UN REFORM: AMBASSADOR TAHIR-KHELI'S DECEMBER 10

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 009180

SIPDIS

FOR THE SECRETARY
FOR THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS
FOR I/O ASSISTANT SECRETARY SILVERBERG
USUN FOR AMBASSADOR BOLTON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2015
TAGS: PREL PHUM EG UNGA UNSC
SUBJECT: UN REFORM: AMBASSADOR TAHIR-KHELI'S DECEMBER 10
MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER ABOUL GHEIT

Classified by Ambassador Ricciardone for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

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Summary:
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1. (C) During a December 10 meeting with Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, followed by a more detailed
discussion with senior MFA multilateral affairs staff, Senior
Advisor to the Secretary for UN Reform Ambassador Shirin
Tahir-Kheli drew out Egyptian concerns on UN reform efforts
and explained USG views and positions. Stressing the urgency
of reaching prompt agreement on key UN reform agenda items,
Tahir-Kheli described growing frustration over perceived
Egyptian trouble-making during recent UN negotiations. Aboul
Gheit appeared willing to narrow the gap on key differences
with the U.S., offered a general desire for a revitalized UN
system, but stressed Egypt,s "obligation" to represent wider
regional interests on issues like Palestine and development.
At the conclusion of the discussion, Aboul Gheit stated that
"we can help each other," and committed to giving "deep
review over the next few days" to USG positions. A read-out
of a separate meeting with Arab League Secretary General
Moussa is provided at paragraphs eight and nine. End summary.

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General Overview
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2. (C) During a December 8-11 visit to Egypt, Ambassador
Shirin Tahir-Kheli, accompanied by the Ambassador, met with
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and senior MFA staff to
review USG reform priorities at the United Nations and seek
greater Egyptian cooperation. Tahir-Kheli described in some
detail a growing impression among US officials that Egypt was
playing a particularly obstructive role during UN reform
debates. Whether dealing with UN management reform, human
rights issues, or creation of a peace-building commission,
Egypt has stood in the way of making progress. Her visit to
Cairo (part of a 7-nation tour) was intended to explain USG
UN reform priorities, to highlight the urgency of these
issues to the Secretary, to elicit GOE positions, and to work
toward finding common ground with Egypt to make further
progress. Tahir-Kheli stressed the urgency of reaching
agreement by December 23 on at least parts of the UN reform
agenda.

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Management Reform
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3. (C) Tahir-Kheli described the importance to the US of
reforming the UN system in order to achieve accountability,
transparency, and efficiency. Tahir-Kheli offered a detailed
description of USG priorities, including creation of an
independent oversight committee, an ethics office,
strengthening the Office of Independent Oversight Services,
and the need for review of all mandates more than five years
old. Aboul Gheit appeared relatively uninformed on the
latest USG positions, and questioned the need for new
oversight functions which he believed were redundant.
Tahir-Kheli strongly argued the need for independent
oversight of UN activities, along with a new regimen of
ethics and management training. Aboul Gheit and staff
expressed interest in additional details on USG positions,
while noting some trepidation over creation of new
bureaucracy. MFA staff expressed doubts over what benefits a
new ethics office would bring and how it would be structured.


4. (C) Responding to U.S. arguments, Aboul Gheit insisted
that Egypt did not oppose mandate review, but had detailed
questions on implementation and on Washington,s sense of
urgency. He and his staff also suggested that U.S. officials
in New York were claiming that the primary USG objective for
mandate review was to eliminate Palestinian-related mandates.
Elimination of Palestinian-related mandates, Aboul Gheit
declared, was out of the question. Tahir-Kheli understood
that some states would seek to protect certain mandates, but
that a review process was needed to identify agreement on the
elimination of what is likely to be a large number of
outdated mandates.

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Human Rights Council
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5. (C) During discussion of the creation of a new Human
Rights Council, Aboul Gheit expressed his position that all
Member States should have an equal chance to participate in
the Council. Egypt, he explained, was against having
requirements for membership, against a requirement for a
two-thirds majority, against a reduction in membership size,
and against elections in ECOSOC. Tahir-Kheli stated the USG
position that membership elections should be opened to the
General Assembly. She said that the ECOSOC base was
essentially severed for membership selection. Further,
Tahir-Kheli explained that capacity building was part of the
new Human Right Council,s work, something that the GOE
sought.


6. (C) Assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs, Naella
Gabr, told Tahir-Kheli in a follow-on session that the Swiss
Government had proposed eliminating clean regional slates for
elections to the HR Council ) a proposal she believed would
be acceptable to Egypt. Tahir-Kheli responded that she
thought it was an interesting proposal.

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Peace Building Commission
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7. (C) During talks on creating a Peace-Building Commission,
the Egyptian delegation repeated concerns over potential
Security Council domination of the new body, and the
perceived lack of input from all Member States. The Egyptian
side suggested they saw flexibility from Western countries on
the size of the commission, but expressed concern that
subsidiary bodies (with limited membership) would become the
source of real power within the Commission. This same
concern extended to the Human Rights Council. Tahir-Kheli
underscored the mandate of the Security Council on peace and
security issues, as described in the UN Charter. The Council
must maintain ultimate oversight over peace-building issues,
she noted, with active input and coordination from the
General Assembly, ECOSOC, and regional organizations.
Tahir-Kheli further detailed the practical need for strong
UNSC oversight. The discussion at the MFA ended with an
agreement to stay in touch and an offer by the GOE to seek
ways "to partner" with the U.S. on areas of agreement.

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Arab League Secretary General Moussa
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8. (C) In a separate meeting with Arab League Secretary
General Amre Moussa December 8, Moussa said he believed Egypt
is speaking for many developing countries on UN reform.
Moussa said the reform discussion bogged down quickly because
of the initial emphasis on Security Council expansion. He
said that the Africa Group was divided and was not yet ready
to make a decision on SC representation. But it is clear, he
stressed, that Europe is too heavily represented. On the
Human Rights Council, Moussa said that the composition and
criteria for inclusion and exclusion would likely be
sensitive for Egypt, but he believed Egypt would welcome
greater focus on human rights capacity building.


9. (C) On the Comprehensive Convention Against International
Terrorism (CCIT),Moussa suggested that Tahir-Kheli review
language condemning terrorism that was adopted by Iraqi
delegates at a recent Arab League-sponsored National Accord
conference. He predicted the GOE would agree to language
stating that the killing of innocent civilians is always
wrong. Although there is no need to make an exception to
terrorism for "legitimate resistance," there may need to be a
reference in the preamble to the CCIT to the legitimate right
of resistance to military occupation. Tahir-Kheli stressed
the Secretary,s statement that the killing of innocent
civilians is always wrong, and there can be no exception.
She expressed hope that her visit to Egypt would lead to some
agreement on substantive UN reform issues before the critical
December 23 budget vote.


RICCIARDONE