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RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHPA
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 221439Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5625
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0289
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0335
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0485
RUEHBAD/AMCONSUL PERTH 0299
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0243

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000774 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR EAID KPAO CASC MR
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER BRIEFS AMBASSADOR ON ARRESTS 
 
REF: A. NOUAKCHOTT 764 
     ¶B. NOUAKCHOTT 770 
 
Classified By: Amb. Joseph LeBaron, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) 
 
-------------- 
(C) Key Points 
-------------- 
 
-- He speaks excellent English, but, surprisingly, Minister 
of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Ahmed Ould Sid'Ahmed 
wanted to brief Ambassador in Arabic on the recent arrests of 
five high ranking military officers and civilians when 
Ambassador met with him at the Minister's request on June 21. 
 They were alone. 
 
-- The Minister's choice of language signaled the importance 
of the recent arrests (reftels) for the Transitional 
Government.  The Foreign Minister prefers Arabic only when 
the subject is particularly sensitive and important. 
 
-- Sid'Ahmed emphasized that the arrests of the five men were 
in no way designed to stifle dissent before the coming 
elections. 
 
-- Meanwhile, a UN Election Assessment Team arrived June 19 
for a mid-point evaluation of how Mauritania is doing in its 
planning for the elections.  The team's findings will guide 
future UN engagement in the transition. 
 
------------ 
(C) Comments 
------------ 
 
-- The Arabic the Foreign Minister used to describe the 
reasons for the arrests was vague, and Ambassador pressed for 
greater detail. (For example, the Foreign Minister said that 
those arrested had tried secretly to disrupt (za'za') the 
referendum, and to confuse (shewweshe) voters.) 
 
-- The Foreign Minister has promised to provide additional 
detail, if and when he got it. (We doubt we'll get much more 
from him.) 
 
-- But the Foreign Minister did make one telling point, about 
the limited, but active opposition to the referendum that 
existed.  Several political parties will boycott the 
referendum, the media had carried their views, and no action 
had been taken by the Mauritanian authorities to squelch 
dissent.  He's right. They haven't. 
 
End Key Points and Comments. 
 
¶1. (C) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Ahmed Ould 
Sid'Ahmed briefed Ambassador June 21 on the government's 
recent arrests of high ranking military officers and 
civilians associated with former President Taya, going over 
much of the material already covered in reftels. 
 
-------------------- 
THE OFFICIAL ACCOUNT 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Sid'Ahmed said the arrests were carried out to stop 
what he described as the early stages of planning to disrupt 
the Referendum vote scheduled for June 25.  Sid'Ahmed did not 
divulge specifics of the case, which he said the government 
was still investigating, but said only five individuals had 
been arrested, not more as had been rumored. 
 
¶3. (C) Embassy's military and civilian sources have confirmed 
that five men were arrested, but only four of the five names 
have been confirmed, including Colonel Sid Mohamed Ould 
Vaida, Colonel Abderrahmane Ould Lekwar, Mini Ould Lekwar, 
and Mohamed Ould Mohamed Aly (see ref A for descriptions). 
Local newspapers have reported the fifth man as Ahmed Ould 
Saleck, head of the pro-Taya "Democrats without Borders." 
Embassy sources have also indicated that other men had been 
temporarily detained and questioned, then released, including 
General Boukhreiss and his son, and Colonel Chrouf. 
 
¶4. (C) Sid'Ahmed emphasized to the Ambassador that the 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000774  002 OF 002 
 
 
arrests were in no way an attempt to stifle dissent before 
the coming elections. 
 
¶5. (C) Military sources indicated that military officers will 
remain restricted to their bases through this Sunday's 
Referendum. 
 
------------------------ 
REFERENDUM MOVES FORWARD 
------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) There are no indications that the arrests will affect 
this Sunday's Referendum, and Mauritanians tell Embassy 
officials they are prepared to vote.  The Embassy plans to 
continue its observation mission, sending 22 officers and 
local staff to observe polling stations in the capital 
Nouakchott, the economic capital Nouadhibou, and the southern 
cities of Aleg, Bogue and Kaedi. 
 
----------------------------------- 
UN ELECTION ASSESSMENT TEAM ARRIVES 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) The UN Election Assessment Team met with Ambassador 
June 21 to discuss their 10 day assessment mission to 
Mauritania.  Chief of the delegation Valerie De Campos Vello 
said the team would assess five indicators during its 10 day 
mission, including competence of the electoral commission, 
quality of the voter lists, competence of electoral actors, 
mechanisms for funding electoral campaigns, and mechanisms 
for the settlement of electoral disputes. 
 
¶8. (C) De Campos said her team would submit its findings to 
the UN's Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, with 
recommendations for future UN engagement in the democratic 
transition process.  The UN team will provide a summary of 
its findings during an out-brief to us scheduled for June 29. 
LeBaron