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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000287 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA, AF/S, AF/E, AF/W, AF/C, AND PM 
STATE ALSO FOR IO/UNP 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
PARIS FOR WBAIN AND RKANEDA 
LONDON FOR PLORD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNP UNGA UNSC NI AU
SUBJECT: AU SUMMIT -- U.S. DELEGATION MEETS WITH AU 
CHAIRPERSON JEAN PING 
 
REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 279 
     ¶B. ADDIS ABABA 275 
 
Classified By: USAU Ambassador Michael Battle for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d). 
 
This message is from USAU Ambassador Michael Battle. 
 
¶1. (U) January 31, 2010; 7:00 p.m.; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 
 
¶2. (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
Under Secretary Maria Otero 
Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson 
NSC Senior Director for African Affairs Michelle Gavin 
Special Envoy for Sudan Scott Gration 
Special Advisor on the Great Lakes Howard Wolpe 
Deputy Special Advisor Jim Yellin 
USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator Earl Gast 
USAU Ambassador Michael A. Battle 
Special Advisor Nicole Goldin 
Special Assistant Caroline Mauldin 
Special Assistant Akunna Cook 
USAU A/DCM Joel Maybury 
USAU Military Advisor Duke Ellington 
USAU Political/Public Diplomacy Officer Lauren Ladenson 
(notetaker) 
 
African Union 
Chairperson Jean Ping 
Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra 
NEPAD Executive Director 
 
¶3. (U) Summary: The U.S. delegation to the 2010 African Union 
(AU) Summit, led by Under-Secretary of State for Democracy 
and Global Affairs Maria Otero, met with AU Chairperson Jean 
Ping and AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra 
on January 31 in Addis Ababa.  The meeting touched upon a 
range of topics of mutual interest to the U.S. and the AU, 
including: the need for more AMISOM troop contributing 
countries and the importance of making AMISOM salaries 
commensurate with those of UN forces; the added value of 
Thabo Mbeki in resolving the crisis in Sudan; steps to assure 
a smooth transition in Guinea; initiatives to protect 
Burundi's fragile success; the need to combat 
narco-trafficking; and the commitment o:GQQns to mediate and resolve crises 
around 
the African continent.  He cited Madagascar and Guinea as key 
examples, and went on to say that there is no more important 
area of concern in the region than Somalia.  He urged Ping to 
ask the AU's European partners for funds to make the salaries 
of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops 
commensurate with other UN forcesQ$-QQpontribute troops to AMISOM. 
¶5. (SBU) Ping said that the AU is making progress on 
increasing the number of troop contributing countries (TCCs). 
 According to Ping, Djibouti just increased its pledge from 
one battalion to two.  During the AU Summit, South African 
President Jacob Zuma told Ping that he had received no 
request for troops, but indicated that he would be ready to 
contribute troops once the World Cup, to be held in South 
Africa, is over.  Ping also noted that Nigeria promised a 
battalion, but has yet to deliver because the country is 
occupied with the situation in the Niger Delta. 
 
¶6. (SBU) A/S Carson noted that the U.S. provides significant 
support to Somalia and the Transitional Federal Government 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00000287  002 OF 003 
 
 
(TFG) and will help Uganda with a fourth battalion.  However, 
he also said that African countries need to bring existing 
capacity to Somalia, and named Angola as an example of a 
nation that might be able to do this.  Ping responded by 
saying that the AU has spoken to the Angolan government, 
which prefers not to get involved in conflicts that take 
place more than 2000 km from Angolan borders.  Ping noted 
that, despite this stance, Angola plans to go to 
Guinea-Bissau, establishing a precedent for Angola to play a 
role further afield in Africa.  While Angola has intervened 
in countries such as Congo on a bilateral basis, Ping 
believes the country's actions would be more credible if it 
worked with the AU or UN.  "We will slowly move them to join 
international forces," he said, observing that Angola has a 
good army, "more disciplined than Nigeria." 
 
----- 
SUDAN 
----- 
 
¶7. (C) Turning to Sudan, an amused Ping described how he set 
a trap to get UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to attend 
breakfast that morning with Sudanese President Omar Hassan 
al-Bashir.  Zuma, Ethiopia>mv-1'QQ Menkerios and Ibrahim Gambari, and the joint UN-AU 
mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassole, are good, "but Mbeki is 
better" and has the confidence of the stakeholders.  Meles 
reportedly told Ban to see former South African President 
Thabo Mbeki as a plus.  Ping concluded the discussion of 
Sudan by saying that the influence of the U.S. in South Sudan 
is greater than anyone's, and that post-referendum efforts 
must start immediately. 
 
