Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ADDISABABA2389
2006-08-31 10:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

SOMALIA: KENYAN AMBASSADOR TO AU BRIEFS CHARGE ON

Tags:  PREL KPKO MARR AU UNSC SO 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 002389 

SIPDIS

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AF FOR DAS YAMAMOTO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2016
TAGS: PREL KPKO MARR AU UNSC SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA: KENYAN AMBASSADOR TO AU BRIEFS CHARGE ON
IGAD PLANS FOR IGASOM

REF: A. NAIROBI 3727

B. USUN 1581

Classified By: Charge Janet Wilgus for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 002389

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF FOR DAS YAMAMOTO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2016
TAGS: PREL KPKO MARR AU UNSC SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA: KENYAN AMBASSADOR TO AU BRIEFS CHARGE ON
IGAD PLANS FOR IGASOM

REF: A. NAIROBI 3727

B. USUN 1581

Classified By: Charge Janet Wilgus for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Kenyan Ambassador to the African Union
Franklin Esipila told the Charge Aug. 30 that IGAD member
states were fully committed to deployment of a peace
support mission to Somalia (IGASOM) beginning Sept. 28.
Esipila added that member states hoped high-level
negotiations in the coming days would achieve a "general
consensus" among Somali actors for the deployment, as well
as political backing and eventually financial support from
the international community. IGAD leaders were open to
"bright ideas" from international partners, he said. Kenya
would be hosting a heads of state summit on Somalia the
week of Sept. 4 and had called for both the TFG and UIC to
send senior representatives to talks in Nairobi prior to
the summit. Esipila added that IGAD was already looking
beyond its membership to other African states to supply
troops and other support to IGASOM, and might invite some
non-IGAD African leaders to the Nairobi Summit. He
acknowledged that the UIC was still opposed to foreign
peacekeepers, but argued that sustained pressure and
negotiations could change that. The Kenyan Ambassador told
the Charge that IGAD leaders still regarded the TFI
Charter, which called for national elections in Somalia in
2009, as the political agenda IGASOM would support. He
hoped that the UIC would eventually accept this roadmap and
lay interim power-sharing demands on the table. Esipila
welcomed AF A/S Frazer's increased support for the TFG and
suggested that Kenya was best positioned to serve as the
broker of a political solution in Somalia. The Kenyan
Foreign Minister will brief a group of international
partners on the current plan for IGASOM deployment on
August 31, and thereafter seek the AU Peace and Security
Council's blessing for the plan. IGAD leaders then expect
the AU to secure UNSC support for the mission, including an
exemption from the UN arms embargo on Somalia. End

Summary.


2. (SBU) Charge Wilgus and Pol/Econ Chief called on Kenyan
Ambassador to the African Union (AU) and Ethiopia Franklin
Esipila Aug. 30 to discuss the Aug. 31 session of the AU
Peace and Security Council (PSC) on Somalia. Esipila
indicated that the Kenyan Foreign Minister would brief the
PSC (and separately donor country representatives) on both
IGASOM preparations and IGAD diplomatic efforts to
stabilize Somalia. He gave the Charge a preview of the PSC
briefing.

MESSAGE TO AU PSC: IGASOM READY TO GO
--------------


3. (C) Amb. Esipila outlined recent decisions taken at the
Aug. 21 meeting of IGAD military chiefs of staff in Nairobi
concerning deployment of IGASOM (see ref A). The military
planners had agreed on eventual deployment of eight
battalions to Somalia, beginning with four in late
September. Uganda and Sudan would supply the initial troop
contingents; whichever country supplied more would also
designate the mission commander. IGAD had also made
decisions concerning other mission positions. For example,
Kenya would provide the Head of Mission, while a
representative from Djibouti would serve as its head of
political affairs. Head of Police and other positions had
also been designated. The initial cost of the mission
would be roughly $18.5 million, or $4 million per month.
IGAD leaders envisioned deployment on September 28, though
Esipila added that member states were eager to hear from
international partners about their thoughts on deployment
and support. Amb. Esipila said that he had presented this
plan to AU member state ambassadors at a PSC meeting on
Aug. 25, but the GOK had decided that the Foreign Minister
should follow up with an additional briefing on Aug. 31.
In the meantime, AU military planners were already
scrutinizing the IGASOM plan. The Kenyan ambassador said
he knew many Western governments had serious reservations
about a government like Sudan -- which had foreign
peacekeepers on its own soil -- deploying in Somalia, but
he hoped the international community could separate the two
issues. He emphasized that IGAD member states -- including

