NETHERLANDS/SUDAN: PRESSING THE AU TO REQUEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 001205 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2011 TAGS: MARR PREL KPKO SU NL SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/SUDAN: PRESSING THE AU TO REQUEST GREATER NATO ASSISTANCE IN DARFUR REF: STATE 84669 Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Schofer; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche May 26 and 30 to MFA Sudan Task Force and Security Policy officers Stella Kloth and Pieter Blusse. The Dutch, relying on their own readout of Ambassador Jochem's conversations, believe that the African Union (AU) has accepted all of the NATO Category I and II assistance proferred specifically for AMIS. As for Category III, the Dutch queried whether the U.S. would be able to provide AMIS intelligence on a bilateral basis. Until that question is answered, the Dutch believe there is little point in pressing the AU to accept additional NATO assistance to AMIS. ¶2. (C) The Dutch asked whether the U.S. intended to press the AU and Troop Contributing Countries (TCC) with regard to NATO assistance to a re-hatted UN mission. They argued that doing so before solidifying AU, TCC and Sudanese support for re-hatting could be counter-productive; in their view, it would be better to raise NATO support for the UN force after such rehat is secured. Poloff suggested the Dutch, in their next conference call with Ambassador Ranneberger, raise these issues to ensure that we are all working from the same set of assumptions. ARNALL