Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ADDISABABA1709
2006-06-22 04:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

AU COMMISSION CHAIRPERSON PREVIEWS AU SUMMIT

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM SOCI AU SU XA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001709 

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DEPARTMENT FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA, AND VCI/FO
JOHANNESBURG/PRETORIA -- PLEASE PASS TO VCI PDAS FORD

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SOCI AU SU XA
SUBJECT: AU COMMISSION CHAIRPERSON PREVIEWS AU SUMMIT


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001709

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA, AND VCI/FO
JOHANNESBURG/PRETORIA -- PLEASE PASS TO VCI PDAS FORD

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SOCI AU SU XA
SUBJECT: AU COMMISSION CHAIRPERSON PREVIEWS AU SUMMIT



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Streamlining duplication among Africa?s
numerous regional economic communities (e.g., SADC, COMESA,
IGAD, EAC, WAEMU, CEMAC, ECOWAS, etc.) and establishing a
?United States of Africa? are among the nominal themes of
the upcoming African Union Summit to be held in Banjul.
More likely outcomes, however, are anticipated decisions on
Darfur, Somalia, human rights and migration. Between
ministerial and head of state meetings, both China and Cuba
are seeking to engage senior African leaders by addressing
the AU?s Executive Council. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) On June 19, African Union Commission Chairperson
Alpha Oumar Konare, accompanied by his Chief of Staff
Ambassador John Kayode Shinkaiye and AU Commissioner for
Political Affairs Julia Dolly Joiner, briefed partner (i.e.
non-AU member states) heads of mission about the June 19-
July 2 AU Summit in Banjul. AU Summit meetings scheduled
include:
-- June 19-21: Forum for Civil Society Organizations
-- June 22-23: Forum for the Private Sector
-- June 22-23: Forum of Women
-- June 25-27: Second Coordinating Meeting with Regional
Economic Communities (RECs)
-- June 27-29: African Panel on Peer Review Mechanism
(APRM)
-- June 25-26: Twelfth Ordinary Session of the Permanent
Representatives Committee (PRC)
-- June 28-29: Ninth Ordinary Session of the Executive
Council (ministerial-level)
-- July 1-2: Assembly of the Heads of State/Government


3. (U) Konare explained that since the 2005 Abuja Summit,
the AU now holds two summits each year, one in January and
another in June/July. At the invitation of the Government
of The Gambia, this year?s summer Summit will occur in
Banjul from June 22-July 2 and address the theme
?Rationalization and Harmonization of the Regional Economic
Communities (RECs).? Konare noted this theme was chosen
because ?RECs are the pillars of the AU, but we need to
define competencies.? He announced that the January 2007
Summit would be held in Addis Ababa and address scientific
issues, mainly climate change and the industrialization of

Africa. The July 2007 summit will be hosted by Ghana,
commemorating Ghana?s fiftieth anniversary.

--------------
AU PSC TO MEET AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL
--------------


4. (U) Konare confirmed that on June 27, the 15-member AU
Peace and Security Council (PSC) would meet at the
ministerial level in Banjul to discuss pressing issues in
Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and,
time permitting, Cote d?Ivoire and elections in Mauritania.
Following the PSC, the AU Committee on Post Conflict in
Sudan will meet at the ministerial level.


5. (U) According to Konare, events scheduled for June 30
include:
-- 9 a.m.: New Economic Partnership for African
Development (NEPAD) present its report;
-- 10 a.m.: informal meeting of the Executive Council to
hear special guests from China and Cuba;
-- 11 a.m.: Fifth Forum for the APRM will commence.
-- afternoon: symposium on human rights to commemorate the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the African Charter on Human
and People?s Rights.
-- 5 p.m.: meeting of seven Heads of State to elaborate
strategies to develop the ?United States of Africa,? and to
discuss the powers of the AU Commission.
-- evening: AU award ceremony to recognize an NGO dedicated
to children. Konare said the AU Commission hopes this
event will set a precedent for other countries to honor
similar organizations at future AU Summits.


6. (SBU) NOTE: According to Spanish DCM, Cuba?s vice
minister for foreign affairs will provide Executive Council
members with a preview of a meeting on rationalization of
RECs that Cuba will hold in Havana, while China will
discuss its bilateral China-Africa Forum.

--------------
JULY 1-2 ASSEMBLY OF HEADS OF STATE

ADDIS ABAB 00001709 002 OF 003


--------------


7. (U) Konare said the Assembly of Heads of State would
celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the African
Charter on Human and People?s Rights. The Prime Minister
of Trinidad and Tobago, who is also the Chairperson of the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM),will address the AU, the
first such address by a representative of a Caribbean
country to the AU. Konare noted it was important to
underscore the relationship between African and Caribbean
support for the diaspora. Other speakers addressing the
Assembly include: UNSYG Kofi Annan, AU Assembly Chairperson
President Sassou-Nguesso of Congo, AU Commissioner for
Political Affairs Julia Dolly Joiner, UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Louise Arbour, the Executive Secretary of
the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA),and possibly
the Arab League SYG. Nigerian President Obasanjo will then
present a report and presentation for the Committee of
Seven (created to follow up on recommendations made at the
January 2005 Abuja Summit on establishing a ?United States
of Africa?). The afternoon will feature an open session on
harmonizing the RECs, open to AU members and partners; all
other sessions (except the opening session) will be open to
AU members only.


