US embassy cable - 03ABUJA670

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000670 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR AF/W AND AF/PD 
LAGOS FOR PAS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KDEM, PREL, NI 
SUBJECT:  EMBASSY'S ENGAGEMENT WITH THE NIGERIAN MEDIA 
ON IRAQ 
 
 
REFTEL:  STATE 81949 
 
 
1.  Summary.  Ambassador Jeter and Mission PAS staff 
have worked assiduously to ensure broad coverage 
within the Nigerian media of USG policy positions on 
Iraq.  Our media strategy has included placement of an 
op-ed that addressed many Nigerian misperceptions 
regarding U.S. military intervention in Iraq, one-on- 
one television and print interviews, and press 
roundtables both in Lagos and Abuja.  Much of the 
press attention has focused on the erroneous 
statements by GON officials linking the Nigerian 
Government's position on Iraq to the recent suspension 
of FY-03 USG military assistance to Nigeria. 
Clarification on this matter, through press releases 
and the Ambassador's statements, has dramatically 
lessened media attention to this non-issue.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
Ambassador's Op-Ed 
------------------ 
 
 
2.  To date, eight papers have printed Ambassador 
Jeter's op-ed stating the U.S. case for military 
intervention in Iraq.  The op-ed emphasized that the 
U.S. is not at war against Islam or for control of 
Iraqi oil, two misperceptions receiving steady media 
play in Nigeria.  The op-ed stressed that Saddam 
Hussein's regime had used weapons of mass destruction 
in the past against his own people and neighbors, had 
failed to account for them through the UN inspection 
process, and had links to terrorists, making Iraq a 
potential menace both to the U.S. and the world.  As 
reported in the Mission's April 4 daily task force 
report, Iraqi diplomat Firah Saleh responded to the 
op-ed by claiming that Americans could not teach Iraq 
about democracy.  Rather than defending the Iraqi 
regime, most of Saleh's rebuttal was a critique of 
U.S. support for Israel and Israeli policy towards the 
Palestinians. 
 
 
Abuja Press Event on March 25 
----------------------------- 
 
 
3.  On March 25, Ambassador Jeter met Abuja-based 
editors and journalists on the Iraqi conflict 
following a telepress conference with African Affairs 
Bureau Assistant Secretary Kansteiner.  The primary 
issue raised by reporters was the withdrawal of 
military assistance to Nigeria and its relationship to 
the GON position on Iraq.  The Ambassador explained 
the two issues were not linked.  He told the 
journalists that he reiterated to the Minister of 
State for Foreign Affairs that these issues were 
absolutely and categorically not connected.  The Voice 
of Germany's Hausa Service reporter asked if the U.S. 
entered Iraq to control its oil so that the U.S. could 
flood the world market and force down oil prices.  The 
Ambassador said the war with Iraq was not about oil; 
nor was it a war against a people, religion or 
country; rather, it was a war against a very, very bad 
regime.  He added that in the past twelve years, Iraq 
had flouted numerous UN resolutions by refusing to 
disarm, noting that the U.S. and its allies believe 
the present Iraqi regime is a danger to international 
peace and a threat to U.S. national security.  The 
Ambassador said there is sufficient evidence that the 
regime has WMD and its leadership is linked to 
terrorist organizations. 
 
 
4. Ishaq Modibbo Kawo, the editor of the northern 
independent "Daily Trust" newspaper, asked why the 
U.S. has not registered similar concerns about 
Israel's refusal to comply with UN resolutions.  The 
Ambassador responded that the U.S. is working very 
hard with countries in the Middle East as well as 
through the Quartet to bring peace and a just 
settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli issue.  He said 
President Bush is fully committed to a just settlement 
in the Middle East, including a viable, independent 
Palestinian state.  The News Agency of Nigeria 
reporter wanted to know if the U.S. government had 
asked Nigeria to expel Iraqi diplomats from Nigeria. 
The Ambassador said if such a discussion had taken 
place, it was between the two governments and he would 
not comment on bilateral diplomatic discussions with 
the media. 
 
 
The Sunday Show on March 30 
--------------------------- 
 
 
5.  On March 30, Ambassador Jeter appeared on the 
Sunday Show, a popular Lagos-based Sunday afternoon 
talk show whose broadcast audience is confined to 
southwestern Nigeria.  In a wide-ranging conversation, 
the Ambassador focused on the broad bilateral 
relationship with Nigeria, USG assistance efforts, and 
the importance of the upcoming elections.  He 
explained the misperception over linkage between the 
suspension of military assistance and Nigeria's 
position on the Iraq war.  Phone-in callers raised 
visa questions, concerns over travel to the U.S. while 
the war with Iraq is underway, and a request to help 
the Nigerian population attain the same level of 
national patriotism as seen in the United States.  One 
caller provided unqualified support for President Bush 
and military intervention in Iraq. 
 
