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DE RUEHAB #1334/01 3381710
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P 041710Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2227
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABIDJAN 001334 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON CONS IV
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR VISITS FN-HELD NORTHEAST; QUIET, BUT 
TENSIONS IN FN AREAS AMONG PARTIES EVIDENT 
 
Classified By: EconChief EMassinga, Reasons 1.4 (b, d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  Ambassador Hooks led a small delegation of 
Emboffs and the DATT on a tour of northeastern towns 
Bondoukou and Bouna.  While government-held Bondoukou and 
FN-held Bouna are peaceful compared to other areas of the 
country, Bondoukou is notably more prosperous and Bouna's 
administration by the FN appears to chafe some local groups 
and other political parties.  The FN was careful to try to 
control the Ambassador's itinerary, but other groups managed 
to express their displeasure with the way things are going in 
the region and with the FN in particular.  Emboffs were able 
to make some inquires related to reports of conflict diamond 
production in FN-held territories as well as of missing or 
destroyed civil records in FN-held areas.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Ambassador Hooks took a three-day tour November 
20-22 of the eastern and then far northeastern sections of 
the country, leading a delegation consisting of the DATT and 
OPSCO and two members from Pol/Econ.  The Ambassador's 
delegation traveled overland to Bondoukou, met with local 
leaders and then the following day went through the Zone of 
Confidence separating the FANCI from the Force Nouvelles (FN) 
and toured Bouna.  In both locations, the delegation was 
warmly received.  The delegation was escorted by ONUCI forces 
(GHANBATT) during all movements in the area, and received 
excellent briefings from force commanders and civilian staff 
in both towns. 
 
Boundoukou Calm, Peaceful 
========================= 
¶3.  (SBU)  Arriving in the early afternoon of November 20, 
Ambassador Hooks was cordially greeted in Bondoukou, a 
relatively prosperous town in the north of Cote d'Ivoire's 
forest products belt (a near constant caravan of heavy trucks 
ply the road carrying raw logs south for processing and 
export) by the Prefet, Mathieu Gohi, along with Mayor (PDCI) 
Kouakou Dapa and regional Conseil General (the elected body 
representing regions outside of town large enough for their 
own Mayoralties) President Richard Secre (FPI).  Lunch was 
served at the Mayor's house, and was attended by the Prefet, 
the Conseil General President and senior officers of the 
GHANBATT stationed in town.  Clearly, all of the politicians 
as well as the FANCI and ONUCI officers made an effort to 
show how well they get along  in this government-controlled 
town just south of the Zone of Confidence.  Local groups 
representing different ethnicities entertained the Ambassador 
in a very large, televised gathering in the vicinity.  Local 
leaders described the economic and social situation, 
highlighting the need for more development and greater 
investment in infrastructure, particularly water-related. 
Mayor Dapa expressed strong support for UNSCR 1721. 
 
¶4.  (C)  ONUCI's GHANBATT in its Bondoukou HQ briefed the 
group on the political/military situation in its region, 
which encompasses roughly the area from Bondoukou to Bouna 
and west through Comoe National Park, including the Zone of 
Confidence located between the two major towns and the 
high-quality national road linking them.  The commander's 
brief noted that his sector is one of the quietest and most 
peaceful in the country. 
 
FN-Held Bouna: Political Parties Squabble Amongst Themselves, 
Distrust the FN; Area Languishes Economically 
=========================== 
¶5.  (C)  The Ambassador arrived at the sub-Prefecture in 
Bouna and was met by a 50-odd strong review of FN troops and 
the Zone Commander, Morou Ouattara.  ComZone Morou, as he is 
commonly known, was a surprise host, as we had been led to 
believe he was in Ouagadougou awaiting travel overseas for 
follow-up medical treatment related to serious head injuries 
sustained in an automobile accident approximately one year 
ago (Morou had a prominent scar on his skull suggesting at 
the very least a serious skull fracture).  The FN troops who 
met the Ambassador at the Prefecture were well dressed in 
new, mostly matching uniforms and were armed with reasonably 
new (or at least not decrepit) AK-47s.  In his brief of the 
Ambassador attended only by his senior officers and personal 
detail, Morou lamented the lack of water, electricity, school 
teachers, doctors (there is one unpaid doctor for 30,000 in 
the town and perhaps 50,000 in the region) and overall 
development. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Later in Bouna, the Ambassador was feted with dance 
and formal greeting by a large gathering of various ethnic 
groups from the area.  The Mayor, Sanka Ouattara (RDR) and 
President of the Conseil General Pale Dimate (PDCI, also an 
MP representing the Bondoukou region) and their retinues 
attended.  At the well-publicized event, FN troops were 
deployed in force, but seemed to mix easily with GHANBATT 
troops.  The areas' political groups began what became a 
day-long series of minor squabbles there; ComZone Morou 
 
ABIDJAN 00001334  002 OF 003 
 
 
reportedly prevented Dimate from speaking, reportedly 
upsetting the latter's Lobi kinsmen (see para 10). 
 
¶7.  (C)  Frustration spilled over into both the management of 
the rest of the day's itinerary as well as the meeting of 
political leaders to discuss the political and economic 
situation in the region.  The ComZone effectively took over 
the Ambassador's itinerary, carefully steering the delegation 
(and the UNOCI escorts) away from sites they did not want the 
delegation to see, such as the state-owned television station 
the FNs are widely understood to have looted since 2002, and 
towards things they wanted the Ambassador to witness, such as 
its youth training project in its motorpool (which appeared 
uncomfortably like the recruitment of child soldiers).  At 
all times, the ComZone stayed at the Ambassador's side, much 
to the frustration of the other political leaders. 
 
