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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DAR ES SALAAM 001533 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF FRAZER AND YAMAMOTO 
DEPT AF/E FOR B YODER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2011 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PARM PINR PTER ENRG ETZ
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KIKWETE WARMLY WELCOMES BILATERAL 
MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BUSH 
 
REF: A. A. DAR ES SALAAM 1286 
     ¶B. B. DAR ES SALAAM 1508 
 
Classified By: Michael L. Retzer, Chief of Mission, for reason 1.4(d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY.  Ambassador Retzer met with President Kikwete 
September 11 to personally convey President Bush's invitation 
for a bilateral meeting in New York during the UN General 
Assembly.  President Kikwete warmly welcomed the meeting, and 
proceeded to engage Ambassador Retzer on several issues of 
importance to the U.S., including a UN force for Darfur, 
ACOTA peacekeeping training, and Tanzania's position on 
several UNSC-related items including Iran, Burma, and the 
contest between Guatemala and Venezuela.  To our surprise, 
Kikwete said Tanzania would "volunteer" to participate in a 
UN peacekeeping Mission in Darfur.  He said he understood the 
U.S. interest in bringing the case of Burma's repressive 
military regime before the Security Council, and he hoped 
that the Latin Americans would reach agreement on a single 
candidate.  He intimated, however, that if the group's choice 
was Guatemala and Venezuela refused to withdraw its 
candidacy, Tanzania would vote for Guatemala.  He expressed 
visible concern over the political impasse with Zanzibar, 
adding he would take concrete steps to address the impasse 
before the end of the year.  When the Ambassador probed 
Kikwete on the possibility of an Article 98 (as we have done 
in the past), Kikwete did not rule out movement on an 
agreement and said he had asked his "legal department to see 
if there is something we can do." END SUMMARY. 
 
President Kikwete Enthusiastic About Meeting President Bush 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
¶2.  (C) Ambassador Retzer informed President Kikwete that he 
had been selected as the single representative from 
Sub-Saharan Africa to meet bilaterally with President Bush 
during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings in 
New York.  The Ambassador added that the selection of 
President Kikwete for Africa reflected the high esteem in 
which Washington held him.  Kikwete emphasized how much he 
valued Tanzania's relationship with the U.S. and said that he 
was excited about his meeting with President Bush.  The 
Ambassador also told President Kikwete that he had been 
invited to participate in a Roundtable discussion on 
democracy with 25 other heads of state, hosted by President 
Bush on September 19.  "If your schedule permits, we hope you 
will be able to participate in this important discussion," 
Ambassador Retzer said.  President Kikwete responded 
affirmatively, saying, "I will definitely be there." 
 
Kikwete Encourages Sudan: Turn in Green Helmets for Blue Ones 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
¶3.  (C) Ambassador Retzer thanked President Kikwete for 
Tanzania's co-sponsorship of the UN resolution, which 
authorized transition from an African Union (AU) to a United 
Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur.  Laughing, President 
Kikwete responded that he had made the Sudanese Government 
"very angry" by supporting a UN mission.  He said that the 
Sudanese needed to realize that peace was in their hands and 
that they "should not sub-contract out responsibility to the 
AU, UN or anybody else."  Kikwete then outlined the basis for 
Tanzania's position on the issue: (i) the UN has the primary 
responsibility for peacekeeping and countries should not 
prevent it from its rightful role; (ii) African countries 
could still volunteer to participate in the UN mission; and 
(iii) with the AU mission almost entirely dependent on the 
European Union's support, a "big crisis" could ensue if 
funding were to become unavailable.  He added (to our 
surprise) that Tanzania would also "volunteer" for a UN force 
in Darfur. 
 
¶4.  (C) Kikwete elaborated on his efforts to encourage 
Sudan's Government of National Unity to allow a UN 
peacekeeping mission in Sudan.  "I have made my position 
clear to Sudanese leaders in person at recent AU Summits and 
with two letters that I sent to  President Omar el-Bashir," 
Kikwete said.  He also told the Ambassador that he had tried 
to persuade one of South Sudan's ministers, who was 
originally from the Darfur region, that African peacekeepers 
would merely be turning in their green helmets for blue ones. 
 
