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O 211341Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4796
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000477 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ADDIS FOR AMBASSADOR COURVILLE 
DEPT FOR AF/E AND AF/FO 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF/E RMEDRANO 
PARIS FOR D'ELIA 
PRETORIA FOR POL COUNSELOR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM XA CN
SUBJECT: COMORAN PRESIDENT SEEKS HELP TO DISARM MILITIA 
 
REF: ANTANANARIVO 454 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JAMES D. MCGEE FOR REASONS 1.4B AND D. 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Ambassador McGee met May 19 with Union of 
the Comoros President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, high-level Union 
officials, and island presidential candidates on both Grand 
Comores 
and Anjouan to urge all parties to work towards free, fair, 
transparent, and peaceful elections in the upcoming island 
presidential polls.  Union officials and candidates agreed 
that disarming the forces on Anjouan would be the key to 
maintaining peace and stability on the islands.  Sambi 
expressed concern the African Union (AU) is moving slowly 
in implementing the terms of the May 13 agreement brokered 
by the AU in Durban (reftel) and sought U.S. assistance in 
breaking the logjam.  Former Island "President" 
Mohamed Bacar still seems to be calling the shots in 
Anjouan, hiding behind a weak interim president.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
UNION OFFICIALS BELIEVE DISARMING ANJOUAN IS THE KEY 
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¶2. (C) President Sambi, Vice President Idi Nadhoim, and 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ben Said Jaffar insisted to the 
Ambassador the key to maintaining peace on Anjouan lies in 
disarming the militia.  They said all of the other 
inter-island jurisdictional concerns are manageable.  AU 
forces are currently planning to stay in Anjouan through 
July 31, but Union officials are concerned Bacar and his 
followers, if still armed, will just lay low until after 
their departure; disarming Bacar's militia is the only 
permanent solution to stop the cycle of instability.  With 
the exception of Bacar, all of the candidates with whom the 
Ambassador met subsequently on Anjouan agreed the militia 
must be disarmed and pledged to do so immediately if 
elected. 
 
¶3. (C) Sambi expressed concern the AU is moving slowly in 
implementing the terms of the May 13 agreement brokered by 
the AU.  Although a team of 14 South African police 
recently conducted an assessment mission on Anjouan, there 
is still no AU military presence on the island to dissuade 
troublemakers.  Union officials hope the AU will provide as 
many as 250 soldiers to cover the 400 polling stations on 
Anjouan, but noted the financial constraints of the 
organization 
may preclude this.  Jaffar requested USG assistance in 
lobbying 
partners, including the United Arab Emirates and South 
Africa, 
who could provide financial or material support. 
 
¶4. (U) Sambi welcomed the news the USG is considering 
providing military training for Union soldiers, 
establishing a civic education program after the elections, 
and expanding its education program.  Welcoming the warming 
of relations and increased frequency of high-level USG 
visitors, Sambi hopes the two countries can make progress 
on the topics raised at the May 19 bilateral talks, saying, 
"We need everyone's help in order for development in the 
Comoros to take off." 
 
¶5. (C)  When asked about France's role in recent problems 
on Anjouan, Sambi said official French actors have worked 
closely and sincerely with the international community to 
resolve the problem -- "We do not suspect them."  However, 
he said, "we know 100 percent" there are Comorans on 
Mayotte with unofficial French connections who are working 
to destabilize the islands. 
 
¶6. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's question about the 
problem 
of illegal shell banks on Anjouan, Sambi requested USG 
assistance in 
identifying the names of Comorans hiding laundered money in 
foreign banks.  The Union Government recently requested 
international arrest warrants from the Court of Justice for 
 
ANTANANARI 00000477  002 OF 002 
 
 
individuals, at least one of whom is a French citizen 
living in Reunion, for offshore bank activity. 
 
BACAR STILL CALLS THE SHOTS IN ANJOUAN 
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¶7. (C) In Anjouan, Ambassador McGee met with Interim Island 
President Dhoihiri Halidi and his staff for a discussion 
indicative of where power lies in Anjouan.  Halidi stayed 
largely silent, while Bacar's former staffers - all of whom 
are still working at the presidency - did most of the 
talking.  They complained Union officials are publicly 
against Bacar, citing a recent speech by Vice President Idi 
encouraging Anjouan residents to vote Bacar out of power. 
Insisting free, fair and peaceful elections are the only 
way to resolve problems in Anjouan, they requested election 
observers arrive on the ground as soon as possible to 
guarantee the transparency of the elections. 
 
¶8. (U) In a brief private meeting with Ambassador McGee, 
former Island President and current presidential candidate 
Bacar said all of the right things, agreeing Anjouan needs 
free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections.  Claiming 
the recent violence on Anjouan during the first week of May 
was instigated by Union officials at odds with the 
constitution, he explained quite unbelievably how the death 
of the Union soldier was due to "accidental drowning" 
rather than a shooting.  Bacar is the only candidate who is 
already campaigning and he appears to believe he can win -- 
by hook or by crook. 
 
COMMENT: DEMOCRACY'S BIRTH PANGS; MIDWIFE NEEDED 
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¶9. (C) The May 13 agreement arranged by AU Envoy Madeira 
has brought a tense peace to the islands, but seems to have 
done little to assuage the concerns of Union officials or 
Anjouan presidential candidates about Bacar's power-hungry 
tendencies.  Bacar cleverly pays lip service to the 
international community's demands but is still calling the 
shots on Anjouan.  Both the Union Government and the 
candidates on Anjouan urged rapid deployment of a robust AU 
presence to ensure a fair electoral process as well as peace 
before, during, and after the upcoming election.  They also 
expressed concern that without support -- and specifically 
U.S. 
support -- the AU might have difficulty meeting its 
obligations. 
The AU has a substantial investment in Comoros' nascent 
democracy -- 
an investment that paid off spectacularly in last year's 
free and fair Union presidential election.  The process, 
however, is not complete.  As long as Bacar can use the 
island police force as his own private militia, democracy 
in the Comoros will run the risk of being stillborn.  Given 
that every one of the candidates on Anjouan, except Bacar, 
expressed a readiness to give up the weapons, the problem 
is not a desire for secession on the part of the people of 
Anjouan; rather, it is a power grab on the part of the 
island warlord.  With less than three weeks to go before 
island presidential elections, any possible support the 
Department can offer to expedite deployment of AU military 
personnel and observers will be deeply appreciated by the 
people and the government of the Comoros.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
McGEE 
McGEE