VZCZCXRO9022
PP RUEHPA RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNK #0635/01 2741222
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011222Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8804
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0860
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1222
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 2365
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0217
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA 0767
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0815
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHDS/USMISSION USAU ADDIS ABABA
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1286
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 NOUAKCHOTT 000635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PTER MR KDEM
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ROUNDUP FOR 
SEPTEMBER 2009 
 
REF: A. NOUAKCHOTT 607 
     ¶B. NOUAKCHOTT 611 
     ¶C. NOUAKCHOTT 608 
     ¶D. NOUAKCHOTT 577 
 
Classified By: CDA Dennis Hankins for reasons 1.4 (b and d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  In the month of September, the 
International Contact Group visited Mauritania to take stock 
of the post-election political situation.  Delegations from 
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank also 
visited and renewed programs with Mauritania.  President Aziz 
traveled to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.  President Chavez 
talked about funding an oil refinery in Mauritania and 
Venezuela signed hydrocarbon agreements with Mauritania. 
Nouakchott, flooded by heavy rains, suffered from constant 
power failures and the price of fruits and vegetables 
skyrocketed.  The opposition issued statements criticizing 
the government and the public debate on corruption, 
counter-terroristm, torture and detention conditions of 
terrorist suspects continued.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U)  International Contact Group visits Mauritania:  See 
ref A. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Aziz travels to Saudi Arabia:  President Aziz was 
invited to Jeddah for the inauguration of King Abdallah 
University.  During his visit, he met with Sudanese President 
Oumar Bechir to explore cooperation opportunities between 
Mauritania and Sudan.  Rumor has it that the king refused to 
meet with Aziz. 
 
¶4.  (U)  Nouakchott - flooded and in the dark:  Nouakchott 
experienced heavy flooding and constant power failures during 
the month.  The streets were filled with displaced persons 
and the everyday life of populations in poor neighborhoods 
became increasingly difficult due to constant lack of water 
and electricity compounded by an increase in water and food 
prices.  Nouakchott suffers nearly a 40% gap between demand 
and production capacity.  In addition to run down facilities 
in Nouakchott, the problem is aggravated by lack of funds. 
Last year Mauritania leased a number of portable 1-megawatt 
generators to supplement capacity.  Those units have since 
gone.  It is understood that power imports from Senegal were 
stopped for lack of payment. 
 
¶5.  (U)  Fruit and vegetable prices skyrocket:  The price of 
fruits and vegetables in Nouakchott increased considerably 
taking a further toll on the already stretched population.  A 
kilo of oranges went from 200 UM (74 cents) to 700 UM (USD 
2.60), while the kilo of tomatoes increased from 300 UM (USD 
1.10) to 1000 UM (USD 3.70).  The increase in prices is due 
to heavy floods in the agricultural Valley Region as well as 
reduced supply from Morocco. 
 
¶6.  (U)  Opposition criticizes government:  Opposition leader 
Ahmed Ould Daddah's RFD issued a communique criticizing the 
government and stating that "all the sectors of the economy 
are nearly paralyzed due to the international economic 
crisis, the mismanagement of state resources, which are 
treated as if they were personal resources, and the 
government's lack of vision for the economy."  On September 
7, Mohamed Ould Maouloud's opposition party UFP published a 
declaration stating the elections were neither free nor 
democratic and denouncing the conditions in which the 
constitutional council pronounced Aziz's win.  The communique 
called for a consensual solution to the crisis following the 
spirit of the Dakar Accord.  It also denounced the inaction 
and amateur attitude of the government and criticized the 
international community, particularly France, Germany and 
Spain, for failing to fulfill its responsibilities and 
delivering its promises.  These countries, according to the 
communique, "renounced the respect of democratic principles 
for the preservation of their own interests." 
 
