World Food Program Update on Opening New

UNCLAS ROME 002746 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FROM US MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME STATE FOR A/S PRM DEWEY, MCKELVEY AND KNUDSON, NEA/ENA, A/S IO HOLMES AND IO/EDA BEHREND AND KOTOK USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA WINTER, AA/AFR ACTING, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS, DCHA/OFDA OWENS USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLEY AND USAID/KYLOH BRUSSELS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS AND USAID/LERNER USUN FOR TAMLYN AND MLUTZ NSC FOR JMELINE AND AFRICA DIRECTORATE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF EAID ELTN LY CD SU WFP SUBJECT: World Food Program Update on Opening New Transportation Corridors through Libya for Darfur and Eastern Chad REF: (A) STATE 150719, (B) ROME 002371 Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) As requested ref A, Mission spoke 07/12 with WFP and conveyed information. WFP has not been considering the shipment of commodities from Libya (Al Kufrah) by road directly into northern Sudan down to Darfur because of serious security constraints, which would require substantive Sudanese military escorts for each shipment. Only the Al Kufrah-eastern Chad corridor is presently operative for commercial traffic and Libyan truckers are both familiar and comfortable with using this latter route. Note. Given the relative inaccessibility of large regions of Darfur, and the rainy season which has now commenced, WFP is considering possible use of Al Kufrah to conduct humanitarian airdrops, assuming GOS agreement can be obtained. End note. ¶2. (SBU) WFP informed that they have received a Swiss cash donation which will permit them this week to finalize a tender to purchase in Europe or Turkey and ship approximately 450 metric tons of wheat, for delivery to eastern Chad via Libya. The plan is to have a WFP team arrive in Libya o/a July 27 to iron out the remaining details related to use of Libyan ports and transport through Libya (transport charges, fees, customs clearance, etc),and sign necessary documentation/letter of understanding. Assuming this is successfully and promptly concluded, the WFP vessel would arrive at Benghazi port o/a August 5. Several members of the WFP team would remain in-country to monitor the trial shipment operation. ¶3. (SBU) At a WFP/Rome briefing on Darfur (07/13),the Libyan Ambassador to Italy and the UN Agencies assured that his government had come to agreement with WFP on all the major logistical modalities of the use of the Libyan corridor. ¶4. (U) Given that the WFP appeal for Darfur (EMOP 10339.0 "Food Assistance to Population affected by War in Greater Darfur") is only 35 percent funded (with the United States contributing U.S. $46.1 million of the $66.8 million received by WFP to date),US Mission will host a meeting of OECD Permanent Representatives on July 22. ¶5. (U) Khartoum minimize considered. Hall NNNN 2004ROME02746 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED