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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 ACCRA 00001461 002 OF 002 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. BRIDGEWATER