US embassy cable - 04ACCRA1581

UNCLAS  ACCRA 001581 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, GH, ECOWAS 
SUBJECT: ACCRA III MARCHES ON BEHIND CLOSED DOORS - LIBERIA 
REVIEW COMPLETED 
 
------ 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1. (U) There was slow progress on the first day of the Accra 
III talks on Cote d'Ivoire. Led by President Kufuor and UN 
Secretary General Annan, all the key parties were in 
 
SIPDIS 
attendance as well as several (mainly West) African heads of 
state, UN, ECOWAS, AU, and Francophone representatives, and 
eleven political parties from Cote d'Ivoire. The Presidents 
and Secretary-General met behind closed doors with the four 
main leaders from Cote d'Ivoire - Gbagbo, Bedie, Ouattara, 
and Soro. A press conference scheduled late in the afternoon 
was cancelled. The talks (which were hoped to last only one 
day) resumed on July 30, with Liberia bumped to the morning's 
agenda and Cote d'Ivoire to be resumed later today, due to 
SYG Annan's, Nigerian President Obasanjo's, and others' 
travel schedules. Before departing, Obasanjo called for 
continued peace in Liberia, was generally positive on Cote 
d'Ivoire talks, and urged greater attention to the Darfur 
crisis. A communique summarizing the talks is expected later 
this afternoon. Remainder of talks will be covered in septel. 
End summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
KUFUOR AND ANNAN SET THE TONE 
----------------------------- 
2. (U) SYG Annan urged flexibility and compromise by all 
parties. In a speech distributed to the public on July 29, he 
noted that the following priorities would drive the Accra III 
talks: 
- clarifying the delegation of powers from the President to 
the Prime Minister 
- presidential eligibility 
- adopting and implementing legislation under the 
Linas-Marcoussis Agreement 
- ending human rights violations and establishing a National 
Human Rights Commission 
- setting a comprehensive timetable for Disarmament, 
Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) 
- working with international organizations to restore public 
services 
- setting the stage for free and fair elections in October 
2005 
 
3. (SBU) President Kufuor opened the ECOWAS summit with 
remarks that were not released to the public. He noted the 
past and ongoing efforts to restore peace to Cote d'Ivoire. 
He identified "excessive legalities" as the main barrier to 
the peace process thus far, and stated that "a new tackle 
that will place more emphasis on a political situation is 
needed." Kufuor put the onus on Gbagbo and the Ivorian 
opposition parties to resolve the crisis, and proposed the 
closed-door agenda described in para 1. He additionally 
proposed smaller groups of presidents meeting with the 
various Ivorian parties later in the day, and then regrouping 
to prepare a public communique on the outcome. 
 
------------------------ 
CLOSED DOORS, TIGHT LIPS 
------------------------ 
4. (U) The plenary session on July 29 commenced at 11:00, 
after the key delegates had arrived. Press were permitted 
only for a photo-op, and members of the diplomatic community 
were not allowed in the conference facility. No agenda was 
made public, and the delegates were notably quiet over lunch. 
The SYG, heads of state, Chairperson of the Commission of the 
AU, ECOWAS Executive Secretary Chambas, and the Ivorian 
parties worked behind closed doors through lunch. 
 
5. (U) Only two opposition leaders, Soro and Ouattara, made 
statements to the press while the talks were ongoing on July 
29. Neither of their comments were inflammatory and were both 
cautious in their assessment of the conference's progress. 
 
6. (U) Diplomats were invited to a press conference that was 
scheduled for 4:00, but was eventually cancelled as the talks 
continued into early evening. No statement was issued. 
Sources close to the talks implied that mid-level delegates 
(e.g., foreign ministers, West African ambassadors, members 
of Kufuor's press office, and Ghana's MFA) also felt 
uninformed about the substantive content of the talks. There 
was much speculation, but little information. 
 
7. (U) One press official remarked that the talks were going 
long because "Gbagbo's being difficult". Another source close 
to the talks commented that the delegation was putting more 
pressure on Gbagbo than on the opposition parties to restore 
peace to Cote d'Ivoire. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
LIBERIA ON THE AGENDA, AND CONTINUED 'BUZZ' ABOUT DARFUR 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
8. (U) When it was clear that the Ivorian peace talks would 
carry over to July 30, the Liberia review was shifted up in 
the agenda so SYG Annan, Obasanjo, and others could 
participate before their departures. 
 
9. (U) In spite of rumors about Darfur appearing on the 
program at Accra III, the topic was absent from the formal 
agenda. In Ghanaian Foreign Minister Akufo-Addo's words, "the 
ECOWAS summit is dealing with West African issues. Darfur is 
an African issue, but it is not the focus of this meeting." 
He surmised that Darfur would arise as a topic in informal 
discussions but underscored that it would not be on the 
formal agenda. Obasanjo's comments on his departure on July 
30, indicate that it did arise on the margins. 
 
10. (U) Obasanjo spoke about three issues on his July 30 
midday departure: 
- On Liberia, he said that the interim government had not 
been consulting other parties as agreed, and had been acting 
unilaterally. A 'mediation committee' of foreign ministers 
has been set up to ensure that the comprehensive peace 
agreement holds. 
- On Cote d'Ivoire, Obasanjo said that while he could not 
stay through the afternoon's talks, he expected agreement to 
be reached by all parties by the end of the day. 
- On Darfur, he said the recently-returned fact-finding 
mission found the situation in Darfur has "rapidly 
deteriorated". African heads of state are urging the GoS to 
ensure peace for all Sudanese people. There is currently 
discussion of sending African troops in to assist with the 
"woefully inadequate" security provisions that are there, a 
prospect that the GoS is reportedly open to. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
11. (U) It is too early to draw conclusions on the success or 
failure of the Accra III talks. That there was concerted 
effort by all parties not to say too much publicly suggests 
serious commitment to the substantive work that was taking 
place behind closed doors. End comment. 
YATES 
 
 
NNNN