 
March 31 Meeting with the Nigerian Editors Guild 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
 
6.  Chaired by Nigerian Guild of Editors President 
Remi Oyo, 17 senior print and broadcast editors held a 
roundtable discussion with the Ambassador on March 31. 
The journalists engaged the Ambassador for two and a 
half hours on the war in Iraq, US-Nigerian relations 
and the upcoming Nigerian elections.  Ambassador Jeter 
gave detailed responses to all queries, even as 
questions invariably returned to Iraq and the alleged 
linked suspension of certain military assistance to 
Nigeria. 
 
 
7.  On questions relating to the widely reported 
linkage of U.S. military aid and Nigeria's antiwar 
stance regarding Iraq, Ambassador Jeter explained that 
the suspension was based on allegations of human 
rights abuses by soldiers in Benue State in 2001.  He 
said any suggested linkage between the military 
assistance and Iraqi issues was false.  Regarding 
bilateral relations, Ambassador Jeter said Nigeria and 
the U.S. have enjoyed excellent relations since the 
coming of the civilian government in 1999.  He backed 
up his point with the example of President Obasanjo's 
visits to the U.S.:  Obasanjo was the first African 
leader invited by President Bush for an official visit 
to Washington and he was also the first African leader 
invited to the U.S. after 9/11.  These visits 
symbolized a special relationship, he said. 
 
 
8.  Answering questions on the justification of the 
U.S. strike in Iraq, Ambassador Jeter said Saddam 
Hussein had violated 16 U.N. resolutions over the past 
12 years.  He said all attempts, including sanctions, 
diplomacy and limited military actions, had failed to 
get Hussein to abide by the will of the international 
community.   The Ambassador added that the coalition 
forces are trying to be selective in their strikes to 
avoid civilian casualties. 
 
 
9.  Specifically on Nigeria, Jeter posited that the 
country has made some significant progress since the 
coming of civilian rule in 1999, adding that Nigerians 
need to be more patient.  He noted that the coming 
election will be a crucial and critical test for 
Nigeria and that the country cannot afford to fail. 
Failure would have dire consequences for Nigeria, West 
Africa, and the entire African continent, he said. 
 
 
TELL Magazine Juxtaposes Interviews with Jeter and 
Iraqi Ambassador 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
10.  Weekly news magazine TELL, in its March 31 - 
April 7 edition, published separate interviews with 
Ambassador Jeter and Iraqi Ambassador to Nigeria Sabah 
Omran.  Omran accused the U.S. of wanting to control 
Iraqi oil and protect the Israeli occupation of 
Palestine.  He denied that his country had been 
uncooperative with UN inspections over the past 12 
years, and that neighboring countries supported the 
removal of Saddam Hussein.  In his interview, 
Ambassador Jeter dismissed any USG motivation to 
control Iraqi oil and voiced USG support for a Middle 
East peace process that satisfies Israeli and 
Palestinian objectives for peaceful co-existence.  He 
once again clarified the lack of any linkage between 
the suspension of USG military assistance under the 
IMET and FMF programs and the GON position on Iraq. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
11.  This comprehensive media schedule during the last 
week of March succeeded in educating the Nigerian 
media and public on the suspension of U.S. military 
assistance and the absence of any linkage to Nigeria's 
position on the war with Iraq.  In the aftermath of 
his clarification to the press as well as the Embassy 
press statement on the issue, little media attention 
to the story has ensued - what little that has 
appeared consists of reader reaction to the 
Ambassador's remarks.  During the first week of April, 
the Mission issued a detailed press release on the 
arrival of two Balsam-class coastal vessels, donated 
by the USG to the Nigerian Navy.  Nigerian media 
coverage of the boats' arrival in Lagos on the heels 
of the Embassy's clarification on the suspension of 
military assistance has assisted Mission efforts to 
close the door on further allegations of any linkage 
between the suspension and the GON's position on Iraq. 
 
 
12.  On Iraq, the Nigerian media has handled the issue 
in varying fashion:  most papers provide balanced, 
factual reporting, a few others are negatively biased, 
while others (in typical Nigerian fashion) are 
interested in focusing on topical, but sensationalist 
aspects of the war - Iraqi casualties, anti-war 
protests around the world, the future of the UN, and 
the impact of the war on oil prices.  Post appreciates 
Washington PD materials, and will continue to seek 
broad placement in the Nigerian media. 
 
 
JETER