SPAIN: PRESS ON WESTERN SAHARA BUT KEEP MINURSO FOR

S E C R E T MADRID 002322 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - CHANGED WORD IN SUBJECT LINE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV MO WI AG FR SP SUBJECT: SPAIN: PRESS ON WESTERN SAHARA BUT KEEP MINURSO FOR NOW REF: STATE 150118 Classified By: CDA Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) Spanish MFA DG for Middle East/Africa Alvaro Iranzo welcomed enthusiastically new US engagement on Western Sahara and efforts to break the stalemate by pressing Morocco for a credible autonomy plan and talks with the Polisario, along with urging Algerian support and flexibility (reftel). When briefed by PolCouns Sept. 13 on the new USG effort, Iranzo said Spain agrees "100 percent" with these goals and shares the US analysis that the status quo stalemate is no longer acceptable. He cautioned, however, against use of the threat of MINURSO termination, fearing that if the new effort fails and leads to the end of MINURSO without a solution in train, the situation in the region would worsen, leading to increased tension and confrontation. He agreed, however, on the need for an exit strategy for MINURSO and said that the current process should not imply indefinite MINURSO extension. ¶2. (S) While strongly agreeing on the need to pressure Morocco for an autonomy plan, he thought that the short time frame between now and Oct. 31 when the UNSC next takes up MINURSO extension might not be sufficient to produce the plan. Perhaps some other forms of progress would be sufficient to allow the extension of MINURSO in October, combined with a strong UNSC statement and continued pressure on Morocco to produce a credible plan. ¶3. (S) Iranzo emphasized Spain's direct national security interest in the resolution of the Western Sahara dispute and his government's desire to be part of the consultation process. He politely indicated that Spain would have liked to have been brought into the process of developing our new approach in advance, but was grateful for the briefing and said that he would welcome the opportunity for consultations as the US fine-tunes and further develops the new policy. For this reason, he remains eager to see A/S Welch in New York on the margins of UNGA the week of Sept. 19-22. ¶4. (S) In a meeting with DCM Sept. 14 on other subjects, Spanish National Security Advisor Carles Casajuana echoed Iranzo,s comments on the new US approach to Western Sahara, including the strong caution against MINURSO termination. He said that while sometimes such operations may appear useless after being in place for so many years, it is not until they are removed that we see their value. He thought the situation would worsen if we had to fulfill the threat to terminate MINURSO. -------------- Visit Embassy Madrid's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/madrid/ -------------- LLORENS