VZCZCXRO7830
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHRN
DE RUEHMR #0626/01 3521502
ZNR UUUUU
R 181502Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY MASERU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000626 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT ALSO FOR AF/S 
 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR PINS OFDP LY LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO: DIPLOMATIC PUNCHES, HUGS, AND QUESTIONS FOLLOW 
LIBYAN ENVOY'S EXPULSION 
 
REF: MASERU 621 
 
MASERU 00000626  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Following revocation of the Libyan Ambassador 
to Lesotho's credentials (REFTEL) on December 13, both Lesotho's 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Libya's Embassy in Maseru 
issued statements regarding the unusual expulsion.  While the 
GOL issued a strongly worded press release, it also included 
language hinting that the move had been coordinated with the 
Libyan government and may cause only limited damage to the 
bilateral Lesotho-Libyan relationship.  The polite Libyan 
statement reinforced this impression.  In the background, rumors 
swirl that the whole affair was caused by ties between the 
Libyan Ambassador and former Cabinet Member Thomas Thabane, who 
poses a strong challenge to Lesotho's governing party in the 
February 2007 national elections.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Are All Politics (and Expulsions) Local? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) As detailed in reftel, the credentials of Libya's 
Ambassador to Lesotho, Mohamed Algamudi, were revoked on 
December 13 (and the Libyan envoy departed Lesotho on December 
17).  While Maseru's pundits and local journalists have advanced 
various theories on this unusual expulsion, drawing on a laundry 
list of alleged negative personal and professional behavior 
attributed to Algamudi, the strongest thread remains with those 
now public rumors linking the affair to the Libyan Ambassador's 
connections with former Cabinet Member Thomas Thabane.  Thabane, 
now leader of a fledgling opposition party, is predicted to pose 
a strong challenge to Lesotho's governing party in the February 
2007 national elections.  Such rumors led Thabane to publicly 
state this weekend at a political rally in Mafeteng that, while 
he had long been friends with Algamudi, the Libyan Ambassador 
had disagreed with Thabane in October over his prospective split 
from the governing LCD party.  Thabane maintained that the 
Ambassador has not spoken to him thereafter. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Lesotho MFA's Muscular Statement 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) On December 15, Lesotho's MFA issued the following press 
release: 
 
(BEGIN TEXT) 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to make the following 
announcement: 
 
Due to persistent abuse of diplomatic privileges and flagrant 
violation of municipal and international law, the Government of 
Lesotho no longer find Libya's Ambassador to the Kingdom of 
Lesotho, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Algamudi, acceptable as a 
person holding a diplomatic immunity appointment in this country. 
 
Consequently, arrangements are being made by both the 
Governments of Lesotho and Libya to assist the Ambassador to 
wind up and take leave of Lesotho on Sunday 17th December, 2006. 
 
Both Governments remain committed to strengthening further the 
already cordial relations existing between them. 
 
(END TEXT) 
 
------------------------ 
Libya's Demure Statement 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) Also on December 15, the Libyan Embassy in Maseru 
released a statement to Maseru's diplomatic community, which 
included the following language on the departure of Ambassador 
Algamudi: 
 
(BEGIN TEXT) 
 
The Libyan People's Bureau of the Great Socialist Libyan Arab 
Jamahiriya~.. has the honor to inform them that Mr. Mohamed F. 
Algamudi, the Ambassador of the Libyan People's Bureau, will be 
going home. 
 
Mr. Abdulali H. I. Fadlallah, the Assistant Secretary for 
Cooperation, will be the acting Charge d' Affairies [sic] ad 
interim. 
 
(END TEXT) 
 
----------------------------------- 
Relations Intact... Thabane Backed? 
----------------------------------- 
 
MASERU 00000626  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT:  While the MFA statement regarding Ambassador 
Algamudi was strong, the positive language about Lesotho-Libyan 
relations and Libya's placid response seem to indicate minimal 
collateral damage inflicted to the bilateral relationship. 
However, the real emerging story may prove to lie in how far the 
Government of Lesotho will go to demonstrate ties between the 
Libyans and Thomas Thabane, who it perceives as perhaps the most 
capable and threatening political adversary in the upcoming 
national elections.  In one of several recent examples of the 
latter, on December 17, authorities detained a bodyguard of 
Thabane on suspicion of illegal firearm possession.  Although 
the individual was released after producing a valid permit, 
Thabane's ABC party perceived the move as political harassment. 
END COMMENT. 
 
 
PERRY 
MURPHY