SOMALIA - IGAD DEPLOYMENT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE

UNCLAS VIENNA 000907 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E, IO/UNP, EUR/ERA AND EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL SO AF AU UNSC EUN SUBJECT: SOMALIA - IGAD DEPLOYMENT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE REF: STATE 47850 This message is sensitive but unclassified. ¶1. (SBU) Pol Unit Chief discussed reftel points with Austrian MFA DAS-equivalent for Sub-Saharan Africa Caroline Gudenus on March 18. Gudenus related that an EU fact-finding mission to Somalia in mid-February had found some positive developments. While acceptance of a possible African Union-sponsored mission was still spotty, it was slowly increasing. The debrief of this mission had been the subject of a recent discussion within the EU's Africa working group. ¶2. (SBU) Gudenus confided that the EU shared our reservations about an IGAD deployment, although, she noted, the EU meeting she was referring to predated the IGAD proposal. The EU felt that any peacekeeping deployment must be the result of a consensus among all the players in the region, including the African Union. It would require broad support from the various Somali factions. The EU believed that a troop presence of Somalia's neighbors (especially Ethiopia) would provoke "strong resentments." However, Ethiopia did not appear to be insisting on participation. In any case, Gudenus continued, the African Union would have to help plan and coordinate the execution of any stabilization activities involving IGAD or its member states. Brown