VZCZCXRO3897
RR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNM #0531/01 0941555
ZNR UUUUU ZZH ZDK CCP
R 041555Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3372
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 000531 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y - TRIPOLI ADDED 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL LY NG
SUBJECT: AGADEZ: THE KHADAFI SHOW 
 
REF: A. NIAMEY 403 
     ¶B. NIAMEY 123 
     ¶C. NIAMEY 401 
 
NIAMEY 00000531  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) As reported reftel A, Libyan leader Mouammar El 
Khadafi celebrated Mouloud with regional heads of state in 
the northern Nigerien city of Agadez. While avoiding the sort 
of controversial pronouncements -- on, inter alia, an 
independent Tuareg state in the Sahel -- that characterized 
his 2006 Mouloud address in Timbuktu, Mali, Khadafi still 
managed to turn in a vintage performance. Promises of 
development assistance flowed freely, while Agadez was 
cleaned up by an estimated 1,500 Libyan workers in the week 
prior to the visit. Locals responses were ambivalent, as they 
ever are when Niger's eccentric and powerful neighbor is 
concerned. Nigeriens at all levels seemed content to get what 
they could from the Mouloud event while expressing skepticism 
about the nature and reliability of their VIP guest. END 
SUMMARY 
 
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RELIGION & POLITICS / BREAD & CIRCUSES 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Accompanied by Niger President Mamadou Tandja, Khadafi 
visited ongoing Libyan aid projects and unveiled more. While 
one project -- a $2 million effort to irrigate the Ighazer 
valley north of Agadez -- seems practical, other initiatives 
such as a 1,427km highway from the Libyan town of Toumour to 
Agadez via Bilma / Dirkou, Niger seem speculative at best. 
Many Nigeriens remember Khadafi's promise to build an even 
more impractical north - south axis along the eastern border 
of their country from Libya to Lake Chad. Nothing ever came 
of that plan. 
 
¶3. (U) Most Agadezians are traditional Sufi Muslims who 
follow the Sultan and his senior Imam, the Khadi, in a 
restrained form of worship (reftel B). Many considered the 
larger-than-life images of Khadafi and Tandja placed around 
town to be a politicization of religion. Khadafi also broke 
convention by preaching himself during the celebration. His 
hour-long address compared Islam and Christianity; the 
teachings of Mohammed and Jesus; and, concluded that 
Christianity was intended for the consumption of the Jews 
alone, while Islam was and is a religion for all persons. He 
punctuated his remarks by inviting a group of animists from 
Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo to come forward and publicly 
convert to Islam. Approximately 30,000 Agadezians were 
treated to this performance, as were Sudanese President Omar 
Al Bashir, Ahmed Tedjan Kaba of Sierra Leone, Idriss Deby Ito 
of Chad, Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali, and Mohammed Ould Val 
of Mauritania. Nigeria and Burkina Faso sent delegations led 
by presidential advisors. 
 
¶4. (U) Whatever the crowd thought of Khadafi's theology, they 
loved his furniture. In a scene captured on Nigerien 
television, a virtual riot broke out as Nigeriens grabbed up 
Libyan supplied prayer rugs, fans, and other furnishings as 
the proceedings adjourned. While some Nigeriens traveled 
across the country to see the Khadafi show, many Agadezians 
stayed at home to avoid the carnival atmosphere. Kiota, a 
small town in southern Niger, seat of the traditional 
Tidjaniya Sufi Sheikh, and usual focus of Nigerien Mouloud 
festivities was bypassed entirely as national media focused 
exclusively on Agadez. 
 
----------------------------- 
KHADAFI: KING OF THE TUAREGS? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The word on the street in the lead up to Khadafi's 
visit held that he had chosen Agadez because his mother 
hailed from there. Whether by virtue of family associations 
or the city's rich Islamic heritage (an old caravan town, 
Agadez was a center of Islamic scholarship in the 16th 
century and still boasts a 200 year-old mud mosque), Agadez 
succeeded Timbuktu, where Khadafi celebrated Mouloud in 
similar fashion in 2006. However, the city and region of 
Agadez have history with Libya that put some on edge. 
Nigeriens' ambivalence toward Khadafi derives partly from the 
perception that Libya laid the groundwork for the 1991--1995 
Tuareg rebellion, and that Khadafi continues to inspire 
secessionist aspirations among the Nigerien Tuareg, who 
comprise 11% of the country's population. During the 1980s, 
many unemployed Tuaregs received military training in Libya. 
Intended for inclusion in Khadafi's "Islamic Legion," they 
returned to Niger with guns, training, and ideas after he 
 
NIAMEY 00000531  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
abandoned the legion concept in the late 1980s. Many of these 
men were later involved in the rebellion. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Khadafi's 2006 Mouloud call for an independent 
Tuareg state in northern Niger and Mali brought this 
uncomfortable history up again. Mission contacts indicate 
that the GON sought to avoid the Government of Mali's 
embarrassment by keeping tighter reins on Khadafi and his 
program this year. They seem to have succeeded. Khadafi's 
public remarks, while theologically eccentric, didn't cross 
any political trip-wires. 
 
¶7. (U) As in 2006, this Mouloud event coincided with a 
"Meeting of Tribes of the Greater Sahara," which in theory 
included representatives of tribal communities from Syria to 
Senegal. Most participants seemed to be Sahelian Tuaregs. On 
behalf of the group, the Sultan of Agadez presented Khadafi 
with a royal drum and shield and three honorary titles: 
"Sarkin Abzinawa," (Chief of all Sahara Tuaregs); "Sarkin 
Yakin Musulumci," (Chief Defender of Islam; and, "Sarkin 
Makiyaya," (Chief of all Herders' Communities).  While some 
local media indicated that Tuaregs had thereby "pledged 
allegiance to Khadafi, submitted to his commandments, and put 
their future in his hands," this seems an exaggerated 
rendering of a symbolic gesture. The Sultan of Agadez was 
loyal to the Nigerien state even during the rebellion, and 
his court denied that the honorifics had any political 
implications. Such commentary does illuminate both Tuareg 
aspirations -- for an association with a rich patron in Libya 
-- and Nigerien concerns about their loyalty and Khadafi's 
meddling. 
 
-------------------------------- 
COMMENT: ONE MORE DELICATE DANCE 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Khadafi is a frequent visitor to Niger. Yet, his 
unpredictable behavior and history of foisting "big ideas" on 
his African neighbors must put his hosts on edge. Given 
recent security incidents in northern Niger (reftel C), the 
GON undoubtedly hoped for a drama-free visit, which they got. 
Nigeriens continue to balance conflicting images of their 
eccentric northern neighbor: a source of vital development 
assistance, Khadafi's Libya also has a track record of 
stirring up tensions between Tuaregs and Niger's black 
African majority; a source of employment and material gain to 
which impoverished Nigeriens aspire, the country also deals 
brutally with illegal African migrants and trafficking 
victims; a "defender of the Islamic faith," Khadafi also 
weaves that faith into a cult of personality in ways that 
Niger's traditional Sufi authorities find troubling. Rational 
self-interest and local traditions of hospitality ensured 
that Khadafi got a warm Agadez welcome, even as his departure 
inspired a collective roll of the eyes and sigh of relief 
from many quarters. END COMMENT 
 
¶9. (U) TRIPOLI: Minimize considered. 
KORAN