¶7.  (C)  Arrest of Taqadoumy journalist:  On September 12, 
police arrested Taqadoumy journalist Djibril Diallo, who 
remained in detention until September 15, when he was 
released without explanation.  Diallo had recently written an 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000635  002 OF 004 
 
 
article criticizing Qadhafi.  On September 22, PolOff and PAO 
met with newly released Diallo, who explained he was arrested 
in a cybercafe by a policeman in civilian clothes who 
mysteriously approached him and asked "Why did you say that? 
Now you will have to come with me."  Diallo was brought to 
the police station and informed that his arrest had been 
ordered by the security services.  He was questioned twice by 
interrogators who wanted to know his email and Skype address. 
 Diallo refused to comply stating that the police did not 
need to arrest him to obtain that information.  When asked 
about detention conditions, Diallo stated they had been 
normal and he had not been mistreated.  Diallo was released 
in the morning of September 15 and asked to return in the 
afternoon as the investigation was still ongoing.  Upon 
returning, he was told to come back the next day.  The 
following day he was informed he had been released but asked 
to stay at the police's disposal.  Diallo said before his 
arrest he traveled to Nouadhibou and, upon his return to 
Nouakchott, was harassed by police at road blocks who told 
him they knew his name was Djibril Diallo and asked him when 
was he planning to travel back to Nouadhibou.  Diallo does 
not have a lawyer and expects he could be arrested again. 
 
¶8.  (U)  General Inspector visits Salafist prisoners:  The 
Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice and the Prisons 
Director visited Salafist prisoners on September 15. 
Terrorist suspects have complained about prison conditions 
and are requesting the right to see a doctor, to have visits 
from their wives, and to engage in group prayer. 
 
¶9.  (U)  More on terrorism:  On September 15, the public 
prosecutor charged two suspects with belonging to Al Qaeda. 
On September 27, according to the press, the Mauritanian 
military arrested seven AQIM combatants near Lemgheity.  The 
seven suspects -- two Malians and five Mauritanians -- were 
transferred to Nouakchott for interrogation.  On October 1, 
press said the Malian military questioned the veracity of 
Mauritanian military reports about the terrorist suspects, 
stating that the individuals -- members of a Touareg family 
that lives in Gao and whose vehicle broke down in the desert 
-- have no connection to AQMI.  The press accused the 
military and security services of staging terrorist arrests 
to influence public opinion. 
 
¶10.  (U)  Torture at the Central Prison:  According to local 
press, on September 17 Al Jazeera TV showed images national 
guardsmen beating and water-boarding Khadim Ould Semane, 
leader of the Nouakchott terrorist cell.  The images of 
torture were followed by a telephone interview with Semane, 
in which he explained he is regularly tortured with 
electricity and subject to degrading treatments. 
 
¶11.  (C)  Jemil Mansour on Tawassoul's role:  PolOff met with 
Tawassoul President Djemil Ould Mansour to discuss 
Tawassoul's role in the opposition.  Mansour confirmed that 
Tawassoul was still part of the FNDD in theory but not in 
practice.  He sees Tawassoul as part of the moderate 
opposition and plans to promote dialogue between the 
authorities and more radical opposition leaders who do not 
recognize the government.  He still hopes some day Tawassoul 
will enter the government.  Mansour expressed an interest in 
visiting the United States and inquired about the 
International Visitors Program. Former President Abdallahi 
spoke well of Tawassoul during a September 24 meeting with 
Charge.  He noted that Tawassoul's moderate policy approach 
during their participation in the FNDD demonstrated that he 
had not been playing into the hands of extremists when he 
authorized the party -- a way of allowing an outlet for 
expression by a previously suppressed group, according to 
Abdallahi.  The former President also noted that Tawassoul's 
views of the United States -- outside of discussions of 
Israel -- had substantially improved because of U.S. support 
for the FNDD. 
 
¶12.  (U)  On Corruption:  Global Fund money goes missing (See 
ref D).  On September 17, Sidi Maouloud Ould Brahim, wali of 
Nouakchott, and Mohamed Ould Sidaty, hakem of Teyarett were 
terminated by the Council of Ministers.  No reasons were 
given for their dismissal but rumor has it they were involved 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000635  003 OF 004 
 
 
in a land permit corruption scheme.  Police arrested on 
September 29 the regional director of SOMAGAZ for 
mismanagement of 10 million UM (USD 37,000) and falsifying 
accounting documents.  The SNIM was also at the heart of a 
corruption scandal.  On September 30, press published reports 
that an internal SNIM investigation showed 2 billion UM (over 
USD 7 million) had gone missing.  Thirteen employees are 
implicated in the scandal. The reported crackdown on 
corruption in government institutions is earning cautious 
praise -- with many still not sure if the crackdown is 
sincere or only meant to attack political enemies. 
 
