US embassy cable - 04ABUJA1152

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001152 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2014 
TAGS: PREL, LI, NI 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH ECOWAS EXECSEC, DISCUSSES 
LIBERIA AND CHARLES TAYLOR 
 
REF: A. ABUJA 1142 
     B. 2003 ABUJA 1649 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN CAMPBELL FOR REASONS 1.5. (B) AND (D). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: June 28, Ambassador Campbell called on 
ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas.  Chambas 
believed the political process in Liberia was on track and 
thought the continued engagement of the ECOWAS Secretariat 
and member states would keep the process moving in the right 
direction.  Chambas did not think Charles Taylor posed much 
of a threat to Liberian stability from his Nigerian exile 
and, while he admitted Taylor would some day have to pay for 
his horrific crimes, Chambas was in no hurry to bring him 
before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).  Chambas 
proposed that the next meeting of the Liberian contact group 
take place in Washington in September just prior to the 
beginning of the UNGA.  ECOWAS Prinicpal Program Officer for 
Communications Sonny Ugoh and POLOFF (note taker) also took 
part in the meeting.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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LIBERIA: POLITICAL PROCESS ON TRACK 
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2.  (C) Taking the first opportunity after presenting his 
credentials to President Obasanjo on June 25 (REF A), 
Ambassador Campbell met with ECOWAS Executive Secretary 
Mohammed Ibn Chambas on June 28.  Turning first to Liberia, 
Chambas said the political process was "on track" and the 
continued ECOWAS engagement would keep the process moving in 
the right direction.  Emphasizing the need for continued 
engagement, Chambas said ECOWAS mediator and former Nigerian 
head of state General Abdulsalami Abubakar would travel to 
Monrovia after the July African Union meeting in Addis Ababa. 
 Abubakar would probably be joined in Monrovia by Nigerian 
Foreign Minister Adeniji and Ghanaian Foreign Minister 
Akufor-Addo. 
 
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CHARLES TAYLOR NOT MUCH OF A THREAT 
----------------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) In keeping with statements he has made to us 
previously (REF B), Chambas said he did not think former 
President Charles Taylor posed a significant threat to 
Liberian stability.  Chambas acknowledged the international 
community's concern that Taylor be tried sooner rather than 
later.  However, he believed Taylor had been "bottled up" in 
Calabar and thought it best that he be left there until the 
governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone had attained the 
capacity to deal with him.  He believed that sending Taylor 
to the SCSL at this time might distract the GOL, GOSL and the 
international community from the more important task of 
achieving stability in Liberia and Sierra Leone.  Admitting 
that he was willing to wait some time for Taylor to be 
brought to justice, Chambas said, "It might take five to ten 
years for Taylor's past to catch up with him, but it 
eventually will." 
 
4.  (C) Chambas noted that Taylor was responsible for the 
deaths of many Nigerians in Liberia and Sierra Leone and 
commented that most Nigerian officials with whom he has 
spoken loathe Taylor's presence in Calabar.  Despite all of 
this, Nigeria had accepted Taylor in order to bring an end to 
the bloodshed in Liberia.  Pushing the GON to hand over 
Taylor before it is ready might be a slap against the 
Nigerians' pride after they had gone to such trouble to get 
Taylor out of Liberia. 
 
5.  (C) In a seeming contradiction to his willingness to wait 
for Taylor to be tried, Chambas said the SCSL needed to move 
through its docket of those already indicted quickly and said 
he "dreaded" the possibility of the SCSL not completing its 
work before UNAMSIL's mandate expires.  Chambas had little 
confidence in the GOSL's ability to contain possible sources 
of disruption should the SCSL be unable to complete its task 
before UNAMSIL draws down. 
 
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TURNING TO COTE D'IOVIRE 
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6.  (C) Briefly discussing Cote d'Ivoire, Chambas said that a 
complicating factor was the number of Liberians and Sierra 
Leonians who had ended up there.  He implied that at least 
some had gone in search of work as mercenaries.  ECOWAS was 
involved in the search for peace and security in the region 
and he thought we had an opportunity to make real progress 
towards long term stability if the political and DDR 
processes in CDI were successful. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (C) Chambas' comments regarding Taylor were in line with 
statements he had made to us previously.  In the absence of 
convincing evidence of Taylor's serious disruption of the 
political process in Liberia, Chambas would prefer to leave 
him "bottled up" in Calabar until an elected Liberian 
government is capable of dealing with him. 
CAMPBELL