¶8.  (C)  At the political meeting in Bouna, held at UNOCI HQ, 
the ComZone again sat to the right of the Ambassador, but did 
allow other parties to express themselves.  Both Conseil 
General Dimate and Mayor Ouattara echoed complaints that the 
region lacks water, reliable electricity, roads and schools 
(gov't teachers "come and go when they like"), and noted that 
the gov't's failure to yet deliver the 2006 budget has left 
them without the means to do much of anything.  The local FPI 
leader (who heretofore had never met the ComZone) expressed 
outrage at the longtime lack of 'anything' going on in the 
region, and other representatives of minor parties echoed his 
complaint.  The Ambassador, building on themes he expressed 
in Bondoukou, said that Cote d'Ivoire will get out of its 
crisis when political actors act more responsibly, and that 
the U.S. would help in the effort to employ both the 
Constitution and UNSCR 1721. 
 
¶9.  (C) Later, the GHANBATT commander in Bouna provided the 
DATT and Econ Chief a briefing on his area of responsibility. 
 While he termed the FN's morale as "high," he did point to 
cleavages among senior leaders in the region over resources, 
and offered that at some point, average FN soldiers would 
"wise up." 
 
¶10.  (C)  In separate conversations with the Econ Chief, 
Diamate expressed anger over the FN's high-handed 
administration of the region.  Accusing them of pocketing 
money levied on merchants and real estate, as well as 
funneling the cashew crop through their hands, without 
spending anything on civil works or administration, Diamate 
said that the ComZone and his immediate entourage gets 
wealthy while average FN soldiers are exploited for their 
loyalty to the northern cause.  Dimate said the FN have been 
a bane in the areas they control, that everyone feels that 
way, but were intimidated to say so in the public meeting. 
Dimate also said the FN has become hostile to the Lobi (some 
45% of the region's population) who are more heavily taxed as 
a result.  Going even further, Dimate said the FN was 
nurtured and aided by President Campaore and Burkina Faso's 
military, and that in times of possible clashes with the 
FANCI, Burkina officers come to take personal command of FN 
units.  In a separate meeting with the Econ Chief, Mayor 
Ouattara agreed with much of what Diamate had to say 
concerning the FN's management of the region, while also 
castigating Dimate himself for failing to aid the region in 
his 16 years as the region's representative in Parliament and 
obliquely accusing him of corruption.  The ComZone repeatedly 
made the same accusations about Diamate to the Ambassador 
during the course of the visit. 
 
Conflict Diamonds 
================= 
¶11.  (C)  Econ Chief asked several sources about reports 
related to conflict diamonds being produced in FN-held 
regions in the Central and West/Central zones under FN 
control (see recent SBU reports from the Kimberly Process 
emailed by Desk).  Mayor Ouattara of Bouna acknowledged that 
such activities are taking place and benefiting the FN, but 
said "you didn't hear about that from me."  Diamante said 
much the same.  GHANBATT's force commander in Bouna said such 
production isn't taking place in his sector, but alluded to 
such activity farther west, although his counterpart in the 
Bondoukou HQ said he knew nothing of such activities.  Post 
will continue to look into this issue. 
 
State of the Civil Registry in the North 
================== 
¶12.  (C)  Recently Post's Consular Section has noted (septel) 
in the course of verifying the legitimacy of civil documents 
originating in Northern prefectures and municipalities that 
Ministry of Territorial Affairs officials are unable to 
locate relevant documents, saying they have been "moved" to 
Abidjan in the wake of the 2002 rebel offensive (Note: CONS 
investigators have been unable to verify that the civil 
records ostensibly moved from the north are actually in 
 
ABIDJAN 00001334  003 OF 003 
 
 
Abidjan.  End note).  Econ Chief asked UNOCI officials as 
well as the Bouna Mayor and President of the Conseil General 
about this question.  The Mayor indicated that the Mayoralty 
was able to save civil records from destruction when the 
rebels swept the region, and that the registry remains intact 
and in the town.  However, the civil registry housed in the 
sub-Prefecture for the areas surrounding Bouna were badly 
ravaged by the rebels; the Mayor of Bouna estimates that up 
to half of those records were destroyed, and that the rest 
remain in the sub-Prefecture's facilities.  UNOCI elections 
officials in the field and in Abidjan corroborate this, 
saying that prefects often took records to Abidjan when 
fleeing the '02 offensive, and that rebels destroyed a number 
(the extent to which is unknown) of records in areas where 
prefects were unable to take them.  A PAS officer in Bouake 
recently confirmed that the civil registry there has been 
moved. UNOCI elections officials in Abidjan note that 
reconstituting these records to validate the eligibility of 
already registered citizens in the context of preparing for 
elections will be one of many daunting tasks to be 
accomplished.  Post will continue to examine this question in 
the context of elections preparations. 
 
 
13)  Comment  (C)  The Northeast, particularly the far 
northeastern towns of Bouna and its surroundings, have been 
ignored for many years, but the current division of the 
country has seemingly put its people in a worse predicament 
than before.  Tensions between the unarmed opposition parties 
and the FN in the northern part of the country as well as FN 
mismanagement of the region are issues that could become 
increasingly important should the overall national peace 
process continue to languish and the effective division of 
the county persist.  End Comment. 
Hooks