------ 
GUINEA 
------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) After Ping thanked A/S Carson for his efforts in 
restoring order in Guinea, he observed that former coup 
leader Dadis Camara is a problem and people fear his return 
to Guinea.  A/S Carson responded that the USG would do what 
it can to keep the transition smooth, and appreciated the 
collaboration that occurred between the U.S., France, 
Morocco, and the AU to resolve the situation in Guinea.  He 
said that we have to ensure that Camara does not return to 
Guinea, but instead remains in Ouagadougou or finds another 
home, perhaps further away from Africa.  A/S Carson then 
outlined three steps that the USG would take to assist with 
Guinea's transition: 1) Help restructure the military, with 
help from U.S. African Command (AFRICOM); 2) Reopen 
development assistance; 3) Money for elections.  Ping 
declared such initiatives good, as the army and Camara are 
his two main fears. 
 
------- 
BURUNDI 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Special Advisor for the Great Lakes Howard Wolpe 
raised the issue of Burundi, which he believes is a success 
story.  He registered his concern, however, that success 
could be jeopardized by a void in international oversight of 
the peace process.  He stated that the Burundian government 
had asked Youssef Mahmoud, the head of the UN Integrated 
Office in Burundi (BINUB), to leave, and that the South 
African protection mission also was gone.  Wolpe noted in 
addition that some hard-liners in The National Council for 
the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy 
(CNDD-FDD) no longer feel secure, and there is an upsurge in 
intimidation and party-driven youth confrontation.  Wolpe 
recommended that the AU and/or the East African Community 
(EAC) pursue two initiatives: 1) Send election observers to 
Burundi quickly and in large numbers to respond to the 
Burundian president's request and 2) create an alternative 
mechanism for international facilitation to deal with 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00000287  003 OF 003 
 
 
problems that might arise.  Ping agreed that Burundi is a 
success story, but remains fragile.  As evidence, he shared 
news of an attempted coup the night before. 
 
----------------- 
NARCO-TRAFFICKING 
----------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) NSC Senior Director for African Affairs Michelle 
Gavin asked Ping to describe the AU's thinking on how to 
build a strategy to more effectively combat 
narco-trafficking, a problem that is increasing in West 
Africa in particular.  Ping replied that West Africa is 
complex, with terrorism running from Mauritania to Somalia. 
He lamented the fact that Africa is stuck as a transit point 
between Latin America, as the supplier, and Europe as the 
final market for illegal drugs.  He said that the Arab world 
and Africa have met to discuss the issue, but feel they are 
not listened to.  They need to do something, but "the problem 
is too strong for us alone."  USAU Ambassador Battle told 
participants that members of the State Department's Bureau of 
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and 
of AFRICOM met with their counterparts at the AU on January 
21 to examine narco-trafficking and the spill-over into 
terrorism (ref. B). 
 
-------------- 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
-------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) U/S Otero raised the issue of climate change, 
stating that the accord reached in Copenhagen is the first 
step to moving forward, even if questions and challenges 
remain.  She clearly stated that she was putting the issue 
before Ping so that he would encourage African countries to 
sign on.  Ping lauded the ten-person team, led by Meles, that 
negotiated on Africa's behalf in Copenhagen, saying it was 
the first time the team had spoken with one voice.  Ping said 
that Africa would prepare for upcoming meetings in Bonn and 
Mexico in the same spirit. 
 
¶12. (SBU) At the same time, Ping acknowledged that "some 
people on the team don't understand the process."  He gave 
the example of a president who brought in NGOs to contribute 
to debate, but whose vision differed from what the team had 
discussed.  Ping named adaptation as the main issue and said 
that Africa needs to move quickly to green energy, but 
requires the finances to buy needed technology from the 
north.  He highlighted Gabon, whose decision to stop cutting 
trees resulted in the collapse of the timber industry, which 
had been the country's primary industry and now needs to be 
replaced.  Despite such challenges, Ping assured his 
listeners that African countries are committed to climate 
change efforts and have potential in areas such as solar, 
hydrothermal, and biomass.  He specifically named the Congo 
Basin countries as being on board and described Senegalese 
President Abdoulaye Wade's plan to plant 7000 km of trees 
from Dakar to Djibouti.  He commented that, "we won't go to 
shout about adaptation," but will focus on technology 
transfer instead. 
 
¶13. (U) Ping closed the meeting by repeating his familiar 
refrain; given from where Africa has come and the results it 
has achieved, it is faring better than many other regions of 
the world, including Latin America.  Fiji has had five coups, 
he observed, "but here we have many successes stopping this." 
 
 
¶14. (U) A/S Carson has not cleared this cable. 
 
YATES 
YATES