R 020601Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PORT LOUIS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4492
INFO AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO 
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT LOUIS 000101 
 
 
AF/E FOR MARIA BEYZEROV 
ANTANANARIVO FOR DAO 
NAIROBI FOR KUSLO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2019 
TAGS: MARR PREL MASS MOPS SE
SUBJECT: GOS REQUEST FOR U.S. ASSISTANCE AGAINST PIRATES 
PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY TO PUSH SOFA 
 
REF: A. A. PORT LOUIS 316 
     ¶B. B. BARBER/MCMANUS/BLASER EMAIL JAN 27 2009 
     ¶C. C. BLASER/BEYZEROV EMAILS MARCH 17 
     ¶D. MARCH 25 
     ¶E. AND MARCH 31 2009 
 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Virginia M. Blaser for reasons 1.4 b 
and d. 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On March 30, Post received a GOS diplomatic 
note requesting more frequent surveillance patrols by U.S. 
forces in Seychellois waters to help deter piracy. The 
diplomatic note was a follow-up to an earlier telephone call 
between the Acting Foreign Minister (A/FM) and the Charge. 
Charge was noncommittal about the GOS request, but did opine 
that the USG would possibly look more favorably on a request 
for more U.S. military ships in the area if there was a SOFA 
agreement in place. Post believes this GOS request presents 
an excellent opportunity for a call from a senior Department 
official to the Seychelles President in order to reinforce 
USG interest in SOFA completion, particularly in the context 
of piracy issues.  For protection of the tens of thousands of 
U.S. military personnel visiting Seychelles each year, the 
SOFA completion remains one of Post,s highest priorities. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) On OOB of Monday, March 30, 2009 the Embassy received 
a diplomatic note from the GOS requesting more patrols by 
U.S. forces in Seychellois waters to help deter piracy. The 
diplomatic note was a follow-up to a 26 March telephone call 
between the Acting Foreign Minister, J. Nourrice, and the 
Charge.  During this call, Nourrice said his government is 
extremely worried about pirate attacks on Seychelles ships 
and citizens, most particularly the current situation wherein 
pirates captured three Seychellois citizens and took them to 
Somalia, where they are being held for ransom.  Nourrice 
acknowledged that the GOS request for more U.S. patrols was 
falling at a time when his government had not responded to 
repeated Embassy requests for finalization of the ten-year 
pending SOFA.  He noted the link between the (then proposed) 
diplomatic note and the need for the GOS to finalize their 
internal review of the SOFA.  Charge did not respond to the 
specific request for assistance, but did opine that the USG 
would possibly look more favorably on a demarche for more 
U.S. military ships in the area if there was a SOFA agreement 
to protect US military personnel who would be present on the 
islands.  Nourrice agreed to carry this informal message back 
to GOS interlocutors reviewing the current SOFA agreement. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Copy of the text, as written in original English, 
from the diplomatic note is as follows: 
 
BEGIN TEXT OF DIPLOMATIC NOTE: 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Seychelles 
presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States 
of America and would like to bring to the latter's attention 
an incident whereby three Seychellois nationals have been 
captured and are presently being detained by Somalian pirates. 
 
Given the gravity of this particular incident and having also 
noticed a surge in the piracy activities in and around the 
Exclusive Economic Zone of Seychelles, the Government of 
Seychelles is of the view that there is an urgent need to 
intensify the security in this area. 
 
To this effect it would be appreciated if the Government of 
the United States of America could kindly consider taking all 
appropriate measures to strengthen the surveillance patrol in 
these zones in order to deter criminal activities related to 
the acts of piracy, which could be very detrimental to the 
security of our region. 
 
The Ministry would be grateful for the collaboration of the 
Government of the United States in our joint efforts in 
combating this worrying phenomenon. 
 
In thanking the Embassy of the United States of America for 
its usual cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the 
Republic of Seychelles avails itself of this opportunity to 
renew to it the assurances of its highest consideration. 
 
END TEXT. 
 
¶4. (C) COMMENT: The US-Seychelles SOFA has been pending for 
the past ten years, with Post actively negotiating for SOFA's 
completion the past year or so.  The signing of a SOFA is one 
of Post,s top priorities, given that the tens of thousands 
of U.S. military members who visit the islands every year are 
unduly vulnerable without a SOFA in place.  Post considers it 
fortunate we have had no major incident in the past few 
years, but note the frequent ship visits mean that the 
potential for a problem is constantly present.  We credit our 
CCE team, who handles most ship visits, and the experienced 
NCIS agent typically assigned to Seychelles ship visits for 
the low rate of incidents. 
 
¶5. (C)  Since the most recent DOD revisions (in response to 
Seychelles' last proposed changes) to the draft SOFA were 
forwarded to the GOS in the Fall of 2008, the Embassy has 
engaged the GOS at multiple levels, including ambassadorial 
calls on the President, in attempts to address remaining 
issues and conclude the agreement. In recent weeks, repeated 
GOS promises to submit a draft agreement to the Cabinet by a 
given date have been broken, and, while a 16 March call from 
the Charge to President Michel on the issue pushed the 
agreement to the Attorney General for "final" review, no 
tangible result surfaced since that time. Post will continue 
to push at multiple levels, and believes the above diplomatic 
request provides an excellent opportunity to push the 
immediate passage of the SOFA in Seychelles. Post recommends 
the Department consider a call between he President of the 
Seychelles and a senior AF representative.  Such a call would 
reinforce the Embassy's repeated message and, in so doing, 
help complete the outstanding agreement. 
 
¶6.  (C) ACTION REQUESTED: Post recommends Department consider 
a Washington-based call to Seychelles President to reinforce 
Embassy points on SOFA and piracy. Post believes that the 
GOS-generated diplomatic note provides an excellent context 
for such a call. Please advise, and Post will be pleased to 
arrange for the call and provide talking points as 
appropriate. 
 
 
BLASER