VZCZCXRO4385
RR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNM #0864/01 2281732
ZNY SSSSS ZZH ZDK CCP
R 161732Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2794
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 NIAMEY 000864 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y -- ADDED ADDRESSEES 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY FRAZER FROM AMBASSADOR ALLEN 
EUCOM FOR AMBASSADOR YATES 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2016 
TAGS: MARR PREL NG
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF NIGER (GON) CANCELS MILITARY 
EXERCISES POTENTIALLY FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 
 
Classified By: 
CLASSIFIED BY BERNADETTE M. ALLEN, AMBASSADOR, REASONS: 1.4 (A) & (D) 
 
¶1. (S/NF).  Summary.  Without any prior warning or earlier 
indications of concern from GON military or civilian 
officials, GON President Mamadou Tandja cancelled a planned 
August 15-30, 2006, military exercise on the eve preceding 
the anticipated arrival of a JCET.  To obtain clarity on the 
reason for the last minute cancellation, Embassy DATT Lt Col 
Hughes and I met with GON Minister of Defense Hassane Souley 
on August 14.  I also reached by phone GON Minister of 
Foreign Affairs Aichatou Mindaoudou in Paris (on medical 
leave for an ulcer) on the night of August 14 to discuss the 
matter and, subsequently, met with her (unaccompanied) in 
Niamey on the morning of August 16.  FM Mindaoudou stressed 
that President Tandja is adamant about the GON not going 
forward with the previously planned exercise at this time, 
due to the "environmental context", specifically recent 
events in neighboring Mali.  In the separate meetings with 
the DefMin and FM, both expressed GON concern about the 
visual of 80  parachutists in a region so near the Mali 
border and the possible misinterpretationo of the exercise by 
agitators in the region (creating an unwanted magnet effect). 
 Moreover, Mindaoudou noted (stating that she was doing so in 
confidence) that Libya exerts pressure as it relates to 
Niger's military cooperation and that Tandja expressed 
concern about possible support coming from sources in Libya 
to agitators if the exercise were to occur at this time. 
(Note:  Libyan Ambassador to Niger Alboukhari Salem HODA is 
the dean of the diplomatic corps.  During my courtesy call on 
him, I learned that he is not a career diplomat, rather a 
personal friend of Libyan leader Khaddafi on a political 
appointment as Ambassador to Niger.  End note.)  Mindaoudou 
stated that the cancellation of this exercise is an anomaly, 
that there remains interest in conducting such an exercise in 
the long term, but the GON does not see a possibility of 
conducting such an exercise before the end of the fiscal 
year.  Further, she emphasized that the GON is still a 
partner in the global war on terrorism (GWOT), values its 
partnership with the USG and very much wants to continue the 
outstanding cooperation it has with the USG on military 
matters and in other domains.  (Comment: While no GON 
official has stated the recent crisis in the Middle East had 
an effect on the GON's actions, Embassy believes the crisis 
may have played a role in Tandja's thinking.  Local Lebanese 
restaurants around town have been posting graphic photographs 
of the situation in Lebanon and local Islamic leaders have 
held peaceful demonstrations/vigils of support for the 
Lebanese people, while condemning the actions of Israel. 
Moreover, GON Prime Minister Hama Amadou, in response to a 
Lebanon-related foreign policy question he received during a 
press conference on a range of issues (primarily with a 
domestic focus), made a point of stating that the GON has no 
diplomatic relations with Israel and that the GON wanted a 
cessation of the violence.  End comment.)  In sum, having 
U.S. boots on the ground clearly is too uncomfortable for the 
GON at this time, though Embassy notes that the GON was 
similarly uncomfortable with another exercise earlier this 
year, causing a change of venue.  Additionally, though 
neither the DefMin nor FM indicated a long term postponement 
of military exercises and suggested that activities could 
resume at a later date, discontented working level contacts 
in the Defense Ministry informed Embassy DATT that they do 
not expect to be able to conduct any "boots-related" 
exercises for the remainder of the calendar year.  Embassy 
will take advantage of Admiral McCraven's imminent visit to 
further discuss with senior GON officials the possible 
timeframe for resumption of military exercises in Niger.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Embassy DATT and I met with DefMin Souley (together 
with GON Col. Garba) concerning the scheduled August 15-30 
JCET exercise, as well as the overall mil-to-mil 
relationship.  I expressed USG disappointment that the 
exercise was cancelled at the last minute, noting the 
planning time and the tremendous amount of human and material 
resources that would be lost as a result.  I emphasized to 
Souley that we consider the GON a strong partner in the GWOT, 
that we believed that the planned exercise would have been 
extremely beneficial to both partners.  Further, I stated 
that we needed clarity (without the sugar coating) as to why 
the exercise had been cancelled, that we need to know whether 
we can count on partners to follow through with proposed 
activities.  I stressed that EUCOM cannot risk planning 
exercises under a cloud of uncertainty and that a lack of 
confidence in the partner could lead to resources and 
training activities being diverted to more certain partners. 
 
