US embassy cable - 05LILONGWE15

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000015 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, MI, President, Political 
SUBJECT: A PLOT TO KILL MALAWI'S PRESIDENT? 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified--not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
1.  (SBU) Three United Democratic Front officials were 
charged with treason on Wednesday for carrying guns to a 
meeting with President Bingu wa Mutharika. The Attorney 
General said authorities had information that some 
politicians had plotted to kill the president on January 2, 
2004.  By Thursday afternoon, reports indicated that charges 
had been dropped against the men.  President Mutharika, 
however, held a press conference this afternoon, in which, 
according to journalists present, he charged that the plot 
was real, that it was organized by the UDF, and that former 
President Muluzi had full knowledge of it.  The charges 
against Muluzi were not carried in the first broadcast 
reports carried on Government radio.  Mutharika is said to 
be temporarily closing the National Intelligence Bureau in 
response to poor intelligence on the incident.  The press 
conference has not yet been broadcast.   The closure of NIB 
is partly motivated by the widely held perception that the 
NIB is loyal principally to former President Muluzi, its 
creator. 
 
2.  (U) The three officials, Deputy Transport Minister Roy 
Commsy, former Cabinet Minister Harry Thomson and Member of 
Parliament Alfred Mwechumu, were on their way to a 
reconciliation meeting between the President and senior UDF 
officials aligned with former President Bakili Muluzi. 
After the arrests on gun charges, the police released the 
three on bail, then re-arrested them for treason several 
hours later.  Two of the men were remanded into custody and 
later released when the charges were dropped, while one of 
the men has been admitted to a local hospital for a diabetic 
condition.   The UDF explained that the guns were licensed 
and that the politicians routinely carried them as a matter 
of personal security.  The party's spokesman confirmed 
reports that the UDF is seriously reconsidering its 
relationship with the President and the government.  For his 
part, Mutharika has reportedly announced that he will not 
press treason charges against the three. 
 
3.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Whether or not there was actually a plot 
to assassinate the President, and whether or not treason was 
actually committed, the events of the past several days are 
another indication that the rift between Mutharika and 
Muluzi is worsening.  Recent incidents of physical 
intimidation, mainly by Muluzi loyalists (to be reported 
septel), are an indication at least that passions are 
running high.  Muluzi loyalists appear not to have the 
political support to threaten the Government seriously, and 
Mutharika has been content up to now to deal with them one 
by one, mostly through his anti-corruption campaign.  But 
the increasing intensity of the disagreements between the 
two sides appears to be peaking, with Mutharika finally 
charging UDF in public.  Whether this will result in 
criminal charges, or whether Muluzi will respond with 
something still more dramatic, remains to be seen. In any 
case, it is clear that the old guard will not go quietly. 
 
GILMOUR