¶13.  (U)  Senate renewal:  The Ministry of the Interior 
announced that one-third of the Senate (A group) is up for 
renewal on November 8.  The A group's mandate ended before 
the closing of the previous parliamentary session. 
 
¶14.  (U)  UPR President in Sudan:  The President of UPR, the 
majority party Aziz headed until swore in as President, is 
currently in Sudan as an official guest for the Sudanese 
party in power Congres National. 
 
¶15.  (U)  Dadis Camara and Aziz:  On September 30, local 
press widely covered the massacre of opposition members in 
Guinea and drew parallels between Dadis Camara and President 
Aziz.  Newspaper L'Authentique, in an article entitled 
"Captain Dadis Camara: Aziz's bad student" said that Camara 
should have followed Aziz's example and face the political 
crisis without spilling blood.  Newspaper L'Eveil highlighted 
that the Mauritanian circles of power were uncomfortable at 
Camara's constant allusions to the Mauritanian junta and to 
Aziz, who he refers to as his "Mauritanian brother."  FNDD, 
RFD and UFP published communiques deploring the massacres, 
drawing comparisons between the Guinean and Mauritanian 
coups, and asking the African Union and the international 
community -- particularly France -- to firmly reject coup 
d'etats.  An opinion piece on (generally pro-Aziz) website 
Cridem called on Mauritanians to draw the lessons from Guinea 
and dissolve the BASEP. 
 
¶16.  (U)  Chinese aid to Mauritania:  In a visit to 
Mauritania, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhai Jun, 
announced a number of Chinese aid programs, the largest of 
which will finance the expansion of the Nouakchott Port 
through a USD 295 million 20-year, 2% interest loan from the 
Export-Import Bank of China . The project, known as the Port 
of Friendship (PANPA), is the second largest Chinese-funded 
project in Africa. 
 
¶17.  (U)  IMF and World Bank return to Mauritania: A team of 
IMF advisors and World Bank officials visited in September, 
the first official IMF and World Bank missions to visit the 
country since they suspended relations with the  GIRM 
following the 2008 coup d,etat. The IMF announced an 
immediate Special Drawing Right loan valued at USD 80 
million, as well as plans for a three-year IMF aid plan to 
begin in 2010.  The regional country director for the World 
Bank visited Mauritania to announce the release of USD 14-16 
million in previously suspended developmental assistance. 
See ref B. 
 
¶18.  (U)  Venezuela and Mauritania sign a hydrocarbon 
agreement:  During his visit to the South American-African 
Summit in Venezuela, President Aziz signed a hydrocarbon 
cooperative agreement with Venezuela. The agreement comes two 
weeks after President Chavez announced his intent to 
construct a refinery in Mauritania. Although President 
Chavez' announcement was covered widely in the Mauritanian 
press, the GIRM has not confirmed this project. Curiously, 
there was no mention of the refinery project in the agreement 
signed at the summit.  In his public remarks at the summit, 
President Aziz spoke about the failure of the financial 
institutions of Bretton Woods; a stark contrast to the 
prominent domestic promotion lavished upon the re-engagement 
agreements signed with both the World Bank and the IMF.  See 
ref C. 
 
¶19.  (U)  African Development Bank approves mining loan:  The 
Board of Directors of the African Development Bank agreed to 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000635  004 OF 004 
 
 
loan the Mauritanian National Industrial and Mining Company 
(SNIM) USD 175 million for the expansion of existing mines 
and the construction of a new iron ore enrichment plant. 
This project will increase the production of iron ore from a 
current 11 million annual tons to just over 15 million annual 
tons.  The USG representative to the African Development Bank 
abstained in the vote, based upon USG Extractive Industry 
legislative standards and environmental concerns about the 
project. 
 
¶20.  (U)  Developments in the hydrocarbon and energy field: 
Forte Energy NL, and Australian based minerals company and 
Aura Energy, a South African Uranium mining company announced 
separate drilling programs to survey for Uranium in 
Mauritania.  Red Back Mining Inc., a Canadian mining company 
announced they received Mauritanian government approval to 
immediately commence drilling in their Tasiast gold mine. 
 
 
 
 
HANKINS