NIAMEY 00000864  002 OF 003 
 
 
I added that the USG hoped this was not an indication of the 
GON moving in a new direction. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) DefMin Souley assured me that the GON is not moving 
in another direction, that the GON remains a partner in the 
GWOT, as peace and stability is important for the region and 
the world.  He indicated that the &environmental context8 
caused the GON to cancel the exercise, as the GON is 
concerned that agitators in neighboring countries (most 
notably in Mali) might misread the exercise as a threatening 
operation and result in Niger receiving unwanted attention. 
He stated that I could get a more thorough explanation from 
the FonMin upon her return to the country, and reiterated the 
GON is not moving in a new direction.  Souley asked about the 
possibility of delaying the exercise a bit and my discussing 
possible alternative time frames with the FM.  He also asked 
whether the USG could propose annually a plan of activities 
for GON review.  He spoke of other GON military needs (such 
as repair of its C-130).  He also suggested that a signed 
annual agreement would be binding on the GON and would be 
consistent with what the GON does with other partners 
(notably France and Morocco), as opposed to dealing with 
military packages piece meal. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  DATT noted that the Embassy had proposed via 
diplomatic note that an annual plan be developed and that 
until today's meeting, the GON had not expressed any interest 
in such a course of action.  He pointed out that the Embassy 
does provide a list of proposed activities with as much lead 
time as possible and would prefer to work from an annual or 
longer duration plan of activities. 
 
¶5. (C)  In reply to the DefMin's question about the 
possibility of delaying the exercise to a later period, the 
DATT and I indicated that the window to conduct the exercise 
was extremely short, noting the end of fiscal year and 
contractual obligations.  We stated that we understood 
contractual obligations must be completed before COB 
Wednesday, August 16, but that DATT and I would check with 
the relevant parties whether a few days delay were possible. 
In response to the DefMin,s expressed interests in more 
bilateral mil-to-mil cooperation and other assistance (such 
as the repair of the C-130), I reminded him that Article 98 
remains an obstacle.  DATT added that we have managed the 
current level of cooperation under the OEF-TS 
counterterrorism umbrella, that with an Article 98 a wider 
range of cooperation would be possible.  I closed by noting 
that it would be useful for both governments to formally 
outline its respective interests, so that we could compare 
notes and see what interests we have in common and what is 
doable, given the constraints of Article 98 and the OEF-TS 
program parameters.  DefMin agreed and suggested that I raise 
that matter in my discussion with the FonMin. 
 
¶6. (S/NF)  I reached GON Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou 
(in Paris) by phone on the night of August 14, noting USG 
disappointment in the GON decision to cancel the exercise. 
Mindaoudou asked me when the exercise was to take place. 
(Note:  That information had been sent by diplomatic note to 
the Min. of Defense (MOD) through the Min. of Foreign Affairs 
(MFA) months ago.  End note.)  I informed the FonMin that the 
team was to arrive this week and that I understood that we 
had a short window to proceed with the exercise due to end of 
fiscal year obligations, that Wednesday, Aug 16 is the 
critical date.  She asked whether I could look into the 
possibility of delaying the exercise a few days, that she 
would have a better sense of things upon return to Niamey.  I 
agreed to her request and we agreed to meet Wednesday, Aug 16 
at 9:00am at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  At that point, 
Embassy remained optimistic that the exercise could possibly 
move forward, only slightly delayed. 
 
¶7.  (S/NF) In my meeting with FM Mindaoudou this morning 
(August 16), she informed me that it was President Tandja who 
called off the exercise due his concerns about the recent 
events in Mali and concerns that the exercise might attract 
the wrong kind of attention from agitators in the area.  She 
said the President was particularly nervous about the timing 
of the exercise so close to the recent attacks on the 
military base in Kidal and that he was feeling some pressure 
from Libya.  (Comment: Although President Tandja is the 
President of ECOWAS, Embassy has not seen him use the power 
of that position to influence matters in the region. End 
comment.)  Mindaoudou indicated that the GON remains 
interested in this type of exercise, but at a later period 
down the road.  I reminded the FM that this exercise had been 
programmed some time ago, reiterated the points I made with 
 
NIAMEY 00000864  003 OF 003 
 
 
the DefMin on August 14 about the extensive preparation time 
and tremendous amount of human and material resources that 
has been expended to date for the exercise.  I stressed that 
if there were no possibility to conduct the exercise this 
fiscal year, it would weigh heavily on USG decision making 
for future GON training requests.  I added that I hoped this 
was not an indication that the GON was going in another 
direction in the GWOT.  I also raised the possibility of 
including the MFA in informational meetings on the various 
military activities/programs that might be feasible for the 
GON, and Mindaoudou responded that her military liaison 
officer would be available for such meetings. 
 
¶8.  (S) The FM (as was the case with the DefMin) also 
emphasized that President Tandja wanted it made clear that 
the GON is still a partner in the GWOT and very much wants to 
continue the outstanding relationship and cooperation it has 
with the USG.  She also noted that President Tandja is aware 
the Nigerien military is extremely unhappy about the 
President,s decision to call off the exercise, but that 
Tandja is adamant that the current timing is not good.  She 
reiterated a hope that the exercise could be revived at some 
point at a later date, possibly next fiscal year. 
 
¶9.  (S/NF)  At both the DefMin and FM meetings, we discussed 
Admiral McCraven,s imminent visit next week, as well as the 
opportunity the Admiral's visit presents to discuss the 
US-Nigerien mil-to-mil relationship.  I reiterated that it 
would be useful for the MFA to be represented in some of the 
military meetings, to ensure there is no breakdown in 
communication.  The FM indicated that her military liaison 
officer will prepared to attend meetings to which he is 
invited.  She also informed me that she will be in town for 
the next ten days and available as needed. 
 
¶10. (U) In sum, there appears to be no possibility for the 
proposed exercise to go forward this fiscal year, and 
potentially for the remainder of the calendar year.  Admiral 
McCraven,s imminent visit next week is indeed timely and 
will be useful in our dialogue with the Nigeriens on military 
matters. 
ALLEN