Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06CAIRO1299
2006-03-01 18:21:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

DARFUR: EGYPTIANS NOT OPPOSED TO UN FORCE;

Tags:  PREL PGOV KPKO EG LY SU UNSC 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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
-------

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