US embassy cable - 04ACCRA2168

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 002168 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CDR USEUCOM FOR GEN WALD/POLAD SNELL FROM AMBASSADOR YATES 
DEPT FOR PM/PPA MSWEBERG AND AF/W 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MOPS, MARR, GH, ECOWAS 
SUBJECT: ECOWAS/West African Security Conference in Accra 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary: The International Peace Academy (IPA), 
in association with the Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS), held a conference on West Africa conflict 
management and prevention in Accra on October 17-19.  Among 
the specific themes discussed were: the need for ECOWAS to 
play a greater role in conflict prevention and post-conflict 
development; the need for greater ECOWAS coordination with 
the UN; the gains made in Liberia and Sierra Leone; the risk 
of renewed conflict in Cte d'Ivoire; and the threat to the 
sub-region posed by bad governance in Guinea.  Ghana's 
Deputy Foreign Minister stressed Ghana's continued 
commitment to helping conflict resolution in West Africa, 
including efforts to deal with tensions in Guinea Bissau. 
End summary. 
 
Peacekeeping Conference 
----------------------- 
 
2.  (U)  The International Peace Academy (headed by former 
U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone John Hirsch), in partnership 
with ECOWAS and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping 
Training Center, hosted a conference October 17-19 on 
conflict prevention and resolution in West Africa.  Among 
the 60-70 participants were: ECOWAS Executive Secretary 
Mohammed Ibn Chambas and Deputy Executive Secretary Cheick 
Oumar Diarra; the UN's Special Representatives of the 
Secretary General (SRSG) for West Africa, Sierra Leone and 
 
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Cte d'Ivoire; Deputy SRSG for Liberia Abou Moussa; Dr. 
Christopher Landsberg, Director of the Southern Africa 
a 
Development Community (SADC); and a number of NGO 
representatives and academics from across West Africa.  The 
conference was a follow on to similar meetings organized by 
the IPA in Abuja (2001) and Dakar (2002).  The goal of the 
conference was to review the effectiveness of the ECOWAS 
security mechanism and to make recommendations for 
improvements to the African Union and UN. 
 
The Role of ECOWAS 
------------------ 
 
3.  (U)  Participants noted that ECOWAS was set up to deal 
with economic and development issues, and was growing into 
its role in handling conflict situations.  ECOWAS Executive 
Secretary Chambas and others praised ECOWAS' role in 
 
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conflict resolution, but stressed the need to do better at 
conflict prevention and post-conflict development.  He 
highlighted the need for a regional standby force with 
possible US training, further development of the 
peacekeeping training center in Mali, expansion of the war 
college in Abuja, and adoption of an ECOWAS small arms 
convention by December 2005.  Conference participants were 
generally pessimistic about the African Union's ability to 
play a more effective role in conflict prevention. 
 
Institutional Issues 
-------------------- 
 
4.  (U) Participants highlighted the need to improve 
coordination between ECOWAS and the UN.  ECOWAS will hold 
consultations with the EU beginning on November 8 in Accra, 
with peace and security issues expected to be at the 
forefront. Chambas stated that the International Contact 
Group of Liberia is expanding its mandate to include Guinea- 
Bissau and Cote d'Ivoire, and will now be called the 
International Contact Group on the Mano River Region. 
Participants discussed the creation of an ECOWAS rapid 
response force. Despite the challenges ECOWAS faces, 
participants noted that ECOWAS has greater institutional 
capacity than most African regional organizations. 
 
5.  (U)  The Program for Coordination and Assistance for 
Security and Development in Africa (PCASED) will be renamed 
the ECOWAS Small Arms Project. Participants discussed 
turning the ECOWAS moratorium on small arms and light 
weapons (SALW) into a convention by December 2005. While 
early warning remains a weakness, Chambas said ECOWAS is 
working with experts from the US, UK and France to improve 
this capacity. Chambas said he expects significant support 
for the SALW unit from the UK, France and the Netherlands. 
 
Regional Conflicts 
------------------ 
 
6.  (SBU)  Abou Moussa, Deputy Special Representative of the 
UN Secretary General (SSRG) in Liberia, told participants 
Liberia was making progress and could recover fully with 
adequate resources and a few years of rebuilding.  While 
acknowledging challenges such as corruption, unemployment, 
political infighting, he said Liberia has made substantial 
improvements in strengthening the rule of law, he said. 
Moussa was confident that the October 2005 elections will go 
ahead as planned.  Rebuilding infrastructure is key to 
strengthening the peace, he said, underscoring the 
importance of speeding the flow of donor aid into the 
country. 
 
7.  (SBU)  With the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) set 
to draw down by December 2005, the country continues to make 
progress, according to Daudi Ngelautwa Mwakawago, SSRG in 
Sierra Leone.  He acknowledged the need to reform the 
judiciary, restructure the army, and improve the 
infrastructure in Sierra Leone, but he presented a generally 
positive picture of a security force and economy rebuilding. 
 
8.  (SBU)  The SRSG for Cte d'Ivoire Albert Tevoedjre was 
downbeat about the situation in Ivory Coast, saying "every 
day brings a new crisis" and that a major crisis could be 
looming several months away.  He opined that next year's 
scheduled election could result in new crisis if not well- 
organized because President Gbagbo, who Tevoedjre said 
remains unwilling to compromise, would then have no 
legitimate claim to hold onto power.  Tevoedjre refuted some 
reports that there are divisions among the Forces Nouvelles, 
while asserting that the Cote D'Ivoire army no longer wants 
to fight. 
 
9.  (SBU)  Participants expressed strong concern about the 
situation in Guinea.  Brigadier-General Charles Mankatah, 
Commandant of the Kofi Annan Center, told poloff privately 
that it was obvious to him Guinea would be the next failed 
state in West Africa.  Some conference participants called 
on Ghanaian President John Kufuor, as Chairman of ECOWAS, 
and Nigerian President Obasanjo (because he is seen as 
respected by Guinea's President Cont) to go to Conakry 
soon.  Participants were critical that little was being done 
by ECOWAS or others in the region to try to prevent a Guinea 
crisis.  ECOWAS reps responded that they had met with 
President Cont prior to the 2003 election and found him 
unwilling to compromise. 
 
10.  (SBU)  Ghana's Deputy Foreign Minister Kwasi Osei-Adjei 
addressed the conference, highlighting Ghana's commitment to 
o 
international peacekeeping and to playing a constructive 
role in enhancing the security environment in West Africa. 
He noted that Ghana had been providing some financial aid 
and diplomatic support, through ECOWAS, to help stabilize 
Guinea Bissau.  President Kufuor continued to "work behind 
the scenes" on Guinea Bissau.  When asked why Ghana had not 
succumbed to conflict like so many of its neighbors, he 
responded that Ghanaian politics is inclusive, allowing for 
input from civil society, traditional chiefs and others, who 
have a voice through functioning democratic institutions. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
11.  (SBU)  The conference highlighted some of the vexing 
challenges in regional conflict resolution - how to 
reconcile humanitarian intervention with sovereignty issues, 
whether pushing for early elections can exacerbate 
instability, how to improve early warning systems and 
preventive intervention, and how to best coordinate 
multilateral efforts.  Conference participants believed 
ECOWAS recognizes the urgency for and has the capability of 
playing a more effective role in conflict prevention.  There 
were no specific follow-on action items proposed, although 
the IPA will publish a report on the conference in several 
months. 
YATES