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Viewing cable 06DAKAR1857, TFLE01: MORE PEACEFUL PROTESTS; WADE CALLS FOR

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06DAKAR1857 2006-08-03 07:47 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Dakar
VZCZCXRO8957
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #1857/01 2150747
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 030747Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5919
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0047
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 0772
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0077
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 0041
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0027
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001857 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/ES, R, AF, NEA, AF/W AND AF/PDPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PREL CASC ASEC MOPS LE IS PU SG
SUBJECT: TFLE01: MORE PEACEFUL PROTESTS; WADE CALLS FOR 
OIC INVOLVEMENT; MORE SENEGALESE ARRIVE FROM LEBANON 
 
REF: A. DAKAR 1760 (NOTAL) 
 
B. DAKAR 1744 (NOTAL) 
 
1.  SUMMARY: President Wade reiterated his call for an 
immediate Middle East ceasefire.  Almost 450 Senegalese 
have now fled Lebanon, with Morocco and France evacuating 
more than half.  Senegalese, Bissau-Guineans and Lebanese 
in Bissau and Dakar staged peaceful demonstrations on July 
31 and August 1, respectively.  Over the past week 
Senegalese media have given ample voice to a range of anti- 
American and anti-Semitic views in reaction to the current 
conflict, and we countered with a strong op-ed.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
WADE CALLS FOR UN AND OIC ACTION 
-------------------------------- 
2.  As Senegal was coordinating the departure of its 
citizens from Lebanon, President Abdoulaye Wade repeated 
his call for the UN Security Council and the Organization 
of the Islamic Conferences (OIC) to support an immediate 
ceasefire. 
 
450 SENEGALESE FLEE 
------------------- 
3.  Of the 450 Senegalese nationals who have sought 
assistance departing Lebanon, 86 arrived in Rabat via a 
Moroccan military aircraft on July 30.  A Senegalese 
charter had brought 142 Senegalese from Damascus to Dakar 
on July 28.  Morocco had previously evacuated 150 
Senegalese and France 12. 
 
PEACEFUL PROTESTS IN DAKAR AND BISSAU 
------------------------------------- 
4.  The Lebanese community gathered in Dakar on August 1 
for a religious ceremony in front of the Lebanese Embassy, 
where hundreds lit candles in memory of the 800 Lebanese 
who have died in the Middle East conflict.  The Lebanese 
Embassy is just two doors down from the U.S. Embassy. 
 
5.  The Lebanese community in Guinea-Bissau staged a July 
31 protest against Israeli attacks in Lebanon and 
submitted a petition to the local UN headquarters 
demanding an immediate ceasefire.  According to media 
reports, the crowd of mostly young and middle-aged 
Lebanese men who work as retailers in the capital, 
displayed a massive photograph of Hezbollah leader Hassan 
Nasrallah and shouted "Viva Nasrallah.  Death to Israel." 
"What Israel is doing to children and old people in the 
south of Lebanon is a crime.  The Lebanese do not want war 
-- they do not even have weapons.  Israel is using planes 
and even illegal bombs to kill our people," said Chakib 
Zaidan, President of the Lebanese association in Guinea- 
Bissau. 
 
SENEGALESE MEDIA AMPLIFY ANTI-U.S. SENTIMENT 
-------------------------------------------- 
6.  In a country where hot-button issues such as Iraq, Abu 
Ghraib and Guantanamo have traditionally received scant 
coverage, over the past week Senegalese media have given 
ample voice to a range of anti-American and anti-Semitic 
views in reaction to the current conflict. 
 
EMBASSY-DAKAR COUNTERS WITH OP-ED 
--------------------------------- 
7.  On July 27, Embassy-Dakar placed an op-ed by 
Ambassador Jacobs with the leading daily "Walfadjri."  In 
the op-ed, the Ambassador acknowledged deep concerns in 
Senegal over the Middle East crisis while cautioning 
against rhetoric that could fuel the self-fulfilling 
prophecy of a "clash of civilizations."  The piece notes 
the importance of a sustainable cease-fire addressing the 
root causes of the extremism that led to the crisis and 
notes the U.S. pledge of USD 30 million in immediate 
humanitarian assistance to meet the basic medical needs of 
10,000 people for a three-month period. 
 
BUT ANTI-U.S. SENTIMENT IN MEDIA PERSISTS 
----------------------------------------- 
8.  On July 29, a major daily editorialized that Secretary 
Rice is "crushing all nascent peace initiatives with her 
insistence on avoiding any return to the status quo ante 
in the Middle East crisis.  The Israelis have read the 
message loud and clear, intensifying their systematic 
bombardment of targets associated with Hezbollah.  Lebanon 
 
DAKAR 00001857  002 OF 002 
 
 
has thus become a convenient proving ground for President 
Bush's oft-stated desire to bring about a 'new order' in 
the region, where his Administration is using 
'constructive chaos' to mold a neo-conservative vision of 
a 'Greater Middle East.'" 
 
9.  A number of major daily newspapers gave prominent 
coverage to the Iranian Ambassador to Senegal's August 1 
Dakar press conference.  The Iranian was quoted as saying 
that "the Israeli bombing of southern Lebanon is part of a 
crusade against Islam declared by the United States in the 
wake of September 11" and that the U.S. instigated the 
"cartoon controversy" caused by published caricatures of 
the Prophet Mohammed.  He was also cited as saying, "What 
is happening is Lebanon is an act of barbarism. And the 
Americans, for whom democracy means massacre, bear sole 
responsibility." 
 
10.  Also on August 1, two major dailies published an 
incendiary op-ed by Abu Jafer Kane, a member of the 
"Senegalese Committee of Intellectuals," who says "With 
this war, George Bush's bellicose America wants to realize 
its theory of a Greater Middle East spanning from 
Mauritania to Pakistan. ... President Bush has confirmed 
the engagement of a country commonly known as 'The Great 
Satan' by guaranteeing Israel's military superiority over 
its neighbors with the delivery of more than 500 laser- 
guided bombs to more effectively destroy Lebanon and 
Palestine.  Arab leaders, wake up! What will you do for 
Palestine and Lebanon?" 
 
JACOBS