US embassy cable - 05DJIBOUTI68

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, AF/E, AND EUR 
PARIS/LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EAID, MARR, SCUL, FR, DJ 
SUBJECT: BORREL AFFAIR REDUX: DJIBOUTI EXPELS FRENCH 
COOPERATION OFFICIALS 
 
REF: A. 04 DJIBOUTI 590 
 
     B. 04 DJIBOUTI 585 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marguerita D. Ragsdale. 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Djibouti's president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, formally 
requested January 17 through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
that France withdraw six of its officials acting as advisors 
to government institutions in Djibouti under the French 
Cooperation program. The move follows Guelleh's personal 
anger over what he sees as French government failure to bring 
to  a swift conclusion legal proceedings emanating from the 
Borrel Affair.  According to France's ambassador to Djibouti, 
Philippe Selz, French officials were given one week to 
depart, however an extension until January 30 was requested, 
and granted, due to ensuing Eid holidays. 
 
2. (C) Selz told Ambassador that six technical advisors would 
leave Djibouti under the ministerial order -- one female and 
5 males.  Five of the six were assigned individually to the 
Ministries of Education, Health, and Agriculture, to Peltier 
Hospital, and to the Safety and Security Division of the 
international airport. It is unclear to which agency the 
sixth was assigned.  The action followed the appearance on 
January 13 of an unusual "editorial" in the Djiboutian 
government newspaper "La Nation."  The editorial criticized 
the January 11 summons of Hassan Said, Chief of Djibouti's 
National Security, and Djama Suleiman, District Attorney for 
Djibouti, to testify in a French court regarding the case 
brought by Borrel's widow Elizabeth. The editorial stated 
that Djibouti is a sovereign nation and would not submit to 
deposition.  It noted attempts by France to depose Djibouti's 
ambassador to France and accused France of being "racist" and 
"colonialist."  The editorial also stated that legal 
procedures instituted by the French court were an attempt to 
discredit Djiboutian authorities and are part of a 
"relentless" French campaign against Guelleh since his 
accession to the Presidency. The editorial concluded by 
declaring that "the time for cooperation and compassion had 
ended and the time to make decisions had come." "In short," 
the editorial stated, "the game is over." 
 
3. (C) Judge Bernard Borrel, a French national living in 
Djibouti, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in 
1995 near Lac Assal, some distance from Djibouti city.  He 
reportedly had a bullet wound to the head and his body had 
been partially burned.  No autopsy was performed.  Conspiracy 
theories abound on what may have happened to Borrel.  The 
Djiboutian government firmly believes his death a suicide. 
Reports of his depression during that period widely 
circulate.  Borrel's widow is fully committed to proving 
Djiboutian government, and specifically Guelleh's, complicity 
in her husband's death.  It should also be noted that a 
finding of suicide makes her ineligible for full retirement 
or insurance benefits stemming from her husband's demise. 
 
4. (C) Selz said Djibouti wants the government of France to 
move to end delays in resolving the Borrel case.  He had 
tried to explain that the government of France has no control 
over judicial proceedings.  "They know this," he told 
Ambassador, "because they know very well the French system." 
Selz said he believes the Djiboutians are "shooting 
themselves in the foot" with the expulsions and that the move 
will be "100 per cent counterproductive."   He commented that 
the move would also impact negatively  the morale of the 
French military based in Djibouti. 
 
5. (C) Speaking pensively, Selz told Ambassador he too would 
like France's justice system to work faster and for its 
journalists not to say things that might damage bilateral 
relations between France and other countries.  Yet Djibouti 
knows  France's government cannot control these entities. 
For France, Selz continued, the expulsions will mean less 
technical assistance to Djibouti.  He mused, with regret, 
that there might be more expulsions to follow and planned to 
meet with remaining technical advisors to reassure and also 
to halt rumors. 
 
6. (C) Comment:  Selz had stated previously that he believed 
the Borrel affair would continue to weigh upon 
France-Djibouti diplomatic relations for some time to come 
(see Ref A).  The personal implication of Guelleh in the 
affair is the sticking point, especially with the Djiboutian 
presidential election a few months away.  France had already 
taken steps to align its assistance program with operating 
methods of USAID and had moved the bulk of traditional 
economic assistance to the French Agency for Development 
operating in Djibouti. Thus its overall aid program is 
unlikely to be affected.  Yet the loss of the advisors will 
surely be felt.  They were a superb window for France onto 
Djibouti's government.  For some Djiboutians, this could mean 
an opportunity to wean the country fully from remnants of its 
colonial past.  The longer the affair festers, however, the 
more difficult will become France's relationship with 
Djibouti's current president.  We are likely to see in the 
coming days several phone exchanges between Chirac and 
Guelleh in an effort to lower the temperature, and ease the 
damage, in this boiling affair.  End comment. 
 
7. (U) Khartoum minimize considered. 
RAGSDALE