UN/CYPRUS:U/SYG BRIEFING TO P5 ON CYPRUS TRAVEL

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000992 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNSC PGOV CY SUBJECT: UN/CYPRUS:U/SYG BRIEFING TO P5 ON CYPRUS TRAVEL ¶1. (SBU) U/SYG for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari convoked the P5 May 12 to brief on his plans to travel to Cyprus and to seek UNSC support for the trip. He will next brief the full Council. (Note: The travel dates are not yet set. End Note.) Gambari has four goals for the trip: 1) encourage the parties to take concrete steps to meet benchmarks; 2) spur a meeting of Mehmet Talat and Tassos Papadopolous; 3) assess the situation on the ground first hand (it is Gambari's first trip to Cyprus); and 4) assess the technical committees' progress. Gambari said he hoped to return to New York with tangible results or, at least, an updated analysis of the situation. ¶2. (SBU) Gambari will focus on three issues on his trip: the Annan plan, the Turkish Action Plan, and the technical committee process. He will assess the status of the Annan Plan, which was overwhelmingly rejected by the Greek Cypriots and is dead to them, but which is the basis for any steps forward for the Turkish Cypriots. He intends to consult further on the Turkish Action Plan, and SYG Annan will reply to the recent Turkish letter following these consultations. No reply will precede the May 21 Cypriot parliamentary elections, since the SYG does not want his letter used or misused in that context. Gambari shared SRSG Michael Moller's positive report on the technical committees. The committees cannot substitute for a comprehensive peace agreement, but are still important, and have seen recent progress. The parties are discussing committee modalities and the schedule of topics in a positive atmosphere. In addition, a third member has been appointed to the Committee on Missing persons, and he will begin in June. Gambari said he hoped this appointment might also prompt a meeting of Talat and Papadopolous. ¶3. (SBU) Gambari asked that the UNSC issue a press statement upon his briefings to the UNSC both before and after he travels to Cyprus. He noted that previous such trips and briefings had not provoked such a UNSC response. ¶4. (SBU) P5 members were supportive of Gambari's plans and the UN role in Cyprus. They agreed with his premise that the status quo is unacceptable and that the UNSC should issue the proposed statements. French PR de la Sabliere said an important confidence building step from the Greek Cypriots would be for them to specify their objections to the Annan plan. U.S. Ambassador Sanders said she had been encouraged by her recent meeting with SRSG Moller, but also that the U.S. would want to discuss UNFICYP and how the UNSC would "graduate" this thirty-seven year peacekeeping operation. BOLTON