INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Ambassador Swing Meets Oic Members

Published: Wed 26 Mar 2008 11:57 AM
VZCZCXRO4959
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0364 0861157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261157Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0246
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS DAKAR 000364
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, PRM AND INR/AA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PREF SG
SUBJECT: Ambassador Swing Meets OIC Members
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: During a two-day visit to Senegal to promote his
candidacy for the position of director-general of the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) on the margins of the Organization
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Summit in Dakar, Ambassador William
L. Swing met with key member countries. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) Following a personal invitation to come to Dakar by
Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Ambassador Swing
held a series of successful bilateral meetings where countries
pledged their support for his candidacy. By both underlining the
fact that the current Amcit incumbent, who is running for an
unprecedented third term, does not have the support of his own
government and has reneged on his pledge to step down after having
served two terms, Ambassador Swing built a strong case for his
candidacy based on his years of experience as both a six-time
ambassador and most recently as head of a United Nations mission in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he managed over 22,000
people and a budget of USD 1.2 Billion.
Pledge of Support
-----------------
3. (SBU) Senegal's Foreign Minister not only said that his country
would support Ambassador Swing, he added that he would make calls on
Swing's behalf if necessary. The Foreign Minister of Guinea-Bissau,
Maria de Conceicao Nobre Cabral, also pledged her support saying
that she would send the Bissau-Guinean Ambassador in Brussels to
attend the June 18 vote in Geneva. Ambassador Swing also met with
delegations from the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Mozambique,
Sierra Leone, and Cote D'Ivoire's Ambassador to Senegal.
SMITH
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