NIGERIA: UNAMSIL MANDATE RENEWAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 002172 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2011 TAGS: KPKO MARR PREL NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: UNAMSIL MANDATE RENEWAL REF: STATE 147877 Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter; Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) PolMilOff spoke with Director of American and Caribbean Affairs (and former Deputy Director of West African Affairs) Basil Ukpong of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 27. After a friendly exchange of compliments on the efforts of both the U.S. and Nigeria to bring peace to Sierra Leone, Ukpong stated that U.S. support had turned UNAMSIL around, as was clear from recent progress towards peace and disarmament. PolMilOff asked if Nigeria would support the UNAMSIL mandate renewal. Ukpong laughed, and said, "Of course." ¶2. (C) During an August 28 meeting focused otherwise on Zimbabwe (septel),DCM asked MFA Director for African Affairs Ambassador Femi George if Nigeria would support UNAMSIL renewal. George laughed and said, "That's a foregone conclusion. Why are you troubling yourself to ask?" ¶3. (C) Turning serious, George commented that Nigeria was concerned that the Special Court should adopt proper procedures and attitudes. Otherwise, the current level of cooperation the RUF was offering might be lost, with serious consequences for the UN Mission. It was perfectly alright, he opined, to proceed quickly against the people "everybody knew" were responsible for atrocities. However, the "other pillar, the Truth and Reconciliation Committee," needed time to "do its work and bring out the facts and revelations" before certain others could be brought before the court. This might take time, George continued, and the international community needed to show the proper measure of patience. Nigeria was planning to second officers to the Court and to provide approximately $100,000 in funding, George added, noting that final arrangements for this assistance were not yet in place. Jeter