Wade accused of imposing himself

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade craved being the centre of attention on the international stage and was imposing himself as a mediator in African and even outside conflicts, the United States embassy in Senegal said.

“President Wade sees himself as a peace mediator par excellence and is serial offender in regard to injecting himself uninvited into the mediation of international conflicts.

“He has offered to mediate between Iran and the United States and Syria and the United States. In October 2007, he announced that he would mediate between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and British Prime Minster Gordon Brown, ultimately flying to Harare and announcing that the solution to the conflict was for the United Kingdom and other Western countries to simply stop unfairly criticizing Mugabe’s regime and to pay for land reform.

“More recently, he injected himself into conflict between Chad and the Sudan……

“Wade craves being the centre of attention on the international stage and sees himself as being in the same class as great African statesmen such as Julius Nyerere or Nelson Mandela and hopes to cement his legacy as a peacemaker and leader of the ummah by being the one to bring peace to the Middle-East during his country’s tenure as chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. However, it is clear that he does not realize that in all likelihood Hamas is simply trying to exploit him.”

Full cable:

Viewing cable 08DAKAR501, ISRAELIS DISTRESSED BY SENEGALESE PRESIDENT

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VZCZCXYZ0000

OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDK #0501/01 1211022

ZNY CCCCC ZZH

O 301022Z APR 08

FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0400

INFO RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS IMMEDIATE 0040

RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV IMMEDIATE 0094

RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE

RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAKAR 000501

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/IAP AND AF/W

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2010

TAGS: PREL PGOV IS SY SG

SUBJECT: ISRAELIS DISTRESSED BY SENEGALESE PRESIDENT

EFFORTS TO INSINUATE HIMSELF INTO PEACE PROCESS

REF: DAKAR 496

Classified By: Charge d’Affaires Jay T. Smith for reasons 1.5 B/D

¶1. (C) Summary: On April 29, the Israeli Ambassador to

Senegal (please protect) called on Charge to express his

country,s concerns about President Abdoulaye Wade,s efforts

to inject himself and his country into the

Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He said President Wade is

misrepresenting the character of conversations and

correspondence he has had with Israeli President Shimon

Peres. Moreover, the Government of Israel does not want Wade

to play a role in the peace process, but is concerned about

the damage rejecting Wade,s overtures would cause to their

bilateral relationship. End summary.

¶2. (C) Israeli Ambassador Gideon Behar called on Charge to

discuss President Wade,s recent efforts to act as a mediator

between Israel, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority

(reftel). Behar was visibly agitated as he described Wade,s

persistent importuning of President Peres to arrange a

conversation or meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud

Olmert. According to Behar, President Wade is distorting the

nature of his communications with President Peres, much to

Israel,s distress. In a recent communique from the

Senegalese presidency, Wade implied that Peres, along with

the leadership of the Palestinian Authority and that of

Hamas, had agreed to Wade taking on the role of mediator.

¶3. (C) President Wade dispatched a special presidential

representative to Damascus to meet with Hamas leader Khaled

Maashal and to Amman, Jordan to meet with Palesitan Authority

President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to jump start the peace

negotiations. Behar reported that Israel believes that

Maashal will soon be given an invitation to come to Dakar.

President Wade has asked to be allowed to go to Israel to

begin mediating. The Government of Israel has informed him

that he would be a welcome “honored bilateral” guest.

¶4. (C) The Israeli ambassador made clear that his government

does not want any Senegalese involvement in the peace

process. However, he expressed concern about the potentially

negative impact that abruptly rejecting Wade,s overtures

could have on bilateral relations. Behar opined that

President Wade, who is scheduled to represent Africa at an

upcoming meeting of Noble Peace Laureates in Petra, Jordan,

is driven by a strong desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize

himself.

Comment

——-

¶5. (C) President Wade sees himself as a peace mediator par

excellence and is serial offender in regard to injecting

himself uninvited into the mediation of international

conflicts. He has offered to mediate between Iran and the

United States and Syria and the United States. In October

2007, he announced that he would mediate between Zimbabwean

President Robert Mugabe and British Prime Minster Gordon

Brown, ultimately flying to Harare and announcing that the

solution to the conflict was for the United Kingdom and other

Western countries to simply stop unfairly criticizing

Mugabe,s regime and to pay for land reform. More recently,

he injected himself into conflict between Chad and the Sudan.

While Wade,s efforts ultimately bore some fruit in the form

of a watered-down peace accord, that was only after he almost

washed his hands of the entire affair after a dressing down

by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, claiming

(falsely) that he had never wanted the responsibility in the

first place. The UN SG had to push him to finish what he had

started.

¶6. (C) Wade craves being the center of attention on the

international stage and sees himself as being in the same

class as great African statesmen such as Julius Nyrere or

Nelson Mandela and hopes to cement his legacy as a peacemaker

and leader of the ummah by being the one to bring peace to

the Middle-East during his country,s tenure as chair of the

Organization of the Islamic Conference. However, it is clear

that he does not realize that in all likelihood Hamas is

simply trying to exploit him. Given that Senegal has

historically sided with the Palestinians on UN General

Assembly and Human Rights Commission/Council votes it is

clear the Israelis would never accept an active role for

Wade. Moreover, during the OIC Special Envoy,s recent

meeting with him (reftel), President Wade betrayed his utter

lack of appreciation for the complexity of the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict blithely saying that a

cease-fire would be possible if the Israelis merely agreed to

eliminate all security checkpoints in the West Bank. Wade,s

efforts are unlikely to contribute constructively to the

Annapolis peace process and could very well undermine it.

SMITH

(30 VIEWS)