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18 Jul, 62 tweets, 11 min read
Guinea Bauxite

SSCI report on 2016 Russian Interference

VOL 5: COUNTERINTEL THREATS AND VULNERABILITIES

Approximately 2008 or 2009, Manafort worked on a project for Deripaska in Guinea where Deripaska had a large interest in bauxite mining and alumina refinery
facilities.
FBI FD-302, Gates 10/29/2018:

"Deripaska's business interest [in Guinea] primarily involved the Friguia Bauxite and Alumina Complex, which had been privatized in 2006. The Friguia complex is one of the largest employers in Guinea"
Boyarkin managed the project for Deripaska. Gates recalled meeting with Boyarkin, Kilimnik, and Manafort about the project.

Boyarkin had intel regarding politicians in Guinea and contacts within the Guinean government.
Deripaska's strategy was to use American campaign techniques in Guinea to get the person he supported elected president. Gates recalled that after working on the project for several months, the presidential candidate Manafort's firm was supporting was
shot.
After the shooting, Boyarkin moved· a Russian military ship to Guinea as a show of force to anyone who was trying to impede Deripaska. Gates believed the work in Guinea ended shortly thereafter, work for which Manafort's firm was paid over $1M
5 Dec 2009

Pres Moussa Dadis Camara was flown to Morocco, where he underwent a "minor operation" after being shot on Thursday.

The aide who allegedly shot Capt Camara remains on the run.

Camara seized power in Dec 2008 as a little-known army captain.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/83…
Promised democracy but then showed signs of holding onto power

Increasingly erratic behaviour and public humiliation of officials.

Has pledged to tackle drugs traffickers

Initially blamed "uncontrollable" military elements for September 28 killings
Details of his injuries were unclear, with some reports saying it was a minor graze on his head, while others saying it was multiple gunshot wounds.

Minister of Communications said Camara's driver and bodyguard were killed in the attack when they were attacked with machetes
The senior aide allegedly responsible, Major Aboubacar Diakite, has gone into hiding.

He told AFP news agency he was hiding in "a safe place" somewhere in Guinea, and that he had "a fair number of men" with him.
"I am in Guinea, I am free to move about," he said, but refused to discuss the attack.

Analysts say the shooting highlights deep rifts within the junta after the killing of an estimated 157 opposition supporters in September.
29 Sept 2009

50k rallied against Camara, indications he is to reverse a pledge not to run in a vote set for Jan.

"There are 87 bodies collected in and around the stadium after the military came through," a police source told the AFP news agency.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/82…
Tony Blair has added to his burgeoning African empire. The former prime minister can now count himself as official adviser to the president of Guinea, a hot, steamy republic in west Africa in possession of vast mineral resources.

thisissierraleone.com/tony-blair-exp…
The agreement coincides with a deal to explore new mining opportunities signed by the government of Guinea and a Middle East investment fund, which also employs Mr Blair as an adviser on business matters.
Guinea is the 4th state, after Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone, to invite Blair into government. The formal partnership between Guinea and Blair’s charity, the African Governance Initiative (AGI), was sealed at the end of last year after six months of negotiation.
Blair can now include Alpha Conde on his list of African rulers with whom he is close. Mr Conde, a political science professor, came to power in 2010, the first time Guinea had elected its president freely and fairly since gaining independence from France more than 50 years ago.
Guinea, despite being one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on earth, may prove to be the jewel in AGI’s crown. After years of brutal, dictatorial rule, Guinea, which has a population of just 10 million in an area the size of the UK, has huge potential for growth.
Guinea is the world’s biggest producer of bauxite, used to make aluminium, and is set to be 3rd largest source of iron ore. There are also significant deposits of diamonds, gold and uranium. Bauxite reserves are estimated at 25B tons & there are 4B tons of iron ore.
AGI is currently deploying a team on the ground in Guinea’s ramshackle capital Conakry to instil good governance among its ministers and bureaucrats. Significantly, it will also involve itself in attracting foreign investors.
A West African diplomatic source told The Sunday Telegraph: “AGI’s dealings are part business and part charity. While some people in his organisation are pushing the shepherding bit of his operation, others are doing business on the mineral resources side of things.”
Mubadala Development Company, a £20B Abu Dhabi gov sovereign wealth fund, signed the “collaboration agreement” with Guinea in Nov. It includes investing in new bauxite and iron ore mines.
Tony Blair Associates has been a paid adviser to Mubadala since 2009

Blair’s spokesman said: “All the work he does for AGI is pro bono, he has no commercial interest connected with any of the work he does for AGI in these countries”
“Blair frequently discusses the development of AGI’s partner countries with other governments, companies, philanthropic foundations and development agencies. He has no commercial interest in any such discussions and all the work he does as patron of AGI is on a pro bono basis.”
Blair first visited Conakry last June and returned there in December to formally agree AGI’s tie-up with Guinea.

