------------------3C60E1  091013Z /38    
P 090956Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2183

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANTANANARIVO 000162 
 
DEPT FOR DS, D, P, M, S/CT, CA, AND INR 
DEPT FOR DS/AF/IP 
DEPT FOR DS/ITA/AF 
DEPT FOR AF/E 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2027 
TAGS: ASEC CASC MP PGOV PREL PTER MA
SUBJECT: EAC CONVENED TO DISCUSS RAJOELINA'S ASYLUM, 
MILITARY MUTINY AND RECENT CIVIL UNREST 
 
REF: STATE 103991 
 
¶1. (SBU) An Emergency Action Committee (EAC) Meeting, chaired 
by DCM Stromayer, was convened at the DCR, (the Alternate 
Command Center (ACC)), on Sunday, March 8. Initially, the 
Ambassador called a meeting to provide updates to POL, PA, 
DAO and RSO on the current political situation, but given 
evolving events, it was determined that the expertise and 
opinions of the EAC would be helpful and an immediate EAC 
meeting was called. 
 
¶2. (C) The meeting convened with Ambassador Niels Marquardt 
informing the EAC that Andry Rajoelina (TGV), the former 
Mayor of Antananarivo and self-proclaimed head of the 
transitional government, had been harbored in the French 
Compound since Friday morning, following his heated attempted 
arrest the night before. Although this information is 
supposed to be guarded, the President leaked this information 
via his own media outlets, ignoring a committment he had made 
to the French Charge' when she informed him of the asylum 
request on Friday. It should be noted that the French 
Compound is located in Ivandry, the residential area for the 
American Embassy Community. As of Monday morning, all other 
news outlets were still reporting that Rajoelina was in 
hiding in an undisclosed location. The Ambassador also noted 
that the Charge' was already receiving threatening phone 
calls about harboring TGV. Of note also was that the 
President was choosing to ignore recommendations made by the 
UN and the COMs, including disabling TGV's radio station 
capabilities and trying to arrest him. 
 
¶3. (C) On the evening of March 5 and into the evening of 
March 6, a crowd of TGV supporters had surrounded Rajoelina's 
home in attempt to protect him and prevent his impending 
arrest.  The incident at TGV's residence, located next to the 
Lycee Francais, lead to a stand-off between EMMO Forces (Etat 
Major Mixte Operationelle - Security Force comprised of 
Gendarme, Military and National Police elements) and the TGV 
supporters. During the standoff, tear gas and warning shots 
were utilized by EMMO. Unfortunately, one mission employee 
was caught in the standoff on the night of March 5 and was 
forced to spend the night with her hosts. The following day, 
the standoff prevented any of the school children from the 
Lycee Francais from departing the heated area. One attempt 
was made to put the children on a bus to let them leave, but 
the effort was thwarted by the crowd. Eventually, EMMO 
cleared a path for the school busses to depart. A child of an 
embassy employee was in the school at that time and among 
those who left by bus. 
 
¶4. (C) A second focus of the EAC was to discuss what was 
being  referred to as a "military mutiny". All members of the 
Malagasy military were called to their respective camps at 12 
noon on March 8. There were reports that the military claimed 
that they will no longer adhere to the President's orders and 
are independent, but that they will still maintain order and 
security. This is significant as the military stance could be 
critical to the final outcome of this crisis as they have the 
reputation of remaining neutral during previous crises. 
Rumors circulated that the presidential guard forces were to 
attack the military's Camp Capsat, the location of the 
majority of the military's arsenal and numerous vigilante 
roadblocks were set up to protect the camp. As night 
progressed, shots were reported by an Embassy FSN and the SD 
team at Capsat. It is still undetermined who was involved in 
the conflict, but it reported that the fire was between the 
military and EMMO forces. (Note: This morning, an SD member 
sighted a dead body outside of the camp. The identity of the 
individual is not yet known.) The National Police and the 
Gendarmerie seem to remain intact, but there are rumors that 
the Gendarme are not comfortable getting involved in 
incidents inside the city as it is not normally within their 
jurisdiction. Additionally, a statement form the National 
Gendarmerie dated March 8 became available today, giving its 
version of events on March 8. Copy provided by e-mail. 
 
¶5. (C) RSO expressed concern that over the last four days, 
that there were three separate incidents involving American 
Embassy community member being caught in the middle of 
confrontations between TGV supporters and EMMO (e.g. the two 
involved in the Lycee Francais stand-off described in 
paragraph three (3) and one SD member who was arrested (see 
below). Now that the President had banned protests in 13 Mai, 
the predicatble location for all gathering over the last few 
weeks, spontaneous crowds and looters were springing up 
elsewhere in the city, making it very difficult for the SD 
team to adequately cover the situation. In addition, last 
week, one SD member while en route to the CMR area, was 
picked up by the Gendarmerie. He suffered police brutality, 
had his life threatened and remained incarcerated overnight 
 
until the RSO staff could ensure his release. This SD member 
never revealed his association with the U.S. Embassy. RSO has 
since pulled back SD forces to increase the team's safety. 
Given that, RSO will no longer be able to "clear routes", nor 
guarantee safe passage, for embassy employees. Embassy also 
protested this incident via diplomatic note. 
 
¶6. (C) Immediately during the March 8 EAC, the American 
Embassy community was advised via radio announcement to 
remain close to home. This measure was also enacted by the UN 
Security. RSO requested that if the embassy was the remain 
open tomorrow, all employee should use the shuttle, which 
would depart earlier than normal and after RSO had cleared 
the route. This is in response to last week's numerous, 
sudden roadblocks, clashes between EMMO and TGV supporters 
and the subsequent use of tear gas and warning shots to 
disperse the crowds, all of which made travel to and from the 
embassy difficult for three days straight last week. 
 
¶7.  (C)  The Ambassador called for another EAC will to 
convened after country team on Tuesday morning (subsequently 
advanced to Monday afternoon at the DCR in Ivandry). He 
requested more solid information to be gathered for that EAC, 
and asked all members to reflect carefully on the 
deterioration of the security situation in view of a renewed 
discussion then on moving to AD. In addition, the Ambassador 
called for a through review of the tripwires, which had not 
been available on Sunday due to the spontaneous nature of 
that initial EAC.  On Tuesday afternoon, there will be a 
meeting for all American Embassy employees and their families 
to discuss the new reality of the situation and the question 
of AD. The DCM sent out a message Sunday asking the community 
for its feedback on AD in advance of the EAC.  The DCM also 
contacted the American School to encourage them to reconsider 
their contingency plans in light of last week's incident at 
the Lycee Francais. There is also an all-American Community 
Town Hall meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in 
response to inquiries we are receiving. (Such advance notice 
is required for Town Halls.)  TDY travel is still being 
consider on a case by case basis. 
 
¶8. (C) Note: As of 6:45 am Monday, the Ambassador, after 
receiving updates from the RSO, decided to close the Mission 
purely as a precautionary measure.  At that time, there was a 
near-complete information vacuum in Antananarivo making a 
more considered evaluation of the situation impossible. 
MARQUARDT