US embassy cable - 03DJIBOUTI536

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000536 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/DSS/ITA, DS/IP/CC, AF, AF/E, AF/EX, AF/PD, CA/OCS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2013 
TAGS: ASEC, PREL, CASC, KPAO, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI: FOUR INJURED IN ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
Classified By: RSO MARC RAMOS FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) and (D) 
 
SUMMARY 
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1. (C) Four people have been injured, two seriously, in three days of 
anti-war student demonstrations in Djibouti City. 
Two local students were seriously wounded when local police fired on 
demonstrators on March 24; they remain hospitalized.  In addition, two 
German soldiers were injured on the same day while driving by a 
demonstration by local university and high school students.   Although 
the demonstrators, virtually all students, reportedly have sought to 
march on the U.S. Embassy, local police have restricted them to the 
downtown area.  The demonstrations, occurring successively on March 23, 
24, and 25, have ranged in number from 100 to 600 people and have laste 
approximately 5 hours each day.  Local press coverage has included 
graphic visuals, perhaps inciting the demonstrators.  The extensive 
press coverage of the demonstrations themselves suggests that at least 
the first was government-sanctioned.  However, as the gatherings have 
continued, they have begun to take on a slight anti-government coloring 
 Local security officials expect demonstrations to continue, and perhap 
to become more violent, as U.S. forces approach Baghdad.  End Summary. 
 
STUDENT PROTESTS 
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2.  (SBU)  Four people, including two Djiboutian students and two 
German soldiers, have been injured in anti-war demonstrations occurring 
on the mornings of March 23, 24, and 25.  Local police have restricted 
the demonstrations to the downtown area, using riot control tactics and 
tear gas, although reports suggest that the protestors have sought to 
continue their protests at the U.S. Embassy. The students responded by 
throwing rocks at the police and vandalizing nearby vehicles.  On March 
24, police reportedly fired upon the crowd, injuring two students 
seriously.  The two remain hospitalized in serious condition. In 
addition, U.S. military personnel received a report that two uniformed 
German soldiers were injured as they drove by one of the demonstrations 
in a German military vehicle. 
 
3.  (C) Students report that the initial demonstrations of March 23 
were the direct result of bulletins posted on the university and high 
school campuses. Students deny that they posted the bulletins themselve 
or of having knowledge of who did so.  Senior FSNs, however, report tha 
they have heard reports that local security forces posted the bulletins 
 Opposition unionist and high school teacher Souleiman Djama told ConOf 
that he witnessed clandestine state security personnel posting bulletin 
announcing demonstrations at a local high school. In a conversation wit 
Conoff, Abdirazak Hassan Guedi, the judiciary council to the Minister o 
the Interior, denied these claims, calling them rumor. Security 
field reports indicate that the demonstrations were incited by local 
Muslim clerics. 
 
MEDIA 
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4.  (U) The state-run newspaper "La Nation" gave front page coverage to 
the first of the demonstrations on March 23.  The front page photo in 
the March 24th edition pictured marching students waving Iraqi flags an 
anti-war banners.  The opening line of the adjoining article read... 
"Felt to be unjust and unjustified, the war against Iraq has provoked a 
general outcry in the entire world."  A second cover article on 
the same day titled "The war of images" spoke to the graphic nature of 
the television coverage of the war.  The article specifically addressed 
Al-Jazeera pieces, noting that "The war against Iraq is not as clean as 
we might imagine. Despite the precision of their high technology, smart 
bombs have caused numerous civilian casualties, the number of which can 
only rise after every attack." 
 
COMMENT 
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5.  (C) The fact that the demonstrations were covered in the state-run 
newspaper and television suggests that at least the first demonstration 
was government- sanctioned.  Djibouti is the only Arab League country 
not to experience immediate anti-war demonstrations; thus, it is likely 
that the President believed it necessary to demonstrate popular 
opposition to the war prior to the March 24 Arab League meeting in 
Cairo.  The President made his first critical public statement on March 
24, likely to boost his position in Cairo. He opposes the war in Iraq 
even though he believes there should be regime change, but he 
fears that demonstrations of any kind will also become anti-government 
because of the poor state of the Djiboutian economy. 
 
6.  (C) The most recent demonstration on March 25th was accompanied 
by a police escort and conducted in a peaceable manner; however, the 
most recent gatherings have begun to take on an anti-government cast. 
 Embassy personnel and U.S. military continue to monitor the situation 
around town; all agree that this is only the beginning of what is 
believed will be many more demonstrations to come. Embassy security 
contacts have suggested that, due to the graphic media accounts 
of the war, the potential for violent demonstrations will increase as 
the fighting nears Baghdad. 
 
YAMAMOTO