AGI's head in Guinea is Shruti Mehrotra, previously a campaigner with anti-corruption charity Global Witness
In Nov, Mubadala announced “agreements to explore new investments and partnerships in strategic sectors such as bauxite, alumina and iron ore”.

Another acquaintance of Mr Blair also has an interest in the country. Oleg Deripaska...
owns a bauxite mine and a smelting plant in Guinea through his company Rusal, the world’s largest producer of aluminium.

Rusal also held talks in Nov with Sierra Leone’s president, Ernest Bai Koroma, over a new bauxite mining project. Blair is also an adviser to Mr Koroma.
Another of Mr Blair’s charities Breaking the Climate Deadlock — was given £300,000 by Deripaska in 2009.

In 2009, JP Morgan, which pays Mr Blair about £1M/y tried to put together a deal in which Rusal would be refinanced through a £3B loan from the Libyan Investment Authority.
In January is was disclosed that a management company set up by Mr Blair had an income of more than £12 million but paid tax of just £315,000 on profits of more than £1 million.
26 Sept 2011

Tony Blair is facing fresh questions over his role as a Middle East peace envoy after claims that he has used the position to promote lucrative business deals for clients of an investment bank that pays him £2M/y

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2…
As a representative of the Quartet –the UN, the EU, the U.S. and Russia Blair is tasked with fostering peace between Israel and Palestine.

But he has also used the post to promote two contracts worth more than £1B in Palestine with British Gas and mobile phone firm Wataniya...
both major clients of J P Morgan, which employs him as a senior adviser.

Blair championed the development of a huge gas field operated by British Gas off the coast of Gaza, as well as the opening up of radio frequencies so Wataniya could operate a phone network in the West Bank.
Wataniya CEO Bassam Hanoun said that although the network had been built, it was ‘dead’ until Blair’s forceful intervention with Israeli ministers.

Wataniya is owned by the Qatari telecoms giant QTEL, which bought Wataniya International in 2007 with a £1.3B loan arranged by JPM
The deal for the gas field, worth £3.9B, not yet signed, is a development Blair has been pushing the Israeli's to adopt.

‘In neither case was Mr Blair even aware that JPM had a connection with the company. He never discussed it with them. They never raised it with him.’
Anis Nacrour, French diplomat worked for Blair at the Quartet’s Jerusalem office, said: ‘I think he makes his own rules depending on the experience he has as a former PM.’

Nacrour also believes the Quartet is merely a ‘smokescreen’ for American-Israeli business interests
Blair’s Quartet post – which he accepted after leaving Downing Street in 2007 – is unpaid, but its substantial expenses are part-funded by the British taxpayer.

Blair has also befriended a billionaire Israeli, though there is no evidence of impropriety.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2…
Blair had six private meetings with Gaddafi in the 3 years after he left Downing Street in June 2007.

At least twice he flew to Tripoli on a luxurious private jet put at his disposal by the Libyan regime.
Blair is paid £2M/y by JPM. In Jan 2009, he visited Gaddafi when JPM was trying to negotiate a deal with the Libyan Investment Authority worth billions

The deal came to nothing, and JPM denies that Blair was involved.
It's impossible to believe he went to Libya so often simply to swap stories. Unless, of course, he was also discussing the early release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, who had been convicted of the Lockerbie bombing which caused the deaths of 270
5 meetings took place in the 14 months before Al Megrahi was released on supposedly compassionate grounds by the Scottish gov, in Aug 2009

Gaddafi was so obsessed with getting Al Megrahi out of jail that a wobbly Foreign Office feared Gaddafi
‘might seek to exact vengeance’ if he wasn’t set free. Mr Blair’s frequent presence in Tripoli around this time raises the suspicion that he was involved in some sort of deal.

