R 221449Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3708
NSC WASHDC
INFO AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 
AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 
AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

C O N F I D E N T I A L OUAGADOUGOU 000432 
 
 
AF/W FOR TDOUGHERTY, EPLUMB, JHUTCHISON 
NSC FOR KAREN O'DONNELL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECLASSIFY ON 5/22/2018 
TAGS: PREL EAID UV IS RW UG TO
SUBJECT: SUBJECT: Burkina Faso: Compaore Seeks to Win Favor 
with United States during Visit to Israel 
 
Classified by Ambassador Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Key Points: 
 
-- President Blaise Compaore visited Israel May 13-15 for 
that country's 60th anniversary celebrations - the first 
ever visit by a Burkinabe head of state. 
 
-- Compaore was one of only three African heads of state 
attending. 
 
-- Previously, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi reportedly sent 
a letter to Compaore demanding that he not go to Israel. 
 
¶2. (C) Key Judgments: 
 
-- Israel, eager to win favor with Burkina Faso while it is 
a member of the UN Security Council (2008-2009), promised to 
reinforce bilateral aid, now concentrated in agriculture, 
education, and health.  Compaore received acclamation by the 
Knesset for his remarks about Israel's right to peacefully 
co-exist with its neighbors, and was hailed as a "man of 
peace" by Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel for his peace 
mediation in Cote d'Ivoire. 
 
 -- Compaore mainly used the trip to Israel to win favor 
with the United States.  Compaore hopes to be invited to an 
Oval Office meeting with President Bush as part of a trip in 
which Compaore could also witness the signing on July 16 of 
a $480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) 
Compact with Burkina Faso. 
 
-- Compaore, who agreed to return for a state visit to 
Israel in 2009, skillfully deflected potential domestic 
criticism of his visit by leading a mixed Muslim (about 52% 
of Burkina Faso's population), and Christian (about 25%) 
delegation of Burkinabe on a pilgrimage-like visit to holy 
sites of Islam and Christianity. 
 
End Key Points and Key Judgments. 
 
¶3. (C) Making the first visit by a Burkinabe head of state, 
President Blaise Compaore attended ceremonies May 13-15 
commemorating the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding. 
President Compaore also attended a dinner given by President 
Peres with a number of Israeli cabinet members as well as 
Ambassadors to Israel from Egypt, Mauritania, Cameroon, 
Ghana and Nigeria.  During that dinner, the President of the 
Knesset invited President Compaore to the Israeli Parliament 
for President Bush's address, according to Filippe Sawadogo, 
Burkina Faso Minister of Culture, Tourism and 
Communications.  (Note: Sawadogo said that Compaore was the 
only President invited to attend that event.  We cannot 
confirm the validity of this information, but note that 
Compaore was "acclaimed" during a visit to the Knesset, 
according to "Le Pays," a normally anti-Israeli private 
daily published in Ouagadougou. End Note.) 
 
¶4. (U) According to Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibrill 
Bassole, Compaore discussed with Israeli Foreign Minister 
Tzipi Livni how to expand bilateral aid, currently focused 
in agriculture, education, and health.  They also discussed 
Israel's support for Burkina Faso in its role as (2008-2009) 
member of the UN Security Council, and Burkina Faso's peace 
efforts in West Africa including Cote d'Ivoire.  Bassole 
added that he would return to Israel in a few weeks for more 
detailed discussions. 
 
¶5. (U) President Compaore also met with Nobel Peace Prize 
Winner Elie Wiesel to discuss a wide range of world issues. 
Wiesel is quoted in Ouagadougou newspapers as having said 
"Blaise Compaore is a man of peace," referring to Compaore's 
"direct dialogue" in resolving crises in the region 
including Cote d'Ivoire. 
 
 
Compaore Joins Other Heads of State 
at Conference Marking Israel's 60th Anniversary 
---------------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Compaore also participated with 11 other former or 
current heads of state in a "Tomorrow" conference to mark 
Israel's 60th anniversary.  These heads of state included 
Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of 
Rwanda, as well as ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.  (The 
fourth African head of state invited was Togo President 
Faure Gnassingbe, who was represented by one of his 
ministers.)  Compaore's remarks about Israel's right to 
"peaceful coexistence" with its neighbors earned him an 
ovation at the conference, according to the official 
Burkinabe daily "Sidwaya."  (Sawadogo said that Compaore's 
speech received more applause than any other.) 
 
 
Libya's Qaddafi Upset By Compaore's Visit to Israel 
------------------------------------- 
¶7. (C) Sawadogo volunteered that, when Qaddafi learned that 
President Compaore had agreed to attend the ceremonies, he 
was outraged and sent a letter to the President demanding 
that he reconsider.  President Compaore was only encouraged 
by this and stated to his advisors that "we must listen to 
everyone."  Compaore hopes that other African countries will 
follow the lead of Burkina Faso, the Minister said. 
Reflecting on the past, Sawadogo said that many countries 
had listened to Libya for quite some time, but that many had 
become disillusioned.  He said that many people believe that 
Africans cannot reflect, organize, manage, or maintain, and 
that he believes Burkina Faso can prove them wrong. 
 
