SUDAN SANCTIONS DEMARCHE ELICITS MFA REMARKS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 002587

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2016
TAGS: ETTC PGOV PREL SU FR UNSC
SUBJECT: SUDAN SANCTIONS DEMARCHE ELICITS MFA REMARKS ON
UNSC PROCEDURES

REF: SECSTATE 61650

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt. Reaso
ns 1.4b,d


1. (C) POLOFF delivered reftel points April 19 to IO
DAS-Equivalent Jean-Hugues Simon-Michel. In response,
Simon-Michel reiterated French support for levying sanctions
on the individuals in question, noting French co-sponsorship
for the original UK list of names proposed for designation.


2. (C) Simon-Michel took advantage of the occasion to
observe that Security Council action through a formal
resolution and vote would have been unnecessary had the
French position on procedures been accepted in the first
place. The French concurred, he clarified, that designations
are best taken by consensus at the committee level, however,
"as a matter of doctrine," the principle of consensus should
not become a straitjacket, and a sanctions committee should
be allowed to overcome the obstacle of a hold, as in the
Chinese/Russian hold over Sudanese names, through a simple
procedural vote, without requiring recourse to Security
Council deliberations.


3. (C) In a separate conversation, AF DAS-Equivalent Helen
Le Gal expressed some surprise that the USG would up the ante
at the Security Council in the midst of Chinese President Hu
Jintao's U.S. visit.



Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm

Stapleton