8. (U) Asked what outcomes the AU would like to see from
the Summit, Konare answered by giving the example of the
Democratic Republic of Congo being part of three RECs:
SADC, CEMAC, and COMESA. He explained that as RECs? duties
currently overlap, he hoped the Summit would create a
framework for harmonizing RECs and for adopting relevant
legal texts at the January 2007 Summit in Addis Ababa.
Konare concluded that the AU Commission would brief
partners in Addis Ababa on July 5 or 6.


9. (SBU) According to Nigeria?s Permanent Mission to the
AU, Nigeria has no major agenda for the Summit. President
Obasanjo will present the report of the NEPAD Heads of
State and Government Implementation Committee. Obasanjo
will also brief AU Summit participants on the outcomes of
the May 2 Special Summit of the AU on HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the June 9-13 Africa
Fertilizer Summit, both of which were held in Abuja.


10. (U) Attendees at the AU Summit from key AU partners
will include:
-- EC: Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
Louis Michel, and Director General for Development Stefano
Manservisi;
-- UN: UN SYG Kofi Annan, Under-Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Jean Marie Guehenno, UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Louise Arbour;
-- UK: Lord (David) Triesman, Minister for Africa,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State;
-- Japan: Ambassador Keitaro Sato, Ambassador in Charge of
Peace-Building and Refugee-Related Issues in Africa and
Special Envoy for UN Reform.

--------------
AU SUMMIT: THE VIEW FROM PARTNERS
--------------


11. (SBU) COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Addis-based AU partners
expect little progress on the nominal theme of the AU
Summit: rationalizing duplication and overlap among
African?s regional economic communities, despite three
previous expert meetings, including one recently in the
SADC region. Most believe that the AU Summit in Banjul
will only mark the beginning of a long process aimed at
harmonizing the work of competing RECs, and will likely
avoid recommending any radical proposals, such as the
dissolution of particular regional groupings.


12. (U) The European Commission will continue discussions
with the AU on RECs immediately after the AU Summit.
According to the European Commission, Commissioner Louis
Michel has invited representatives of the AU Commission and
RECs to meet in Brussels on July 11. EC poloff reports
that as the EC seeks to negotiate a European Partner
Agreement with African states, the EC seeks to establish
what African countries belong in what economic regions. AU
and EU Commissioners for development, trade, social
affairs, transport, and infrastructure, will then hold

ADDIS ABAB 00001709 003 OF 003


annual consultations with each other October 2-3, in Addis
Ababa.


13. (SBU) AU partners, such as European allies, the EU, and
Japan, have identified UN reform, democracy and governance,
budget reform, and refining a common AU position on
migration as additional issues likely to arise at the
Summit.
-- UN REFORM: the ?Committee of 10,? led by Sierra Leone,
will present a report on UN reform. According to Japan and
Germany, the Committee of 10 is perceived to support South
African and Nigerian interests, and is therefore distrusted
by some AU members. In contrast, the competing ?Committee
of 15? led by Congo-Brazzaville is considered more
transparent, and is reportedly supported by Egypt and
Algeria.
-- DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE: The AU Summit is likely to
discuss the proposed African Charter on Democracy and
Governance, as well as the integration of NEPAD into the AU
(as NEPAD?s three-year transition period ends this year).
The fate of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre (charged
in Belgium with war crimes and crimes against humanity, but
who remains in exile in Senegal) is also to be discussed at
the Summit. In addition, the African Court on Human and
People?s Rights is to convene for the first time
immediately after the Summit; the court?s judges were
elected at the previous AU Summit in Khartoum.
-- BUDGET REFORM: South Africa is believed to be proposing
a unified budget for the African Union that is opposed by
smaller countries who fear paying larger assessments.
-- MIGRATION: Algeria is advocating the formulation of a
draft common AU position on migration, particularly before
the anticipated convening of a EU-AU ministerial meeting on
migration later this year. French AU-watcher reports that
AU Commission Chairperson Konare informed the French
ambassador of his opposition to France?s new ?selective
immigration? policy (i.e., whereby France would choose
immigrants based on its own selective criteria),believing
that it would contribute to a new ?brain drain? for Africa.
Mali has proposed the establishment of an African Center
for the Study of Migration; such initiatives proposed by a
single member state are usually referred to the AU
Commission for further study.


14. (U) PEACE AND SECURITY ISSUES: Key peace and security
issues to be discussed at the Summit will likely include
the situation in Darfur, Somalia, DRC, and Burundi.
-- SUDAN: On Darfur, the June 27 ministerial-level PSC is
expected to discuss what actions the AU will take against
non-signatories to the May 5 Darfur Peace Agreement, in
accordance with earlier May 15 PSC and May UNSC decisions.
If no PSC on Darfur is convened immediately prior to the
Summit, the June 27 PSC may also result in the formal
approval of a revised concept of operations for an enhanced
AU Mission in Sudan -- paving the way for a UNSC mandate
and the eventual transition of AMIS to a UN-led
peacekeeping operation.
-- SOMALIA: A June 17 AU PSC communique on Somalia endorses
an earlier IGAD resolution that calls for the AU Summit to
discuss the deployment of an IGAD peacekeeping mission
(IGASOM) to Somalia, and that calls for the AU to advocate
having the UNSC lift its arms embargo. Some observers note
that the decision to deploy IGASOM to Somalia was taken on
the margins of last year?s AU Summit in Abuja. END
COMMENT.

HUDDLESTON