Blair had been paid £240,000 to deliver a single speech in China in Nov 2007.
Blair’s charity, Africa Governance Initiative, has had employees working at the heart of Kagame’s Rwanda regime after bringing teams of young execs from JPM to work for his charity in the country.
21 Dec 2019

“I would like to meeting in a one-on-one format because I have things to say to you that are not worth discussing in such a large group” Alpha Conde of Guinea said to Putin when they met at the inaugural Russia-Africa summit in Sochi in Oct

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
“My pleasure,” Putin, replied as aides began to herd the several dozen officials and reporters in attendance out of the room, leaving him and Conde alone with their respective translators.
Conde has made no secret of his interest in finding a way to stay in power after his second -- and legally last -- term ends next October. This week, he unveiled a proposed new constitution that could allow him to extend his rule. [He's currently serving his 3rd term]
Both the US and France, Guinea’s former colonial ruler, are urging Conde to avoid risking civil unrest by changing the landmark constitution that allowed the former academic and long-time opposition leader to become the country’s first democratically elected head of state in 2010
Russia, on the other hand, is throwing its weight behind Conde’s undeclared campaign.

In Guinea, the Kremlin is leveraging a mix of old Soviet ties, new capitalist might in the form of Rusal and Putin’s popularity among other leaders.
Putin is viewed as a kind of “guru” in Africa, Viktor Boyarkin, a former diplomat and ex-Rusal security chief who’s known Conde for about a decade, said in an interview in Moscow. “People come to him for advice.”
Initially hailed when he came to power for ushering in democratic rule, Conde has cracked down in recent years as opposition has grown.

The same day Putin discussed possible constitutional changes in Moscow, fueling speculation that he was seeking ways to remain in power
beyond the end of his term in 2024, Conde unveiled plans for a new version of Guinea’s basic law that would lengthen the presidential term. He said the new document would need to be approved in a national referendum.
In Jan, Putin’s envoy to Guinea had stunned local opposition & foreign govs by backing constitutional changes to extend Conde’s rule. In a speech on state tv, Amb Bregadze called Conde “legendary” and argued that constitutions shouldn’t be immutable akin to “The Bible or Koran.”
4 months later, Rusal hired the Bregadze as its country chief in Guinea. Rusal sources about 40% of its bauxite from Guinean mines.

Boyarkin is consulting Conde’s administration ahead of the possible extension to his rule, according to three people with direct knowledge
Boyarkin was blacklisted by the US a year ago over his ties to Deripaska, which prompted him to give up ownership of Bureau Legint, a Russian consultancy working in Guinea.

Boyarkin said his only activity in Guinea now is offering advice and his “high-level” contacts...
to foreign companies pursuing investment opportunities, including hydroelectric and mining projects. Sylla, the government spokesman, declined to comment on any connections to Conde.
A few weeks after his trip to DC, just before Conde met with Putin, mass demonstrations against changing Guinea’s constitution erupted in Conakry. At least 14 protesters and one policeman have been killed in clashes since, according to Human Rights Watch.
“We originally thought Bregadze’s comment on the constitution was his personal position,” said Cellou Dalein Diallo, who lost the 2015 election but refused to recognize the results over what he called massive vote-rigging.
Boyarkin blames the protests mainly on “outside forces” and has nothing but praise for Conde. “I consider him a savior for Guinea.”

US Treasury, imposing sanctions on him a year ago, described Boyarkin as a former military-intelligence officer
In 2008, Boyarkin worked with Paul Manafort, on African political-consulting projects Boyarkin declined to elaborate on.

Boyarkin said he joined Rusal in 2008 and stopped working for Deripaska in 2016.

Boyarkin says he met Conde in the summer of 2010
After Conde came to power, Boyarkin says he helped resolve a dispute with the government, successfully averting a $1B claim filed by the military junta that preceded him.”

“Since the days of the Soviet Union, you have been alongside us, protecting us,” Conde told Putin
20 Dec 2016

Senegal arrested a Guinean soldier linked to a 2009 massacre where at least 150 people were killed and dozens of women raped

Lt Aboubacar “Toumba” Diakite, who witnesses say played a key role in the massacre was arrested in Dakar

reuters.com/article/guinea…
At the 28 Sept 2009 massacre one of the worst acts of repression in West Africa’s recent history, security forces opened fire on pro-democracy protestors who had gathered to put pressure on then junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara not to stand at an election the following year.
Diakite was head of the presidential guard and a close aide to Camara, who took power in a coup in 2008.

Diakite is also accused of having organised mass arrests of army officers seen as hostile to the junta. Many were tortured, according to their families.
Diakite shot Camara in the head in an assassination attempt in Dec. 2009 and told French radio he did it because Camara had cast the blame on him for the massacre.
Camara survived but resigned the presidency and fled to Burkina Faso, where he was charged in 2015 for crimes relating to the massacre. He has not yet stood trial.

Pres Alpha Conde won the 2010 election in the first democratic transition in Guinea

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