Minister, Theo-ben Gurirab, 
and former Ivoirian Foreign Minister, Amara Essy, the former 
was not an enthusiastic candidate.  Thus, only Essy remained 
as a serious challenger.  Essy, who initially lacked the 
support of the new government of Cote d'Ivoire, gained it 
only after the financial intervention of the Libyans, Kouyate 
said.  Kouyate further asserted that some opposition among 
Francophone nations in the region, particularly Senegal, 
stemmed from Kouyate's unwillingness to "act with expediency" 
on the issue of Morrocco's return to the OAU, including major 
concessions to Morocco on Western Sahara, and from a general 
and unfair perception that he and Guinea were too close to 
Anglophone nations (read: Nigeria) in West Africa.  Kouyate 
indicated that he now has strong support from regional 
heavyweights, including Nigeria, Kenya and others. 
 
 
3.  (C) Ambassador Jeter explained, as he had previously, 
that the USG policy on the OAU SYG race, as for other 
regional bodies of which it was not a member, was not to 
endorse any candidate.  From a practical perspective, added 
the Ambassador, any public support from the USG could likely 
backfire.  Kouyate said he appreciated this, but asked that 
the USG quietly make appeals on his behalf to African 
governments with which the U.S. enjoyed especially good 
relations.  Ambassador Jeter promised that he would forward 
this request to Washington.  The OAU, said Kouyate, will vote 
in a new Secretary General on or about July 9. 
 
 
4. (C) Comment.  As we noted in March, Kouyate's departure 
from ECOWAS will be a loss for the U.S. and for the region. 
He is open and helpful with us, commands considerable respect 
in West Africa, and has been an able and effective manager of 
ECOWAS business in very trying times.  From where we sit, 
there is no doubt that, from the field real and imagined 
contenders, Kouyate would be a very strong and able leader of 
the OAU.  End Comment. 
 
 
Jeter