BRUNEI UNDECIDED ON PARIS DONORS CONFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000348 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2017 TAGS: PREL ECON KWBG KPAL XF BX SUBJECT: BRUNEI UNDECIDED ON PARIS DONORS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE REF: A. SECSTATE 163955 ¶B. BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 320 (NOTAL) Classified By: Ambassador Emil M. Skodon; Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (SBU) Following receipt of reftel on December 5, Ambassador consulted with French Ambassador Bonneville re invitation for Government of Brunei (GOB) to attend Paris donors conference. Bonneville confirmed that Foreign Minister Kouchner had issued a written invitation to GOB Foreign Minister I Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, and President Sarkozy had written to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to urge Bruneian participation. The French Ambassador had not yet received a definitive response and had been following up with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Permanent Secretary Dato Shofry bin Abd Ghafor. Bonneville understood that Dato Shofry planned to discuss Bruneian participation with Foreign Minister II Pehin Lim Jock Seng the evening of December 5 after Lim returned to Brunei from London. ¶2. (SBU) In light of Shofry,s impending meeting with Lim on this subject, Ambassador phoned him to deliver reftel demarche and followed up with faxed letter repeating main points. During the phone conversation Shofry stated that ForMin I Prince Mohamed would probably not be able to attend the Paris conference and that the GOB had not yet decided whether to accept the French invitation. Ambassador urged Bruneian acceptance and stressed the critical role that financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority would play in underpinning peace negotiations that could lead to creation of a Palestinian state, a goal which Brunei, as a member of the OIC, had long supported. ¶3. (C) Shofry appeared interested to learn of the possibility that the World Bank might create a Trust Fund to which donors would contribute, a point which he apparently had not heard from the French. Ambassador stressed that use of such a Trust Fund would be a means for the GOB to help ease the PA's budgetary woes and advance the peace process while remaining one step removed from direct support. (As reported ref B and previous, the ever-cautious Bruneians have traditionally channeled aid to the Palestinians through multilateral agencies, partly to avoid becoming even tangentially involved in any internal Palestinian political divisions.) SKODON