SYGSR SWING BRIEFS ON CHISSANO MEETING

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000338

SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/S, AF/C, AF/RSA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL MOPS PREF CG XA ZF MZ SF UG BY UN
SUBJECT: SYGSR SWING BRIEFS ON CHISSANO MEETING



1. On March 8, Secretary General's Special Representative
Ambassador William Swing called on Ambassador to brief on his
meeting in Maputo with President Chissano and the current
situation of the MONUC in DRC with sixteen months until the
planned June 2005 elections.


2. Ambassador Swing told us that in his meeting with
Chissano, he described MONUC's dramatic, but incomplete,
progress and laid out the difficult, but not insurmountable
problems they face. He discussed the different options and
estimated price tags for the elections next year, depending
on the timing of local, provincial, and national polls (and
the possibility of conducting them simultaneously). Turning
to demobilization, Amb. Swing detailed successes, but also
the fact that forty to fifty thousand combatants remain to be
sent back, as well roughly one thousand each from Uganda,
Burundi, and the Interhambwe.


3. Amb. Swing found Chissano gracious and engaged, and
described their meeting as friendly and productive. He
thanked Chissano for his role in chairing the recent meeting
in South Africa and made four points. First, he encouraged
Chissano to visit Congo. Swing noted the importance of
Chissano's visit not only as current President of the AU, but
also as the African national leader with the most relevant
experience for Congo coming from transition from civil war to
political stability. Chissano said that he wants to schedule
a substantive three to four day visit, rather than just an
airport meeting. Second, Swing asked Chissano to join the SG
in making a strong appeal to Uganda and Rwanda to drastically
reduce the supply of arms, while MONUC concentrates on
reducing demand. Third, he requested that the GRM send a
diplomat to represent Mozambique in Kinshasa, (Swing went as
far as to offer logistical support to the Mozambican
Ambassador and suggested the South Africans might let him
work from their mission). Fourth, he expressed the hope that
Chissano would participate in a ceremony to mark the one-year
anniversary of the Congolese All-Parties Agreement in South
Africa, in an effort to reinforce for the Congolese partners
the progress that has been made.
LA LIME