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DE RUEHAB #0475/01 1291711
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O 091711Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1285
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1350
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0308

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABIDJAN 000475 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: SIXTH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL 
WORKING GROUP 
 
 
Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
CORRECTED COPY - Previous cable Abidjan 414 was garbled. 
 
¶1. (C) At the sixth meeting of the International Working 
Group (IWG), the group was alarmed to hear from a series of 
senior Ivoirian officials in charge of various aspects of the 
peace process that the political process is once again at an 
impasse and that hardly any progress has been made toward 
elections, halfway through the year the Security Council gave 
the Ivoirians to prepare for them.  This provoked a 
communique considerably more direct and emphatic than those 
of previous meetings, in effect demanding immediate action on 
simultaneous identification and disarmament, threatening 
sanctions against those who obstruct the electoral process 
and/or the work of the IWG, and warning that the 
international community might well not extend President 
Gbagbo's term in office any longer if the deadline for 
elections in October is not met.  This might not lead to 
street violence as in January, since this time the IWG was 
only calling upon Ivoirians to follow through on what they 
themselves agreed to.  However, it may not prod Gbagbo into 
action either -- he does not consider himself beholden to the 
Security Council or answerable to the IWG.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The IWG held its sixth meeting in Abidjan on April 
¶20.  Congolese Foreign Minister Rodolphe Adada and UN Special 
Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) Pierre Schori 
co-chaired the meeting.  Also attending were Benin Foreign 
Minister Rogatien Biaou; French Cooperation Minister Brigitte 
Girardin; Ghanaian Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo; Guinean 
Foreign Minister Fatouma Sidibe Kaba; Nigeran Foreign 
Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou; Nigerian Foreign Minister 
Oluyemi Adeniji; South African Defense Minister Mosiuoa 
Lekota; African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Said 
Djinnit; ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas; UN 
High Representative for Elections in Cote d'Ivoire (HRE) 
Girard Stoudmann; and representatives from the United 
Kingdom, The United States, the EU, and the International 
Organization of French Speaking Countries. 
 
¶3. (C) Prime Minister Banny's presentation was once again 
long and rambling but decidedly less upbeat than at the last 
meeting.  Instead of dwelling on a long list of 
accomplishments over the past month, this time Banny spoke 
more about the challenges ahead and the obstacles he is 
facing.  He said the three main tasks to be completed were 
simultaneous identification and disarmament, preparation of 
voter lists, and the return of civil administration to the 
North.  When pressed by the French and others to say exactly 
what is keeping him from going forward with identification 
and disarmament immediately, he answered evasively -- that it 
is important to maintain a spirit of consensus but there is a 
lack of political will. 
 
¶4. (C) The IWG then heard presentations by General Gaston 
Kone Ouassenan, the new Chairman of the National Program for 
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (PNDDR); Robert 
Beugre Mambe, Chairman of the Independent Electoral 
Commission (CEI); and Alain Lobognon, acting Chairman of the 
National Commission for the Supervision of Identification 
(CNSI).  All three made clear that the political process is 
at an impasse over the question of the sequencing of 
identification and disarmament.  Even though all of Cote 
d'Ivoire's political leaders, including President Gbagbo, 
agreed on April 8 under the auspices of AU Chairman Sassou 
that identification and disarmament should be done 
simultaneously, Gbagbo is not allowing identification to 
proceed (at a cabinet meeting two weeks ago he rejected Prime 
Minister Banny's plan for carrying it out) and his followers 
continue to clamor loudly that disarmament must come first. 
On the other hand, the senior officials also underscored that 
if identification and disarmament don't move forward within 
the next week it will be impossible to hold elections by the 
end of October. 
 
¶5. (C) All four Ivoirian speakers implored the international 
community to provide substantial additional resources to help 
finance the identification, disarmament and electoral 
processes. 
 
¶6. (C) After these presentations the IWG heard a decidedly 
pessimistic security briefing from General Fernand Marcel 
Amoussou, acting force commander for the UN Operation in Cote 
d'Ivoire (ONUCI) and General Elrick Irastorza, commander of 
the French peacekeeping force Operation Licorne.  General 
Amoussou said the overall security situation in Cote d'Ivoire 
is "volatile" and that pro-Gbagbo militias appear to be 
 
ABIDJAN 00000475  002 OF 003 
 
 
gearing up for a major offensive.  General Irastorza said 
that military commanders on both sides appear to be losing 
control over their soldiers. 
 
¶7. (C) IWG members then took the floor one after another to 
express concern over what they had heard in these 
presentations, and to call for the IWG to take immediate, 
decisive action to break the current impasse.  Ambassador 
Hooks while agreeing with the need for decisive action 
suggested a longer-term perspective -- as in any peace 
process there will be ups and downs, and members of the group 
had not heard anything at this meeting that they did not know 
already. 
 
¶8. (C) This lively discussion produced a communique that is 
considerably more direct and emphatic than those of previous 
meetings (the full text follows in para. 10).  The communique 
expresses the IWG's "deep concern" about the delays that have 
been encountered in implementing the road map.  It calls on 
the government to accelerate the simultaneous implementation 
of identification and disarmament; threatens sanctions 
against those who violate UNSCR 1633, which can include those 
who obstruct the transition to elections and/or the work of 
the IWG; and makes reference to a recent statement by the 
Secretary General that if the October 2006 deadline for 
 
SIPDIS 
presidential elections is not met, the international 
community will not be in a position to simply renew Cote 
d'Ivoire's current governance arrangements. 
 
