PROPOSAL FOR UN SECURITY COUNCIL PERMREPS TO VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 001343

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2016
TAGS: PGOV UNSC ASEC IV
SUBJECT: PROPOSAL FOR UN SECURITY COUNCIL PERMREPS TO VISIT
COTE D'IVOIRE


Classified By: Ambassador Aubrey Hooks, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) I believe it would be most useful for the Permreps or
acting Permreps of the P-5 to come to Abidjan, to deliver in
person a message of support for UN Security Council
Resolution 1721. Though he nominally welcomed UNSCR 1721,
President Gbagbo has said from the outset that it contains
attacks on the Ivoirian constitution that he will not
implement. He has also consistently and repeatedly insisted
on misinterpreting the resolution to leave the balance of
power in his own hands, whereas it was the clear intention of
the international community for the powers of the prime
minister to be significantly enhanced. The International
Working Group (IWG) sought in the communique from its
December 1 meeting to clarify any remaining ambiguity on the
powers of the prime minister, but Gbagbo immediately issued
his own communique denouncing the IWG.


2. (C) It would be highly useful for President Gbagbo to hear
directly from the mouths of all five permanent Security
Council members the message that the Security Council, in a
unanimous decision, did indeed intend for the powers of the
prime minister to be significantly enhanced, and that we are
convinced this can be done without violating the
constitution, by amending and supplementing current Ivoirian
law. At the same time the Permreps could strongly urge all
parties: Gbagbo, Prime Minister Banny, the political
opposition and the rebels, to work together cooperatively in
support of the peace process. Such a visit by the P-5
Permreps was extremely effective in advancing the peace
process in the Democratic Republic of Congo a few years ago,
and I believe it would be similarly effective in Cote
d'Ivoire now.
Hooks