VZCZCXRO4259
PP RUEHPA RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNK #0054/01 0211517
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 211517Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9039
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000054 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2020 
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KDEM MR
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH NEW COUNTER-TERRORISM JUDGE 
 
REF: 08 NOUAKCHOTT 113 
 
Classified By: Charge Dennis Hankins for reasons 1.4 (b and d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  PolOff met on January 21 with new 
counter-terrorism investigating judge Mohamed Bouya Ould 
Nahi.  This new position, created following the adoption of 
the new counter-terrorism law, focuses on conducting 
investigations to determine whether there is legal foundation 
to warrant prosecution of terrorist cases.  The law also 
created a specialized prosecutor position and gave 
jurisdiction of all terrorist cases to the Nouakchott 
district.  Nahi, who just started working after being in 
administrative leave for two years following the escape of a 
terrorist he was questioning, voiced concerns about the 
ongoing dialogue between imams and suspected terrorists as 
premature and coming too soon after the adoption of the new 
counter-terrorism law.  He fears this dialogue, which is 
supposed to be solely theological, may hide a political 
agenda.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Nahi told PolOff that his position had been created 
after the adoption of the new counter-terrorism law passed on 
January 6, which replaces the 2005/045 July 26, 2005, law 
regarding the fight against terrorism.  Nahi is a "juge 
d'instruction" or investigating judge, who conducts in-depth 
questioning of terrorist suspects to determine whether there 
is legal foundation to warrant prosecution of the case.  He 
said the new law also calls for the creation of two assistant 
judges for his office as well as the creation of a prosecutor 
specialized in terrorism.  The office of the prosecutor is 
not yet in existence.  Nahi candidly volunteered that in 2008 
he worked as ad-hoc judge on the investigation of the Aleg 
murders but was put on administrative leave after one of the 
suspects he was questioning escaped from the courthouse. 
This position is the first he holds in the past two years. 
Note:  The suspect in question is Sidi Ould Sidina, who was 
arrested in Guinea Bissau on January 11, 2008 and was 
subsequently extradited to Mauritania.  Assisted by his 
brother, Sidina escaped on June 18, 2008 during questioning 
at the central court.  The escape sparked a massive manhunt 
and led to the death of several police in a failed raid on an 
AQIM safehouse in Nouakchott. Ould Sidina was later 
re-arrested on April 30, 2008 in Nouakchott and is currently 
awaiting trial.  End note. 
 
¶3.  (C)  When asked to compare the new law and the previous 
one, Nahi responded that he had not yet studied the new law 
in detail.  Nevertheless, he felt that the new law was an 
improvement in that it creates a specialized 
counter-terrorism judge and prosecutor; gives sole 
jurisdiction of terrorism cases to the Nouakchott circuit; 
calls for protection measures for judges and law enforcement 
officers involved in the fight against terrorism; provides 
for harshest sentences; and allows for wire taps.  Comment: 
Nahi had to quickly skim the text of the law printed in 
official newspaper Horizons in order to answer PolOff's 
question.  End comment. 
 
¶4.  (C)  PolOff asked Nahi for his opinion on the dialogue 
between the imams and the 67 imprisoned Salafists that 
started on January 18, barely one week after the end of the 
Islam and Extremism Symposium which recommended the dialogue. 
 At first, Nahi cautiously responded that dialogue was a good 
thing and that social peace could only be achieved if 
jihadists repented.  Nevertheless, after being pressed 
further by PolOff, he said in confidence that he was appalled 
at the bad timing of the dialogue.  "The government just 
passed a stringent law on terrorism and instead of letting 
justice follow its course and put the new law to the test, 
they choose to dialogue with the jihadists he stated.  "The 
government is giving them too much importance by agreeing to 
a televised dialogue.  Imagine the spectacle of seeing those 
men expressing their complaints while wearing t-shirts with 
bombs, and defending their violent acts on national TV.  It 
sends the message that these people are powerful enough to 
sit at a negotiation table and impose conditions."  Comment: 
The imprisoned Salafists have been successful at maintaining 
a high profile in local news.  They have granted interviews 
to reporters and used the media to denounce their 
imprisonment conditions and to file complaints about their 
treatment.  For the dialogue with imams, the terrorists 
requested that press be present at all times.  Images of 
terrorist El Khadime Ould Semane (reftel), mastermind of the 
attack against the Israeli Embassy, showing a white Al Qaeda 
t-shirt with a grenade have deeply impacted the Mauritanian 
public.  End comment. 
 
¶5.  (C)  When asked when would have been the right timing for 
a dialogue, Nahi said that after trying these individuals the 
government could have created an appropriate legal and 
institutional framework for dialogue that could have included 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000054  002 OF 002 
 
 
sentence reduction options in exchange for renouncing 
jihadism  Nahi does not trust that it will be enough for 
these men to renounce violence.  "Some of them are dangerous 
criminals and have committed heinous crimes," he stated. 
"They could say they renounce violence but there are no 
guarantees."  Nahi intimated he was suspicious of this 
dialogue initiative as it was improvised and unfolding all 
too quickly.  "My gut feeling tells me there is some hidden 
political agenda here," he stated.  PolOff asked him what he 
thought the agenda could be and he responded "maybe they are 
trying to appease AQIM."  When asked whether he thought some 
terrorists would be granted freedom following the 
negotiations he responded, "I do not know anything about 
politics; all I know is the law."  Comment:  There have been 
unsubstantiated rumors that this dialogue may be promoted by 
the Italians and the Spanish in the hope that negotiating 
better conditions for AQIM detainees could lead to the 
release of their hostages.  On January 20, PolOff met with 
imam Hamden Ould Tah, who is participating in the dialogue 
and Tah gloated that 90 percent of the Salafists were ready 
to repent and that the imams would have good news to announce 
in the coming days.  He said Mauritania would become the 
first country to solve the terrorist problem through 
religious dialogue and peaceful means.  End comment. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Comment:  Judge Nahi was quick to accept our request 
to discuss his new position at the head of the newly 
established anti-terrorist court.  His frank discussion of 
the new law and his openness in discussing the potential 
pitfalls in the government's dialogue with detained jihadists 
suggests a good future partner for Mission efforts to 
reinforce the judicial and police aspects of Mauritania's 
counter-terrorism capabilities.  Charge has requested 
meetings with the Minister of Islamic Affairs and the 
Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior to gain a 
better understanding of the government's objectives in the 
new dialogue with detained salafists.  We note that the 
detainees' spokespeople have included some of the most 
notorious of terrorists including those involved in the 
killing of an American citizen in 2009 and the killing of 
French tourists in late 2007.  We understand that the goal of 
the Government's dialogue is to deal with detainees who have 
not been directly involved in terrorist acts; however, we 
will want to be sure that those guilty of actual terrorist 
acts not be quickly pardoned.  End comment. 
HANKINS