¶9. (C) Comment.  We continue to believe the IWG panicked 
unnecessarily, just as it was overly euphoric at its last 
meeting.  However, at least the group's alarm provoked it to 
take a stand on the most contentious and potentially 
explosive issue of the day.  Remarkably, not one voice was 
raised in the meeting to express concern over possible street 
violence in reaction to this communique, as happened after 
the IWG took a stand at its January meeting on the question 
of the National Assembly's mandate.  However, that time the 
IWG itself pronounced on the merits of the issue, whereas 
this time it simply called emphatically for Ivoirian leaders 
to implement what they themselves agreed to.  It may not lead 
to street violence but it may not do much to prod Gbagbo into 
letting identification go forward either (or FN leader Soro 
to move on disarmament) -- Gbagbo has never considered 
himself beholden to the Security Council for the extension of 
his mandate or answerable to the IWG for his actions (or 
inaction) in the peace process.  End Comment. 
 
¶10. (U) begin text of communique: 
 
FINAL COMMUNIQUE OF THE SIXTH MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON COTE D,IVOIRE 
Abidjan, 20 April 2006 
 
Original draft: French 
 
¶1.    The 6th ministerial level meeting of the International 
Working Group (IWG) was held in Abidjan on 20 April 2006, 
under the co-chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Rodolphe Adada, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Francophonie of Congo, and 
Mr. Pierre Schori, Special Representative of the United 
Nations Secretary-General for Cote d,Ivoire. In attendance 
were Ministers from France, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, South 
Africa, as well as the Peace and Security Commissioner of the 
African Union, the High Representative for the Elections in 
Cote d,Ivoire, the ECOWAS Executive Secretary, and 
Representatives of the USA, Benin, Niger, United Kingdom, the 
African Union, the European Union, the Organisation 
Internationale de la Francophonie. 
 
¶2.    The Group examined the report of the Mediation Group. 
It was further briefed by the Prime Minister, the General 
Coordinator of the National Programme for Disarmament, 
Demobilization and Reintegration (PNDDR), the Chairman of the 
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and the acting 
Chairman of the National Commission for Supervision of 
Identification (CNSI). 
 
¶3.    While highlighting the progress achieved, the Group 
expressed its deep concern regarding the delays encountered 
in the commencement of the activities essential to the 
effective implementation of the road map. In this regard, the 
Group underlined that, mid-way through the process, time is 
running out. The Group also shares the concern of the UN 
Secretary-General as expressed in paragraph 74 of his 8th 
 
SIPDIS 
report on the delay in the peace process and the consequences 
that would arise from any further blockages if deadlines were 
not met. 
 
ABIDJAN 00000475  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶4.    Bearing in mind the urgency of the matter, and in 
keeping with the deadlines set by Security Council resolution 
1633 (2005) regarding the holding of the elections no later 
than 31 October 2006, the Group stressed the following: 
 
a)    the Group recalled that the main Ivoirian political 
leaders have agreed, at their 8 April meeting under the 
auspices of President Denis Sassou N,guesso, chairman of the 
African Union, on the simultaneous and immediate 
implementation of the identification and DDR processes; 
 
b)    to that end, the Government of National Reconciliation 
should take all necessary measures in order to accelerate the 
simultaneous implementation of the identification and DDR 
processes; 
 
c)    the identification of citizens will allow the 
establishment of reliable voters lists, which should 
contribute to the holding of free, fair, open and transparent 
elections; 
 
d)    the Group is concerned about the suspension of the 
dialogue between the Chiefs of Staff of the FANCI and the 
Forces nouvelles and strongly encourages them to restore, 
under the leadership of the Government, the conditions 
necessary for its smooth continuation, with a view to 
ensuring the effective commencement of the DDR process and 
the dismantling of the militia, without further delay; 
 
e)    the successful implementation of the identification and 
disarmament processes calls for the active and irreversible 
commitment of the political leaders. In this regard, the 
Group urges all Ivoirian parties to sensitize their followers 
to the pressing need to abide by all commitments made during 
the Yamoussoukro I and II meetings. 
 
¶5.    In light of persistent violations of the resolutions 
1633 (2005) and 1643 (2005), as highlighted in the 8th report 
of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Security 
Council on UNOCI, the Group invites the Committee established 
under resolution 1572 (2004) to identify the perpetrators and 
not to hesitate to resort to appropriate measures. 
 
¶6.    The Group welcomed Mr. Gerard Stoudmann in his capacity 
as the new High Representative for the elections in Cote 
d,Ivoire. The Group invites all Ivoirian parties to 
cooperate with him with a view to accelerating the 
preparations leading to the holding of credible elections. 
 
¶7.    The Group welcomes the redeployment of UNOCI troops to 
the western part of the country and requests the local 
authorities and communities to continue to cooperate closely 
with the United Nations Mission, including respecting the 
freedom of movement of the impartial forces. 
 
¶8.    The Group recommends that the Security Council provides 
ONUCI, as soon as possible, with the additional means 
necessary to the achievement of its mandate. 
 
¶9.    The Group will hold its next meeting on 19 May 2006 in 
Cote d,Ivoire. 
 
end text of communique. 
Hooks