 
U.S.-based Jewish Advocacy Group Praises Compaore, 
Who Badly Wants Meeting with President Bush 
----------------------------------- 
¶8. (C) Burkina Faso Ambassador to the United States 
Paramanga Ernest Yonli told Ambassador on May 21 that he had 
received a letter from the American Jewish Committee -- an 
advocacy group founded in 1906 with over 20 U.S. offices -- 
congratulating President Compaore on his visit to Israel. 
Yonli confided to Ambassador that he was under tremendous 
pressure to secure a meeting for Compaore with President 
Bush. 
 
 
Decision to Accept Israeli Invitation: Supported by 
Burkinabe Christians, Useful for U.S. Bilateral Ties 
------------------------------------- 
¶9. (C) Sawadogo said that Israel had only invited a few 
African heads of state, and that President Compaore and his 
advisors had reflected carefully on the invitation prior to 
acceptance.  He said that 50% of decision makers in Burkina 
Faso are Christian and that they all grew up learning about 
Israel.  Sawadogo mentioned the increased number of 
pilgrimages to Israel undertaken by Burkinabe in the recent 
past.  So it was only natural that Burkina Faso be 
represented at the anniversary celebrations, he concluded. 
(Note: Christians make up only about 25% of the population, 
but tend to be better educated and have a disproportionate 
share of senior positions of the Compaore Government. 
Compaore is Catholic.  End note.) 
 
¶10. (C) Sawadogo also emphasized that Burkina Faso 
recognized that the United States was a good friend of 
Israel, which made Compaore's Government even more confident 
in its decision that Compaore attend the celebrations and 
cultivate a closer relationship.  Sawadogo said that 
President Compaore desired to demonstrate his integrity to 
the United States and has been "helpful" to Washington in 
several areas.  President Compaore recently received 
Microsoft President Steve Ballmer in Ouagadougou (at the 
time of the Microsoft Africa Best Practices Conference 
here), Sawadogo noted, adding that some French businessmen 
had seen this as yet another U.S. incursion into 
traditionally French business in Francophone Africa. 
 
 
Compaore Heads Off Opposition by Burkinabe Muslims 
------------------------------------ 
¶11. (U) Reframing his visit for a majority Muslim, domestic 
audience, Compaore explained in an interview in Jerusalem 
with "Le Pays" that he had come to Israel to "encourage the 
international community to accompany Palestinians and 
Israelis to reinforce their dialogue in order to reach an 
agreement delineating the frontier between their two 
states."  Compaore also recalled that the African Union had 
called for "two separate states, living side-by-side in 
security and peace." 
 
¶12. (SBU) Reflecting Burkina Faso's religious diversity and 
his own finely tuned political instincts, Compaore invited 
on the trip a large delegation of Burkinabe Muslims, 
Catholics, and Protestants.  Compaore and his delegation 
made "pilgrimages" to holy sites of both Islam and 
Christianity including the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex including 
the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, 
according to "Sidwaya."  In a moving gesture toward his 
Israeli hosts, Compaore, wearing a skullcap, also relit the 
eternal flame at the Museum of the Shoah, and called the 
holocaust a "shameful history of our humanity." 
 
 
Second Front in Israel's Charm Offensive: 
Israeli Ambassador Woos Burkinabe in Ouagadougou 
----------------------------------- 
¶13. (C) Meanwhile, back in Ouagadougou, the Israeli 
Ambassador to Burkina Faso, resident in Abidjan, hosted a 
60th anniversary reception at a small restaurant attended by 
Ambassador.  Security was unusually tight.  Burkina Faso 
Prime Minister Tertius Zongo, who was also formerly 
Ambassador to Washington and who rarely attends national day 
receptions, attended along with a half dozen ministers, a 
few businessmen and diplomats, and what were apparently 
Burkinabe students who may have been on agricultural 
exchanges in Israel.  The Israeli Ambassador emphasized 
Israel's admiration for President Compaore's role as 
regional peacemaker, and lauded Compaore's future state 
visit to Israel, expected in 2009.  MOFA's Secretary General 
and Cabinet Director told Ambassador that the Israeli 
Ambassador was already driving them crazy with requests for 
information for planning the state visit. 
 
 
Historical Context of Burkinabe-Israeli Relations: 
Broken in 1973, Reestablished by Compaore in 1993 
------------------------------------ 
¶14. (SBU) Burkina Faso's diplomatic relations with Israel 
debuted in 1961 with the signature of an accord on bilateral 
cooperation that included training of Burkinabe agronomists 
and the establishment of a national lottery.   Diplomatic 
relations were severed in 1973 following Israel's October 
War by then President Aboubacar Sangoule Lamizana, a Muslim 
who had been head of the armed forces when he came to power 
in a 1965 coup d'etat.  Then Foreign Minister Malick Zorome, 
also a Muslim, likely recommended Lamizana to break 
relations with Israel, perhaps after pressure from other 
member-countries of the Organization of the Islamic 
Conference (OIC).  Compaore, a Christian who came to power 
in 1987 in a coup d'etat, reestablished diplomatic relations 
with Israel in 1993 - a decision hailed during his Israel 
visit as "courageous." 
 
JACKSON