DAR ES SAL 00001533  002 OF 004 
 
 
 "I believe that I convinced the minister with this point but 
that he did not have enough sway over the higher leadership." 
 Kikwete assured the Ambassador that he would meet with 
Sudanese leaders during the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit 
in Havana and continue encouraging Sudan to accept a UN 
force. 
 
Sudan's Refusal of UN Mission: Fears of al-Qaeda? 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶5.  (C) On the topic of Sudan's reluctance to allow a UN 
Mission in Darfur, President Kikwete raised a concern that he 
recently learned about through South African President, Thabo 
Mbeki.  During Burundi's recent Peace Summit in Dar es Salaam 
on September 7 (Ref B), President Mbeki told Kikwete about 
the fear of South Sudan's President, Lt-Gen. Salva Kiir 
Mayardit, that al-Qaeda would use the UN Mission as an 
occasion to become active in Sudan.  Ambassador Retzer 
thanked Kikwete for raising the issue and acknowledged fears 
in some quarters about al-Qaeda potentially exploiting the 
issue. 
 
Guatemala or Venezuela for UNSC? 
-------------------------------- 
¶6.  (C) Noting that Guatemala had never served on the UNSC 
before, while Venezuela had held a seat four times, 
Ambassador Retzer asked for Tanzania's support in electing 
Guatemala to the Security Council.  President Kikwete said 
that Venezuela had sent an envoy to Tanzania, expressing 
Venezuela's desire to serve again on the UNSC and asking for 
Tanzania's support.  Kikwete explained what he told the envoy 
and what he planned to tell Venezuela's President, Hugo 
Chavez, during his meeting with him in Havana: "Countries in 
Latin America should work to develop consensus and then 
propose a candidate.  Otherwise, we will vote in a rational 
way based on the merit of each candidate."  President Kikwete 
noted that he did not think Latin America would reach 
consensus nor did he think anyone could convince President 
Chavez not to pursue a seat in the UNSC.  He likened the case 
of Venezuela to Sudan, highlighting the time when Sudan ran 
against Mauritius for a seat on the Security Council and 
lost.  "I think the same thing will happen with Venezuela," 
Kikwete said, noting pointedly that Sudan had failed to carry 
the day (Comment: and, we believe, intimating that Tanzania 
would vote for Guatemala in similar circumstances). 
 
Tanzania's Stance on Iran and Burma 
----------------------------------- 
¶7.  (C) The Ambassador also urged President Kikwete to 
support USG efforts urging Iran to stop enriching uranium and 
addressing Burma's persistent human rights violations in the 
UNSC.  President Kikwete said that he had met with Iran's 
President and that Ahmadinejad had assured him that the 
Government of Iran was pursuing nuclear technology for 
peaceful purposes of energy generation only.  Reiterating 
Tanzania's bottom-line position (Ref A), President Kikwete 
emphasized that Tanzania had no problem with the peaceful use 
of nuclear technology but adamantly opposed the spread of 
nuclear weapons and emergence of new nuclear states. 
Tanzania would not, therefore, support Iran's acquisition of 
nuclear technology to amass weapons.  Regarding Burma, 
President Kikwete said that what the Burmese military leaders 
were doing was terrible and that the house arrest of Aung San 
Suu Kyi for decades amounted to torture.  While clearly 
expressing his abhorrence of the Burmese regime, however, he 
did not address whether the Security Council rather than the 
Human Rights Commission was the proper forum. 
 
Article 98: Still on the Table 
------------------------------ 
¶8.  (C) Discussing the promising expansion of U.S-Tanzanian 
military-to-military relations, Ambassador Retzer informed 
President Kikwete about the upcoming strategy conference 
under the African Contingency Operations Training and 
Assistance (ACOTA) program, and the October visit to Tanzania 
of General Ward, Commander of European Command (EUCOM).  The 
Ambassador also directly raised the issue of Article 98, 
saying that the USG and GOT should come to a decision on 
whether there was a way to reach an agreement.  The 
Ambassador told Kikwete that the USG would need a signal from 
 
DAR ES SAL 00001533  003 OF 004 
 
 
GOT on its willingness to move forward.  Kikwete replied that 
he had asked his legal department to look at the Article 98 
and "see what they might do," but that he was still waiting 
for a report on its views.  President Kikwete noted that both 
General Ward's visit and the ACOTA Conference would be 
welcome and beneficial. 
 
