DARFUR: EGYPTIANS NOT OPPOSED TO UN FORCE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001299 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO EG LY SU UNSC SUBJECT: DARFUR: EGYPTIANS NOT OPPOSED TO UN FORCE; PRESSING "PEACE-MAKING" VERSUS "PEACE-ENFORCEMENT" REF: STATE 32841 Classified by ECPO Minister Counselor Michael Corbin for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Presidential Spokesman Soliman Awad told the Ambassador late March 1 that press reports claiming President Mubarak and Libyan leader Qadhafi agreed February 28 in Miserata to oppose UN troops in Darfur were "wrong." While Qadhafi opposed UN forces in Darfur, Awad said, President Mubarak believed any eventual UN force should have African ownership and that diplomatic efforts now should focus on peace-making, versus peace-enforcement. Mubarak will be contacting AU Peace and Security Council leaders ahead of their key March 10 meeting to stress peace-making among the warring factions in Darfur. MFA contacts also assured emboff March 1 that the GOE position on AMIS rehatting remains unchanged: Egypt in principle does not oppose; GOE must take GOS position into consideration; and a transition to UN PKO must not damage AU's credibility. UK Darfur Envoy Alan Goulty, in Cairo for March 1 consultations, described to Emboffs Arab apprehensions on the AMIS/UN transition issue, but remains confident that GOS opposition can be overcome with tact and careful diplomacy. End summary. -------------- PRESS REPORTS "WRONG" -- GOE NOT OPPOSED -------------- ¶2. (C) During a late March 1 conversation with the Ambassador, Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Soliman Awad, who accompanied President Mubarak to Libya February 28, emphasized that press reporting on Egyptian opposition to a UN role in Darfur was wrong. Reports that Mubarak and Qadhafi agreed to oppose the rehatting of AMIS in Darfur were simply not true, Awad asserted. Qadhafi opposed UN forces, he said, but Mubarak remained less categorical. If and when a UN force in Darfur is required, it needs to be discussed in detail and the force must have "African ownership." Nevertheless, for Mubarak, the key issue is peace-making - not peace-keeping, Awad stressed. It is crucial that efforts are directed at making peace in Darfur, so that enforcing peace there with a large force is unnecessary, Awad added. President Mubarak will press the same message in contacts with leaders of African Union PSC member states ahead of their March 10 meeting in Addis Ababa, Awad concluded. ¶3. (C) Earlier March 1, post delivered reftel demarche to MFA UN Affairs Office Director Hani Saleem and Sudan Affairs Office Director Massoum Marzouk, stressing the importance of Egyptian support for the transition of AMIS-II to a UN peacekeeping operation. Saleem and Marzouk said Egypt did not oppose a transition in principle, but said the GOE would find it difficult to support the transition absent GOS acquiescence. Saleem denied an AFP wire story attributed to Egypt's Ambassador in Tripoli that the leaders had rejected replacing AU forces with UN peacekeepers. Egyptian state press reports quote FM Aboul Gheit stressing the need for GOS approval for any transition to a UN force, and agreement among warring factions prior to deployment of any new peace-keeping mission. -------------- UK ENVOY GOULTY ON AMIS REHAT ISSUE -------------- ¶4. (C) UK Special Envoy for Darfur Ambassador Alan Goulty offered Emboffs March 1 a brief readout of his Cairo meetings earlier that day with FM Aboul Gheit, AL Secretary General Moussa, and Egyptian Presidential Envoy to the Abuja peace talks, Ambassador Hagag. Goulty stressed Arab apprehensions over the push to rehat AMIS, and shared that Sudan and its neighbors were negatively focused on a draft Security Council resolution circulating in New York that the GOS believed proposed a Chapter VII mandate and a rapid deployment. The text had caused great disturbance among Sudanese, he said, and increased local opposition to a UN presence in Darfur. Goulty said that both the Egyptians and Arab League SecGen Moussa believed Sudanese President Bashir could be walked back from his public opposition to rehatting, if the issue were handled delicately and briefed carefully to him. Goulty was taken aback, he shared, that even northern opposition figure Mohamed Mirghani phoned AL SecGen Moussa to ask the SYG to relay to Goulty his (Mirghani's) opposition to the rehatting proposal. RICCIARDONE