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