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Djibouti and Sudan -- were fully committed to deployment of
a peace support mission to Somalia

HEADS OF STATE SUMMIT TO FOLLOW TFG/UIC NEGOTIATIONS NEXT
WEEK
-------------- --------------
--


4. (C) Esipila noted that Ethiopian PM Meles had traveled
to Nairobi in recent days, and that IGAD Heads of State had
agreed to hold a summit meeting in Nairobi the week of
September 4. They intended to discuss next steps in
Somalia, as well as how to seek international support and
financing for IGAD efforts. Esipila added that IGAD was
already looking beyond its membership to other African
states to supply troops and other support to IGASOM, and
might invite some non-IGAD African leaders to the Nairobi
Summit. Esipila admitted that IGAD member states needed to
keep talking among themselves in order to build mutual
trust about each others' motives. The leaders' current
thinking called for the AU to present IGASOM deployment
plans to the UN Security Council to seek both an exemption
to the UN arms embargo on Somalia as well as financial
support for the mission. Esipila recalled the July 10 UNSC
statement which promised to consider facilitating
deployment of IGASOM if conditions were right. Charge
Wilgus shared the most recent Somalia Contact Group
statement with Amb. Esipila.


5. (C) The Kenyan ambassador acknowledged that the Union of
Islamic Court (UIC) remained opposed to the deployment of
foreign peacekeepers, but argued that steady pressure from
IGAD member states and political negotiations could change
that. The AU planning mission in Somalia had found that
most ordinary Somalis want deployment of international
peacekeepers; only the UIC stood in the way. Complete
agreement on the issue might not be possible, but adequate
support existed. Esipila said that the GOK had called on
both leaders from both the UIC and the Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) to come to Nairobi the week of September 4
-- prior to the IGAD Summit. The Ambassador said he
expected each side to send more senior representatives than
those they had sent to Arab League talks in Khartoum. He
argued that Kenya was best positioned to serve as a broker
in Somalia. He also expressed appreciation for the
increased support AF A/S Jendayi Frazer offered to the TFG
during her June visit to Addis Ababa.

POLITICAL STRATEGY: GET UIC TO BUY INTO TFI CHARTER
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Pol Chief sked Esipila what sort of political
arrangement IGAD leaders hoped to support with IGASOM.
What would be adequate "consensus in Somalia" as stated in
the deployment plan? Esipila replied that the Transitional
Federal Charter was still the political roadmap for IGAD.
The Charter called for national elections in Somalia in
2009, and IGAD efforts would be designed to promote that
outcome. It would be necessary to bring the UIC into that
process. Esipila said he hoped UIC leaders would
eventually place power-sharing demands on the table, which
would offer them a point of entry. Negotiations would
start from there. Esipila noted that Somali civil society
should also be part of the process.

IGAD: CONDITIONS IN SOMALIA NO WORSE THAN DARFUR
-------------- ---


7. (C) Esipila asked that the international community
remember that IGAD was merely "carrying out a UN Chapter
Eight mandate" in Somalia. IGAD welcomed "bright ideas"
and support from partners, but was currently feeling a
little abandoned as the UNSC simply assigned it tasks
without much guidance or encouragement. Esipila argued
that "circumstances for peacekeeping deployment in Darfur
were worse than they are in Somalia." Deployments in
Liberia and the DRC also highlighted the fact that peace
missions could work in less than ideal conditions.
Nonetheless, he noted that many in the international
community had shown less stomach for moving forward in
Somalia.


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WILGUS