Iranian arms in West Africa: Set-up or mess-up?

RNW-Dec 2010- Late October, news came in that Nigerian police in Lagos had seized a ship carrying 13 containers with heavy arms and ammunition. Estimated price tag: some 20 million US dollars. Origin: Iran. Destination: the Gambian presidency. Now, two months later, relations between Senegal and Iran have reached breaking point.
 

By Bram Posthumus and Sheriff Bojang Jnr

Three questions. First, why would Iran send arms to West Africa? Second, does the Gambia, a small country along the river of the same name, need such a copious quantity of arms? Thus: third, who were they for?

Gambia's ambiguous role
Let us begin with that last question. Since 1982, there has been a low-intensity conflict going on in the southern Senegalese region of Casamance, which shares a border with the Gambia and another with Guinea Bissau. Northern Guinea Bissau was a rear-base for the Casamance rebels for years but recent incursions into Senegal from there have been rare. While still a nuisance, the rebel force itself is weak and splintered.

So what of the Gambia? Its role in the Casamance has been ambiguous. It has tried to facilitate peace talks but it has also been a shelter to the rebels and arms have reached Casamance through the Gambia before. So the news of this particular shipment caused consternation in Dakar, especially since the stated destination was the home village and permanent residence of Gambian president Yahya Jammeh, Kanilai – a few kilometres from the Casamance border.

Mutual suspicion
Gambian diplomats have denied that their country was the destination for the arms and the country has now also severed ties with Iran. But Senegal remains unimpressed and suspicious. That feeling, by the way, is mutual.

But even though the arms saga has further soured the mood between Dakar and Banjul, things still do not add up. As we said, the rebel movement in Casamance is hardly worthy of the name and such a quantity of arms and ammunition would be wasted on them. So: who were these arms for?

"We have looked at several possibilities," says Mark Schroeder, the Africa analyst at Stratfor, a global intelligence company. "Individual countries such as the Gambia don’t need so many arms. Another one, like Ivory Coast runs its own ports and can source weapons independently. So then we thought about various insurgent groups in the region, like MEND in Nigeria and the Casamance rebels. And we have certainly been thinking about AQMI (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a loosely organised series of groups that has been involved in kidnapping foreigners in among others Mauritania, Mali and Niger)."

Schroeder thinks that the weapons shipment could easily have had multiple destinations. "And I’m sure the US government would love to get proof if AQMI were to be one of the recipients of these arms. The US is concerned about AQMI and has worked with various countries in the region to keep it in check."

The Iran connection
The sender, Iran, does not have the habit of shipping arms directly to its clients, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. One Iranian deputy has declared that it’s all a set-up by Western intelligence, designed to cause embarrassment between Africa and Iran. Stratfor’s Mark Schroeder does not rule that out. "This is not a high cost activity for Western intelligence," he says, "and the US is always trying to put pressure on Iran’s behaviour. Every little bit helps."

If so, they have succeeded and Senegal is a case in point. Iran was a welcome guest at the summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference that was hosted by Dakar in 2007. Two years later, Iranian president Ahmadinejad paid a high-profile visit to the same city. Iran runs development projects in Senegal, Iranian Khodro taxis (assembled locally) ply the streets of Dakar – and crucially, Senegal supports Iran’s quest to go nuclear.

Tehran maintains that the intercepted arms were part of a private business transaction. But Nigerian newspapers report that the two Iranian businessmen involved, Azim Aghajani and Sayed Akbar Tahmaesebi, were operatives of the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s chief military force.

Two losers
That would confirm Senegal’s view that you do not organise a private arms shipment of this magnitude without the Iranian state knowing about it. Dakar recalled its ambassador to Teheran on December 14th “for consultations”. A break-up seems imminent.

So far, the fallout appears to affect mostly Iran and the Gambia. Both have dreadful reputations internationally, in part thanks to their human rights record. In addition, there is controversy over Iran’s nuclear plans, while the Gambia is mostly known as a regional hub for money laundering, drugs trafficking and now weapons smuggling. But it is even worse for Iran.

According to Mark Schroeder, it has just lost a valuable pipeline. "This is an old supply chain that Iran has used for channelling political interest and also drugs, weapons and money. Now it’s blocked. Things may still go through Lagos but they will have to find new ways."

West Africa, drug lords’ new El Dorado

It has mainly been Guinea Bissau all along in the sub-region. Now a poor, tiny West African state of The Gambia is also making international headlines for illicit drugs.

On Tuesday, the National Drugs Enforcement Agency in Banjul discovered over 2 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of over US$1 Billion. This is the biggest drugs scandal in West Africa and twelve suspects, including three Dutch nationals have since been charged with various drugs offences.

The scandal in Banjul is another manifestation that drug trafficking is becoming more and more a huge problem in West Africa. Until less than a decade ago, the region’s major problems were internal political instability and corrupt leadership. But the emergence of Latin American drug kingpins at the West African ports and borders has opened up another challenge for a region already battling with poverty, diseases and violence.

Corrupt officials
The International Police (Interpol) estimated that two-thirds of drugs sold in Europe from Latin America in 2009 were trafficked through West Africa. Various studies by various international organisations revealed that while the drug lords target West Africa due to poverty, senior West African officials, including politicians, lawmakers and security personnel benefits directly from the drugs trade in the countries.

Recently, Ousman Conte, an influential son of late Guinean president, Lansana Conte was arrested for alleged drug dealings. In April, former Guinea Bissau Navy chief, Rear Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto and the current chief of the air force, were listed by the US Treasury Department as drug kingpins. In March, Gambian authorities arrested Police Inspector General as well as the Head of the National Drugs Enforcement Agency for alleged drug trafficking.

In countries like Guinea Bissau, one of the poorest and underdeveloped countries in the world, top officials drive big American trucks such as Hummer on a daily basis when their annual legitimate income is half the price of a used Hummer.

Latin American drug lords come to West Africa with lot of money and with it, it is obvious that they bribe their ways in and out of the porous West African ports and borders.

Insecurity and escalating crime rate
One of the major concerns about drug trafficking in West Africa is the threat that it poses to the region. Drugs use and trafficking are singled out by experts as being responsible for West Africa’s escalating crime rate and political instability.

In Guinea Bissau for example, the numerous assassinations of army chiefs and eventually the president, Joao Bernardo Vieira are blamed on booming drugs trafficking in the country.

According to Gambia’s Drugs Enforcement Agency chief, ‘the successful operation in Banjul will serve as a new warning to Latin American drug dealers that West Africa is ready for them’.

But West Africa is the El Dorado for those drug lords and certainly, it will take a lot of efforts and fight to put them off the region.