VZCZCXRO5935
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHNM #1301/01 2951329
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221329Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3853
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 1400
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0606
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUFGCIN/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MCC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NIAMEY 001301 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
ACCRA FOR USAID/WA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MOPS EAID NG
SUBJECT: NIGERIEN PRIME MINISTER ADDRESSES DONOR CONCERNS 
ABOUT REBELLION IN THE NORTH AND PRESS FREEDOM 
 
REF: (A) NIAMEY 1298 (NOTAL) (B) NIAMEY 1220 (NOTAL) 
 
NIAMEY 00001301  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister addressed 
donor concerns about the situation in the north and press 
freedom in an October 19 meeting with diplomats and foreign 
aid officials.  The Prime Minister called the meeting to 
discuss these issue in Niamey, rather than in the upcoming 
donors meeting in Brussels on the GON's poverty reduction 
strategy.  Other issues raised included decentralization, aid 
for the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the 
possibility of a regional security conference and land 
expropriation.  End Summary. 
 
----------------- 
Setting the Stage 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The GON has been in close contact with donors for 
months on its poverty reduction strategy in preparation for 
the donors roundtable in Brussels beginning October 25.  Due 
to GON concerns that some donors may use the Brussels meeting 
to raise political issues unrelated to the poverty reduction 
strategy, Prime Minister Senyi Oumarou hosted an October 19 
meeting with resident diplomats and donors.  He invited them 
to bring up any subject they wanted, stressing that it was 
better to do so in Niamey than in Brussels.  He left 
three-quarters of the way through the two-hour meeting, 
turning it over to Foreign Minister Mindaoudou, who solicited 
additional questions and comments. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Charge led off the comment period by raising U.S. 
concerns about the situation in the north and recent GON 
actions against the press.  He specifically noted that the 
MCC is concerned about those developments in the context of 
its planned Threshold program.  The French and German 
ambassadors echoed concerns about the north and the press. 
The Swiss development representative asked about progress on 
decentralization, and expressed concern about GON plans to 
expropriate land for large farms, as well as the situation in 
the north and press freedom.  Probably reflecting their role 
as hosts of the upcoming donors meeting, the EU Charge and 
Belgian development representative reiterated the Prime 
Minister's call for the Brussels meeting to focus on the 
poverty reduction strategy, although the EU charge also 
expressed concern about the situation in the north and the 
need to develop a new relationship between the EU and the ACP 
countries by the end of the year. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Prime Minister Oumarou synthesized the comments by 
saying the focus of donor concerns was insecurity in the 
north and press freedom.  He said that Niamey-based officials 
should always feel free to raise such issues with him or the 
foreign minister.  He expressed his hope that donors would be 
represented in Brussels by people senior enough to make 
decisions.  He then addressed the issues raised. 
 
 
-------------------------- 
The situation in the north 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Oumarou traced the current insecurity in the north 
to the peace agreements that ended the conflict there in the 
mid 1990s.  He claimed that the GON has fulfilled 85 percent 
of its commitments under those agreements, and would complete 
the rest in the next two years.  The Nigerien people had made 
many sacrifices for peace, he said.  The GON created the High 
Commission for Peace Reconciliation.  Rebels were integrated 
into the Nigerien Armed Forces, often at ranks far above 
those for which their education and experience would normally 
qualify them.  The GON does not regret those actions, which 
he stressed were taken in the name of peace. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Oumarou recalled the attack on military facilities 
in Iferouane last February, and the demands that were made 
following that attack. Those grievance could have been made 
through the democratic process rather than through violence. 
 
NIAMEY 00001301  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Those involved in the rebellion of the 1990s did not abide by 
the peace agreements, and specifically they did not fully 
disarm.  The GON therefore needs to be firm.  Oumarou 
complained that unnamed "forQgn parties" support those 
responsible for the violence.  (Oumarou never mentioned the 
Mouvement des Nigerien pour la Justice (MNJ) by name.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) The current situation can be resolved in the same 
manner as the earlier rebellion, Oumarou said, adding that 
the GON is prepared to discuss grievances with "our brothers 
in the mountains," but only after they disarm and release 
their hostages.  He said there are indirect contacts between 
the GON and "the armed group" through deputies and 
traditional leaders.  He cited recent defections from the 
armed group (ref A).  He agreed with donors that insecurity 
in the north does not favor development. It does not favor 
development elsewhere in the country either, he added. 
Referring to the Swiss representative's remark that the 
insecurity in the north has led to high rates of malnutrition 
there, the Prime Minister said that malnutrition rates were 
even higher in some other parts of the country. 
 
------------- 
Press Freedom 
------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Oumarou denied that the GON had restricted press 
freedom.  He said that RFI reporter Moussa Kaka had not been 
arrested as a journalist, but as a Nigerien citizen (ref b). 
In any event, he claimed, the judiciary was independent in 
Niger.  Foreign Minister Mindaoudou later said that the two 
journalists were arrested for threatening national security, 
and not for being journalists.  She echoed the Prime 
Minister's earlier claim that the judiciary was independent. 
 
¶9. (U) (The second journalist Mindaoudou referred to is 
Ibrahim Manzo Diallo, editor of Air Info.  He was reportedly 
detained at the Niamey airport on October 9 as he was 
preparing to travel to Paris.  There are reports that the 
authorities think he is linked to RFI, and may have even 
confused him with someone else.  He has reportedly been 
transferred to Agadez.  As far as we know, he has not been 
charged.) 
 
------------ 
Other Issues 
------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) Decentralization. In response to the Swiss 
representative's question about decentralization, Oumarou 
said that some political parties have asked that local 
elections  scheduled for 2008 be postponed to 2009.  This 
request will be considered by all of the political parties in 
December.  He went on to complain that no government work 
gets done in the six months leading up to elections, and with 
local elections scheduled for 2008 and national elections 
scheduled for 2009, the country would be preoccupied with 
elections for two years.  Implicitly acknowledging that 
decentralization (a component of the 1995 peace accords) was 
not fully implemented, Oumarou said that a framework is in 
place, but further work is needed, specifically: the GON 
needs to create a means to transfer resources to local 
governments, the local governments need to develop their own 
revenue sources, and they need to develop their human 
resources. 
 
¶11. (SBU) OIC aid.  In response to a question from the IMF 
representative about follow up to the Doha meeting of 
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) donors, Mindaoudou 
said that the Prime Minister had recently signed a decree on 
the subject, and more information would be available soon. 
She said that she had recently met with the OIC Secretary 
General in New York, and that the OIC was preparing to send a 
delegation to Niamey soon to follow-up on the Doha conference. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Regional security conference.  In response to a 
question from the EU charge about addressing security issues 
on a regional basis, Mindaoudou said that President Tandja 
was the first to propose the idea, and that work was 
progressing on the idea.  The regional security meeting may 
or may not be conducted in the framework of an existing 
 
NIAMEY 00001301  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
institution. 
 
¶13. (SBU) GON presence in Brussels.  Mindaoudou said that the 
GON would be represented at the Brussels donors conference by 
the Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Agriculture, 
Community Development, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Tourism and 
Crafts, Commerce, and National Education. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Land expropriation.  Mindaoudou assured the Swiss 
representative that land expropriation was being done 
legally, and that compensation was being paid.  The land 
would be used for large scale farms that would be mechanized 
and irrigated. 
KORAN