DEMARCHE ON UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DARFUR

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 002506 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/SPG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPKO UNSC SU ET SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DARFUR REF: STATE 151212 ¶1. (U) Poloff delivered reftel points on September 13 to Head of the MFA's UN Directorate, Counsellor Abdulkadir Risku, and to UN Directorate officer Eyob Tekalegn. ¶2. (SBU) Citing the binding nature of UN Security Council resolutions on UN member states, Risku said that Sudan would not be able to argue successfully to African Union member states that they should ignore UNSCR 1706. Risku said he expected Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin to represent Ethiopia at the UNGA; Prime Minister Meles Zenawi would represent Ethiopia at the NAM Summit. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: We expect Ethiopia to support AMIS transition to a UN peacekeeping operation, as one of 15 members of the African Union's Peace and Security Council (PSC),as well as host to both the African Union Commission and the UN's regional economic commission for Africa. On the other hand, it will likely not seek to antagonize Sudan, its neighbor with whom it has growing economic ties. In a separate briefing to AU partners on September 14, AU Darfur Integrated Task Force officials noted that among African states, Libya and Egypt opposed transition to the UN, but others supported PSC communiques reaffirming transition. END COMMENT. WILGUS