SUDAN-AU PSC DEMARCHE: PSC WILL LIKELY NOT ADDRESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 001336 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/SPG AND AF/RSA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL SU KPKO AU SUBJECT: SUDAN-AU PSC DEMARCHE: PSC WILL LIKELY NOT ADDRESS AMIS CONOPS REF: A. STATE 75873 (NOTAL) ¶B. DHANANI-WILGUS EMAIL OF MAY 12 2006 (NOTAL) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The African Union Commission anticipates that the upcoming May 15 AU Peace and Security Council meeting will address the implementation of the previous March PSC on AMIS transition, but will not discuss a new CONOPs for AMIS. Separately, Gabon notes that it only learned of the PSC today, and has yet to receive an agenda. Thus, Gabon believes the PSC will not make any significant new decisions and will simply endorse the decisions taken in March. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) On May 12, DCM, accompanied by deputy pol-econ counselor, presented reftel points on the upcoming May 15 African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) to Amb. John Kayode Shinkayie, Director of the Cabinet for AU Commission Chairperson Konare. DCM also urged that Peace and Security Commission Amb. Said Djinnit consider briefing key partners on the outcome of the PSC. (NOTE: AU Chairperson Konare was not available, having just returned from a visit to Europe. Amb. Djinnit was also traveling, due to return late on May 12 after having led the AU delegation participating in a May 6 AU Commission-European Commission consultation in Vienna. The resulting AU-EU communique, which endorses the recently concluded Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA),has been forwared to AF/SPG and AF. END NOTE.) ¶3. (SBU) Shinkayie responded that the May 15 PSC would likely address reftel points, and that the resulting communique would be immediately released following the meeting. He acknowledged that the previous March 10 PSC had required "careful language" (about transition from an AU to a UN-led mission in Sudan) in order to gain consensus, but said that the current political climate had improved enough to allow the Council to speak "more forthrightly." -------------- WAHID CONTINUES DISCUSSIONS WITH IBOK -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Shinkayie added that discussions with SLA chairman Abdul Wahid continued in Abuja, with AU Darfur mediator Amb. Sam Ibok. Shinkayie said it was possible that Wahid could sign the DPA, having asked for clarification of some of the DPA's key articles, which would leave only the JEM as non-signatories. -------------- GABON HAS NOT RECEIVED AGENDA FOR PSC -------------- ¶5. (SBU) DCM also presented reftel points earlier to Amb. Sahilework Zewdie, Ethiopia's representative to the AU and UNECA, and the MFA's Director-General for African Affairs. Amb. Sahilework said she was pleased with the Abuja agreement, and noted that implementation would be difficult. ¶6. (SBU) According to Embassy Libreville (ref B),Deputy Minister Jean Francois Ndongou stated that Gabon only learned of the upcoming PSC on March 12, and had not yet received any agenda for the meeting. Gabon would be represented by its ambassador in Addis Ababa. As a result, he said, the PSC could not take any significant new steps, and will likely only endorse the decisions taken in March. Ndongou stated that Gabon would support an AU call for UNSC sanctions against nonsignatory rebels. -------------- PSC LIKELY WILL NOT ADDRESS AMIS CONOPS -------------- ¶7. (SBU) In a May 11 briefing to U.S., Canadian, and EU partner representatives, AU Commission Darfur Integrated Task Force (AU/DITF) Military Component Head LTC Mbaye announced that the May 15 PSC would not/not address a new concept of operations (CONOPS) for the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS). (NOTE: LTC Mbaye recently led a 3-person AU/DITF team to El Fasher; he stated that the preparation of a new CONOPS was his responsibility, but said it had not yet been completed and would likely not be completed before the May 15 PSC. END NOTE.) According to DITF Head Amb. Ki Doulaye Corentin, the ADDIS ABAB 00001336 002 OF 002 ministerial-level PSC would likely address: -- implementation of the March 10 PSC; -- the recently concluded Abuja talks and their outcome; -- coordination with the UN; -- "robust interpretation" of AMIS's mandate in the field. ¶8. (U) EU Special Representative for Sudan Pekka Haavisto will arrive in Addis Ababa with other EU representatives on May 15, according to EC contacts, for possible consultations on the margins of the PSC. HUDDLESTON