FRENCH REACT POSITIVELY TO DEMARCHE ON DRC ARMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001477 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015 TAGS: PREL ETTC MARR KPKO CG FR UNSC SUBJECT: FRENCH REACT POSITIVELY TO DEMARCHE ON DRC ARMS EMBARGO RESOLUTION REF: STATE 38896 Classified By: POL/MC Josiah Rosenblatt for reason 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: MFA AF PDAS Elisabeth Barbier on March 7 expressed general agreement with reftel demarche on the DRC arms embargo resolution, accepting that MONUC did not need to take on additional responsibilities. She also responded favorably to the proposed flight reporting provision but said that France had not yet taken an official position on the provision. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Pol/MC met with MFA AF PDAS-equivalent Elisabeth Barbier on March 7 and conveyed reftel points concerning the DRC arms embargo resolution. Barbier agreed that a geographic extension of MONUC's arms embargo to the rest of the DRC would "tax" MONUC and would "not be realistic." If there were an extension, she remarked that France would prefer its scope to cover Congo's "neighbors to the east," where the situation, she said, was more dire than in the rest of the DRC. Continuing, Barbier nonetheless said that MONUC "had its hands full" and did not need additional responsibilities such as new requirement to monitor and enforce the arms embargo. ¶3. (C) Barbier responded favorably to the notion of a provision in the resolution on flight reporting, although she said that the GOF had not yet taken an official position on the issue. She said that such a provision would be "worthwhile." However, she suggested that reporting could be done on a weekly or monthly basis, rather than beforehand on each individual flight, which she said would be difficult to accomplish for logistical reasons. Leach