CORRECTION 3 - AFRICAN UNION RESPONSE TO U.S.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 003168 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECPS MASS MCAP PREL MOPS AU SUBJECT: CORRECTION 3 - AFRICAN UNION RESPONSE TO U.S. OFFER OF C3IS EQUIPMENT ¶1. This cable is from the U.S. Mission to the African Union (USAU), ¶2. On October 24, 2007, USAU received Diplomatic Note from the African Union responding to the USAU's note verbale 210/07 of September 7. The diplomatic note from the African Union states that the AU is still in the process of determining all the requirements and implications of the full establishment of the African Standby Force (ASF),including the C3IS requirements. It is, therefore, not in a position to consider any offer or proposal of support to C3IS, or any other component of the ASF, until a decision has been taken by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government. The AU note also refers to the request for support of communications facilities to link AMISOM to the AU headquarters. ¶3. Full text of AU Diplomatic Note is as follows: BEGIN TEXT: The Commission of the African Union (AU) presents its compliments to the United States Mission to the African Union (USAU),and has the honour to acknowledge, with appreciation, receipt of letter 21/07, dated 7 September 2007, addressed by Her Excellency Ambassador Dr. Cindy L. Courville to His Excellency Alpha Omar Konare, Chairperson of the Commission. In this regard, the Commission would like to communicate the following: The Commission takes note with appreciation of the wish of the Government of the United States of America to "present to the people of Africa the gift of a Command, Control, Communications and Information System or C3IS". The Commission seizes this opportunity to reiterate its gratitude to the United States Government for all the support it has extended to it over the years in the establishment of the African Peace and Security Architecture, most notably in the areas of capacity building in the establishment of the Situation Room and the AU Military Logistics Depot. The Commissionis also appreciative of the offer of a C3IS. However, as the Mission is aware, and as has been expressed by the Commission to US Government officials on numerous occasions, the AU is still in the process of determining all the requirements and implications of the full establishment of the African Standby Force (ASF),including its C3IS requirements. In this regard, the AU Commission has convened a series of consultations over the past two years. The outcome of these various consultations is expected to be submitted to a meeting of AU Ministers of Defense and security, which would be preceded by meetings of Defense and Security Experts and chiefs of Defense Staff. Depending on the ability of the Commission and its partners to prepare the myriad working documents for these meetings in all working languages, the Commission hopes to convene these meetings before the next Summit of the AU, so that the Summit can endorse the recommendations of the Ministers of Defense and Security. As the USAU has been informed, the Commission is not in a position to consider any offer or proposal of support to C3IS, or to any other component of the ASF, until a decision has been taken by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government. Furthermore, offers of support to areas as sensitive as C3IS should be considered with the full involvement of the relevant AU organs and structures, after approval by the Assembly. The Commission would like also to seize this opportunity to refer to its request to the Government of the US to support communication facilities that would link AMISOM to AU Headquarters. As was discussed between the Commissioner for Peace and Security and the Ambassador during their last meeting, it was agreed that technical officers from the US Government would meet with officers from the AU, comprising of the Department of Peace and Security, the Management Information System Division, and other relevant units, to discuss the modalities for putting in place the communication equipment and training the AU staff who would be fully in charge of operating it. It is the understanding of the Commission that such equipment as is provided to enhance communication between the ADDIS ABAB 00003168 002 OF 002 Commission Headquarters and AMISOM, is given as a donation by the Government of the United States, and that the equipment may be used for any future operation the AU deems fit. Further, it is understood by the Commission that this gift should not be linked to the C3IS requirements of the ASF discussed above. The Commission of the African Union avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the United States Mission to the African Union the assurances of its highest consideration. END TEXT YAMAMOTO