VZCZCXRO5485
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHRN
DE RUEHMR #0623/01 3401650
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061650Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MASERU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3467
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 3868

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000623 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT ALSO FOR AF/S, PM/PPA, AF/RSA; 
PASS TO AFRICOM AND ACSS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MARR MASS MOPS MCAP LT
SUBJECT: LESOTHO DEFENCE FORCE COMMANDER: "WE SUPPORT AFRICOM" 
 
MASERU 00000623  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  On December 5, Ambassador paid a courtesy 
call on Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) Commander Lt. General Thuso 
Motanyane, during which the Commander expressed strong support 
for the establishment of AFRICOM and lauded growing military 
relations between the U.S. and Lesotho.  The Ambassador also 
discussed with the Commander the LDF's contributions to 
Lesotho's national security, domestic humanitarian assistance, 
and regional peacekeeping operations.  Lesotho's helpful stance 
on AFRICOM can be cultivated and recognized, including through 
senior-level visits designed to continue the dialogue on the new 
U.S. military command.  In the interim, we will continue this 
AFRICOM dialogue with the civilian side of the GOL house.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------ 
Lesotho Supports AFRICOM 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) As part of his series of introductory courtesy calls, 
Ambassador met with Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) Commander Lt. 
General Thuso Motanyane on December 5, accompanied by DCM and 
Poloff.  The Ambassador noted the continuing improvement in 
U.S.-Lesotho military-to-military ties, including the recent 
renewal of IMET programs as a result of Lesotho's signing in 
2006 of an Article 98 Agreement.  Citing the USG's significant 
increases in aid to Africa through PEPFAR, the Millennium 
Challenge Corporation, the Global Fund, and other programs, the 
Ambassador also observed that the establishment of a U.S. 
Military Command for Africa could lead to an even closer 
relationship with African countries, including Lesotho, in areas 
of mutual interest such as security, humanitarian assistance, 
and development. 
 
¶3. (SBU) General Motanyane concurred with the Ambassador and 
emphasized that the establishment of AFRICOM was a positive 
development for fostering improved direct military cooperation 
with Africa.  "Lesotho supports the creation of AFRICOM," stated 
the general, adding that Lesotho is willing to assist in 
ensuring AFRICOM's success, as the LDF will benefit from 
additional cooperation.  Motanyane observed that in the Southern 
African region as a whole, the political issue of U.S. policy 
towards Zimbabwe was the root of lingering misgivings about the 
establishment of AFRICOM.  He said that "solidarity with 
(Mugabe)" remained an important factor, intimating that absent 
the Zimbabwe issue there would be broader SADC support for the 
new U.S. command. 
 
¶4. (SBU) General Motanyane, responding to DCM's inquiring 
whether Lesotho had benefited from a September AFRICOM briefing 
in Warrenton, VA, said that the information brought back by LDF 
Deputy Commander Brigadier General Mahao, Lesotho's 
representative, was "extremely useful and highly informative." 
He said additional information on AFRICOM offered previously 
during visits by the Pretoria-based DATT and the 
Washington-based Director of the African Center for Strategic 
Studies (ACSS) had also been helpful.  The Ambassador described 
in general terms visits to various African countries by General 
Ward and other AFRICOM and senior USG leaders to dialogue on the 
new command, to which Montanyane replied that he would be 
supportive of a similar visit to Lesotho. 
 
--------------------- 
The General LDF Brief 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) General Motanyane briefed the Ambassador about the role 
of the LDF, including protection of the nation's territorial 
integrity, domestic humanitarian assistance, and contributions 
to peacekeeping efforts (including a longstanding Military 
Observer unit in Darfur).  The general, pointing out Lesotho's 
lack of a conventional external threat due to its encirclement 
by a friendly neighbor (South Africa), stressed that cross 
border crime posed major problems for Lesotho as a result of 
porous borders--despite deployment of a full LDF battalion along 
the border. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Expanding on the LDF's humanitarian assistance role, 
Gen Montanyane also spoke about the LDF's role in providing 
search and rescue services (especially in the Lesotho mountains 
during snow emergencies) and its assistance to Lesotho's police 
force during joint security operations.  Motanyane also shared 
that the LDF and the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) had just 
completed a joint exercise which took place over four weeks in 
Maseru and in Lesotho's highlands. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Lesotho's Helpful Stance on AFRICOM 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  While the Ambassador offered Motanyane 
 
MASERU 00000623  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
additional briefings and information on AFRICOM, the Commander 
made his position clear:  Lesotho already supports AFRICOM. 
While Lesotho is unlikely to make public pronouncements in favor 
of AFRICOM, in deference to various regional concerns, the 
Commander's positive disposition to the new U.S. military 
command can be cultivated and acknowledged through increasingly 
robust military-to-military ties and senior-level dialogue. 
Embassy Maseru believes that a visit to Lesotho by senior-level 
AFRICOM representatives in early 2008 would be the next logical 
step.  In the interim, we will continue this dialogue with the 
civilian side of the house (the Prime Minister serves as 
Minister of Defence and National Security, and his Principal 
Secretary provides de facto civilian oversight of the LDF). 
 
SIPDIS 
Civilian GOL support for AFRICOM may be more nuanced, but, after 
several months to ponder previous USG briefings, the LDF 
Commander's emphatic support is encouraging.  END COMMENT. 
NOLAN