US embassy cable - 01ABUJA2494

UNCLAS ABUJA 002494 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, XY, NI, ECOWAS 
SUBJECT: ECOWAS: DES DIARRA ON TERRORISM AND A FEW ECOWAS 
NOTES 
 
 
REF: STATE 167569 
 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified - Protect Accordingly. 
 
 
1. (SBU) In the absence of ECOWAS Executive Secretary 
Ambassador Kouyate, CDA Andrews, accompanied by Political 
Counselor and PolMilOff, 27 September called on General 
Chieck Diarra, Deputy Executive Secretary for Political 
Affairs, Defense and Security at the ECOWAS Secretariat in 
Abuja.  Andrews began by passing Diarra a response to 
Ambassador Kouyate's letter of condolence.  Diarra thanked 
Andrews, and, after reading the letter, informed us that 
ECOWAS was planning an expert-level meeting in Accra in 
October.  He indicated that EU Officials might be present. 
The Executive Secretary planned to include the issue of 
terrorism in the meeting, Diarra stated, as a part of the 
discussion on crime in the sub-region.  Terrorism would also 
be a main part of the ECOWAS plan of action for the year, 
Diarra added. 
 
 
2. (SBU) Andrews, noting that Diarra had anticipated the 
point he was hoping to make, explained that while the U.S. 
had received messages of condolence and offers of assistance, 
we had not yet heard the type of statement from ECOWAS that 
other sub-regional bodies, such as SADC, had made.  Diarra 
said that terrorism was, "a concern of all humanity," and 
stated that, "what happened in the U.S., I think, the whole 
world was targeted."  He added, "We will be beside you in 
this fight."  Diarra then explained further that after the 
meeting in Accra at expert-level, terrorism would also be 
discussed at the next ECOWAS Ministerial meeting, and at the 
next ECOWAS Heads-of-State meeting, possibly in December. 
 
 
3. (U) Andrews passed Diarra a matrix listing the ECOWAS 
members-states and the status of ratification of each treaty 
listed reftel, noting that the matrix was not definitive but 
based on the best information held by the Embassy. (NOTE: 
Embassy developed the matrix based on information listed in 
the State Department document, "Treaties in Force, 1999."  A 
copy of the matrix has been emailed to AF/W.  If other ECOWAS 
Post's would like a copy of the matrix, please send an email 
to kaplandm"at"state.gov.  END NOTE.)  Diarra thanked the CDA 
and noted that the matrix would be useful for the discussions 
in Accra. 
 
 
4. (SBU) ECOWAS NOTES: Diarra described the recent ACSS 
Seminar in Accra as "wonderful," and stated he was looking 
forward to his trip with Colonel Dikio to EUCOM.  When asked 
about the status of the ECOWAS warehouse in Lagos, Diarra 
said that while the decision on where to put the two ECOWAS 
depots had not been made, he expected they would be put in 
Burkina-Faso (or Mali) and Benin (or Togo).  Diarra noted 
that, since Nigeria had offered temporary accommodation and 
assistance for many ECOWAS bodies (such as the Parliament and 
Court of Justice), these institutions were presently in 
Nigeria.  However, he opined, it would be better to spread 
ECOWAS institutions out among member states. 
 
 
5. (SBU) COMMENT: We were pleased with the response of 
General Diarra on the subject of terrorism.  ECOWAS as an 
institution is thin.  However, we expect that as formal 
meetings occur, ECOWAS as an institution will make strong 
public statements against terrorism.  Similar messages made 
to other member states will have an important effect on 
terrorism remaining in sharp focus during not only the expert 
level meeting, but also the Ministerial and Summit meetings 
that follow.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
6. (U) Freetown minimize considered. 
Andrews