Viewing cable 09RABAT988, GUINEA: UPDATE ON DADIS CAMARA'S HEALTH

VZCZCXRO9482
OO RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRB #0988/01 3511840
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 171840Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0958
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHRY/AMEMBASSY CONAKRY IMMEDIATE 0009
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU IMMEDIATE 0589
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI IMMEDIATE 0450
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN PRIORITY 0077
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA PRIORITY 0097
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 0194
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 1293
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO PRIORITY 0129
RUEHJL/AMEMBASSY BANJUL PRIORITY 0101
RUEHCO/AMEMBASSY COTONOU PRIORITY 0055
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR PRIORITY 0514
RUEHFN/AMEMBASSY FREETOWN PRIORITY 0034
RUEHPC/AMEMBASSY LOME PRIORITY 0562
RUEHMV/AMEMBASSY MONROVIA PRIORITY 0568
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY PRIORITY 1177

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000988 

SIPDIS 
NOFORN 

DEPT FOR AF, AF/W, NEA/MAG, AND INR/AA 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2019 
TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL XA MO
SUBJECT: GUINEA: UPDATE ON DADIS CAMARA'S HEALTH 

REF: A. STATE 127514 
¶B. OUAGADOUGOU 1158 

RABAT 00000988 001.2 OF 002 


Classified By: DCM ROBERT P. JACKSON FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D). 

¶1. (S) Summary: In separate meetings on December 16 with 
the Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri and XXXXXXXXXXXX 
the Mission learned that the health of wounded Guinean junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara has improved and that his release from the hospital may be imminent. Fassi Fihri told the Ambassador that the GOM would keep Dadis Camara in Morocco until the end of the month, while XXXXXXXXXXXX outlined some of the reasons Dadis should not resume a role in Guinean politics. Both described ethnic politics in Guinea and the need for free and fair elections. Fassi Fihri noted as well that elections would not solve the problems 
because the army is so factionalized and ethnic conflict in 
Guinean society is so prevalent. End Summary. 

¶2. (S) In a December 16 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Moroccan Foreign Minister Fassi Fihri related that he had 
visited Dadis Camara on Wednesday, December 9, and that he 
had been conscious but not coherent. Dadis arrived in a 
coma, and doctors removed bullet fragments from his skull. 
He continued to recover, according to Fassi Fihri, and was 
now able to speak. He has reportedly asked the GOM to help 
him tape a five-minute television appearance for Guinean 
television. Fassi Fihri stated that Dadis's admission to 
Morocco was a humanitarian gesture and that the GOM would 
keep him in Morocco until the end of December. The Minister 
noted as well that Libya would be willing to accept Dadis 
Camara. 

¶3. (S) Fassi Fihri also said that the Guinean Defense 
Minister, General Sekouba Konate, had told the GOM that he 
wished to visit Morocco to meet with Dadis, presumably to 
evaluate his ability to govern. The GOM was likely to honor 
Konate's request but only after the December 18 release of 
the report on the September massacre. However, Fassi Fihri 
also expressed pessimism about a Konate-led government, 
calling the Konate a drunkard. 

¶4. (S/NF) Also on December 16, XXXXXXXXXXXX told PolOff that Moroccan doctors are expected imminently to release Dadis Camara from the hospital, but that there could be long-term health consequences from the failed December 3 shooting. XXXXXXXXXXXX
 reported that Moroccan officials have not allowed him, Guinean dignitaries, or the Guinean Ambassador to visit Dadis Camara, but that he received regular medical updates from an unnamed Moroccan source who was providing care for the junta leader at the 
Mohammed V Military Hospital in Rabat. XXXXXXXXXXXX
 said Dadis was alert but was not expected to return fully to his 
previous state of health. 

¶5. (S/NF) XXXXXXXXXXXX described the "ethnicization" of Guinea and the risk of conflict and violence like in Rwanda. He stated that Dadis Camara has recruited mercenaries from South Africa and Israel and assembled them, along with some of his own men, in Forecariah, in the ethnically Sussu region in the west of the country, while Dadis was from the Forest region to the east. His militia numbered 2,000-3,000 and wss armed with weapons from Ukraine. The risk of conflict and destabilization threatened the entire region, he said. 

¶6. (S/NF) XXXXXXXXXXXX handed a handwritten document of unknown origin to PolOff describing Dadis as a philandering, mentally unstable, heavy drinker and drug abuser given to delusions. The document also outlined a plan for the future of Guinea, proposing that Guinean Minister of National Defense Sekouba Konate lead a ten-member civilian/military committee to restore order in the country, after which trade 

RABAT 00000988 002.2 OF 002 


unionist Dr. Ibrahima Fofana would serve as transitional 
president for six months until presidential elections were 
held. 

¶7. (S/NF) Comment: Fassi Fihri,s discussion of Guinea 
contrasted sharply with his much more emotional, less 
objective discussion of Western Sahara. In any case, with 
Dadis Camara evidently recovering and the GOM agreeing to 
keep him in Morocco only until the end of December, the 
situation in Guinea could become more complicated unless the 
international community can persuade Konate and the Economic 
Community of West African States to act quickly. End comment. 

¶8. (U) Tripoli minimize considered. 


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