Kikwete Now Ready to Begin Reconciliation on Zanzibar 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶9.  (C) After praising President Kikwete's role in the 
Burundi peace process, Ambassador Retzer inquired about 
progress on reconciliation efforts to help overcome 
Zanzibar's political stalemate.  Responding with greater 
clarity and confidence than in past meetings (Ref A), Kikwete 
told the Ambassador that movement on reconciliation would 
become a top priority when he returned from the UNGA. 
Kikwete explained that he had only been in office nine months 
and had been busy getting his feet on the ground.  "Now, I 
feel satisfied and ready to take up the matter."  He 
emphasized that the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Central 
Committee had recently come to an understanding that 
something needed to happen on Zanzibar reconciliation and 
that he had made "a firm decision to move ahead with the 
process."  President Kikwete assured the Ambassador that 
"Before 2007, reconciliation efforts will be active on 
Zanzibar." 
 
¶10.  (C) President Kikwete offered his own insight on the 
root cause of Zanzibar's political distress: over-reliance on 
the State.  He explained that the political leadership on 
Zanzibar put too much focus on the State instead of using 
democratic means and good leadership.  "In elective politics, 
you may not be able to prevent change.  There are limits to 
what the State can and cannot do."  Kikwete emphasized that 
at the end of the day, in a democratic system, people want to 
elect a good leader who they feel can help them sort out 
their problems.  The leader, however, must go out and 
convince the people because it is the people who vote, not 
the State." 
 
Ambassador Congratulates GOT on MCA Compact Proposal 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
¶11. (SBU) The Ambassador also congratulated President Kikwete 
on the GOT's recent submission of its Millennium Challenge 
Account (MCA) Compact proposal.  With a sigh of relief, 
President Kikwete said that he was happy the GOT had 
completed its component and exclaimed that "this type of 
development was needed yesterday!"  Ambassador Retzer noted 
that if all goes well MCC Compact signing could take place 
toward mid-to-late 2007.  From his side, President Kikwete 
said that he was looking for ways to expedite the process and 
that if the topic were raised with President Bush, he would 
like to extend an invitation to President Bush to visit 
Tanzania for signing of the Compact. 
 
Coming Soon: Four Proposals to Assist Presidential Office 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
¶12. (C) Finally, Ambassador Retzer updated President Kikwete 
on his recent request for technical assistance to reform the 
administration of Tanzania's Presidential Office (Ref A). 
Ambassador Retzer explained that he would soon send President 
Kikwete proposals from Harvard University, the National 
Democratic Institute (NDI), Carnegie Mellon, and the 
International Republican Institute (IRI) for his review. 
Kikwete thanked the Ambassador and said he was looking 
forward to seeing the proposals.  "We want to build the 
Presidency not the President," Kikwete stressed. "If you only 
have the President, then you have to always be directing 
people what to do; people don't take action in your absence," 
 Kikwete added. 
 
Comment: Bilateral Relations Continue to Blossom 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶13. (C) With the news of President Kikwete's bilateral 
meeting with President Bush, and open discussion on topics 
ranging from Sudan, to expanded military-to-military 
relations, to U.S. technical assistance for Tanzania's 
President's Office, Ambassador Retzer's meeting with 
President Kikwete reflected the warm and rapidly expanding 
 
DAR ES SAL 00001533  004 OF 004 
 
 
relationship between the U.S. and Tanzania.  President 
Kikwete expressed his excitement about meeting with President 
Bush as well as the opportunity to participate in the 
Democracy Roundtable, which he promised to attend.  Of 
particular note was Kikwete's offer to participate in a 
Darfur peacekeeping force and Kikwete's marked change in tone 
on Zanzibar.  For the first time since assuming Presidency, 
Kikwete set a timeframe for reconciliation activities to 
begin - before January 2007 - and portrayed open and very 
visible concern over the political impasse.  We will continue 
to keep an eye on developments there, and look for innovative 
ways to support reconciliation. END COMMENT. 
RETZER