PDAS THOMAS-GREENFIELD MEETS WITH AU PEACE AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 001461

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ER ET GH PREL SO SU
SUBJECT: PDAS THOMAS-GREENFIELD MEETS WITH AU PEACE AND
SECURITY COMMISSIONER


1. (SBU) Summary: On June 30, on the margins of the June
28-July 2 African Union Summit in Accra, Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield met
with AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit. They
agreed with the need to coordinate AU and UN documents on
Sudan. Djinnit stressed the need to deploy the hybrid force
quickly (by the end of this year) and to resolve pay problems
for the troops. On Somalia, Djinnit highlighted the need to
raise financial commitments and to support Burundi in
contributing troops. He saw no new movement in getting
dialogue between Ethiopia and Eritrea. End summary.

Sudan
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2. (SBU) PDAS Thomas-Greenfield inquired about the recent
AU PSC statement on Darfur and requested that the AU work
closely with the UN so that its statement supported the
planned UN resolution. She also emphasized the importance of
the Rwandans and Ghanaians getting paid in a more timely
fashion and noted that a system for payment of troops must
insure fairness for those troops currently deployed as well
as those soon to be deployed.


3. (SBU) Djinnit strongly agreed that Sudan must not be
able to play the UN and AU against one another and made it
clear that the AU document was intended to support the UN
resolution on Sudan. He noted Sudan,s sensitivities on the
issue of command and control, however, and said the AU did
not want to craft a document that would give Sudan any issue
to oppose and thereby possibly diminish overall support
within the AU. He added that the AU was definitely open to
consultation on its document. Djinnit also emphasized the
need to move fast on the hybrid deployment, complaining that
its projected deployment date of February 2008 was much too
late. He pled that the deployment must be as soon as
possible and absolutely must occur by the end of the year.
He made the point that the pay issue must be resolved in
order not to destabilize the situation among the various
peacekeeping forces. He said money had been found to pay
troops for March and April and that money was available to
pay them until the end of June but after then payment would
again be an issue, although he thought a projected $10
million from the Netherlands and $10 million from France
should suffice until the end of August.

Somalia
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4. (SBU) PDAS Thomas-Greenfield told Djinnit that Ghanaian
President Kufuor had reaffirmed Ghana's commitment for 350
troops to AMISOM, noting that Kufuor said they needed money
for equipment and training, but he also failed to mention any
timetable. Ghana was drafting a diplomatic note for the AU
on the matter. Thomas-Greenfield stated that we were
prepared to assist with funding, with an immediate
contribution of $1-2 million. She also informed Djinnit that
the Ugandans had said they were committed to their continued
presence in Somalia, and that it appeared to be just a matter
of time before Burundi contributes troops to AMISOM. She
emphasized that we were hopeful of getting a very positive
outcome from the upcoming Somali reconciliation conference,
which would be crucial to building stability in the country.
Furthermore, we wanted to internationalize the AMISOM
deployment as soon as possible in order to take some of the
political pressure off the Ugandans.


5. (SBU) Djinnit also noted the importance of the
reconciliation conference and called for the deployment of
the Burundians as early as possible. He asked that the U.S.
talk frankly to its partners about securing money and
resources for Somalia. He said the British had pledged $8
million. Djinnit said the EU had provided $15 million and
the Italians $10 million but that additional funds would be
necessary to support the Ghanaian, Burundi, and Nigerian
deployments. He added that the main goal at the moment was
to support the Burundians who in his view are not ready to
deploy. Djinnit said he would be in Washington July 11-12 and
hoped to meet with Assistant Secretary Frazer at that time.

Ethiopia/Eritrea
--------------


6. (SBU) When PDAS Thomas-Greenfield asked what the
Eritreans were doing, Djinnit said he did not know but it

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appeared they were exploiting the situation in Somalia in
order to criticize the Ethiopians. He noted that the
Ethiopians and Eritireans were not talking to each other,
although Konare had tried to promote a dialogue. He said the
effort had been made to get Heads of State to talk to both
Ethiopia and Eritrea but that Eritrean President Isaias
Afewerki had resisted.


7. (U) PDAS Thomas-Greenfield cleared this message.











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