Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CAIRO1279
2007-05-02 09:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:
DARFUR: ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF RESPONDS TO
how-toVZCZCXRO2946 OO RUEHROV DE RUEHEG #1279 1220931 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 020931Z MAY 07 FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4969 INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 001279
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ECON UNSC MOPS EG SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR: ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF RESPONDS TO
CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION CRITICISM
Classified by Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 001279
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ECON UNSC MOPS EG SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR: ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF RESPONDS TO
CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION CRITICISM
Classified by Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).
1. (C) The Ambassador had the opportunity on April 30 to
discuss with Arab League Secretary General Moussa a recent
Congressional Resolution on Darfur that explicitly criticizes
the Arab League over the conflict there. Moussa conveyed
that he was personally affronted by the resolution, and said
he would respond in writing to Speaker Pelosi. The
resolution, he complained, was based on a "lack of
information" on the role of the Arab League in helping to
resolve the Darfur conflict. Moussa clarified that the
League took issue with the issue of genocide, based on the
information available to it, but agreed the situation there
was a terrible violation of human rights and should be
condemned. Moussa said that he had been so moved by the
extent of the humanitarian disaster in Darfur, that he had
personally sought money from Arab governments to support the
African Union mission in Darfur. Not only had he succeeded
in raising 20 million dollars for the AU, but Moussa said he
had been the one to insist at the Arab League's latest summit
in Riyadh that Omar Bashir meet with UN SYG Ban Ki Moon, the
Saudi King, and the AU Commissioner to address next steps on
an AU/UN force for Darfur.
2. (C) The Ambassador urged Moussa to take the Congressional
resolution to heart, and to increase efforts to get the Arab
governments to openly and forcefully behind international
efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict. In any response to
Congresswoman Pelosi, the Ambassador counselled, Moussa
should detail the Arab League's and his own contributions to
addressing the situation in Darfur. Any statement from the
Arab League that called upon the Government of Sudan to
cooperate with the UN to help end the violence in Darfur,
even if it did not explicitly use the word "genocide," would
be welcomed.
3. (U) Text of Arab League Statement on U.S. Darfur
Resolution:
Begin text (Embassy translation):
The General Secretariat of the AL expressed its astonishment
at the US Congress resolution dated April 25, 2007 which
calls on the AL to declare that the human rights violations
occurring in Darfur are considered collateral cleansing, at a
time where no international or regional organization had used
that characterization. The General Secretariat expressed its
disappointment to the content of the Congress resolution
where it stated that the AL worked on impeding the spread of
the national troops in Darfur, which assures that false
information had been presented to the US congress on which it
built resolutions that are far from reality.
The AL referred to the expanded and high level cooperation
occurring between the AL, the AU and the UN during the peace
negotiations that took place over two years at the Nigerian
capital Abudja, the Addis Ababa meetings to insure more
international support to the AU mission in Darfur, and the
Arab Summit in Riyadh to overcome a number of special
obstacles related to different assistances, had proved
success to reach results that blend with all principles of
protection of civilian victims of struggles and the principle
of State sovereignty.
The AL stated that the security arrangements that are
currently being consulted - among which is the African /
National hybrid operation - which the Sudanese Government had
agreed upon in Addis Ababa meetings and in the African Peace
and Security Council in November 30, 2006, is considered a
basic step to secure the implementation of Darfur Peace
Agreement that was signed in May 2006. In accordance to
previous experiences in Africa and other areas, these
arrangements should be parallel to real and active political
efforts to treat the roots of the crisis in Darfur, which is
what the AL and its state members are doing in coordination
of efforts with the UN and the AU.
End text.
RICCIARDONE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ECON UNSC MOPS EG SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR: ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF RESPONDS TO
CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION CRITICISM
Classified by Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).
1. (C) The Ambassador had the opportunity on April 30 to
discuss with Arab League Secretary General Moussa a recent
Congressional Resolution on Darfur that explicitly criticizes
the Arab League over the conflict there. Moussa conveyed
that he was personally affronted by the resolution, and said
he would respond in writing to Speaker Pelosi. The
resolution, he complained, was based on a "lack of
information" on the role of the Arab League in helping to
resolve the Darfur conflict. Moussa clarified that the
League took issue with the issue of genocide, based on the
information available to it, but agreed the situation there
was a terrible violation of human rights and should be
condemned. Moussa said that he had been so moved by the
extent of the humanitarian disaster in Darfur, that he had
personally sought money from Arab governments to support the
African Union mission in Darfur. Not only had he succeeded
in raising 20 million dollars for the AU, but Moussa said he
had been the one to insist at the Arab League's latest summit
in Riyadh that Omar Bashir meet with UN SYG Ban Ki Moon, the
Saudi King, and the AU Commissioner to address next steps on
an AU/UN force for Darfur.
2. (C) The Ambassador urged Moussa to take the Congressional
resolution to heart, and to increase efforts to get the Arab
governments to openly and forcefully behind international
efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict. In any response to
Congresswoman Pelosi, the Ambassador counselled, Moussa
should detail the Arab League's and his own contributions to
addressing the situation in Darfur. Any statement from the
Arab League that called upon the Government of Sudan to
cooperate with the UN to help end the violence in Darfur,
even if it did not explicitly use the word "genocide," would
be welcomed.
3. (U) Text of Arab League Statement on U.S. Darfur
Resolution:
Begin text (Embassy translation):
The General Secretariat of the AL expressed its astonishment
at the US Congress resolution dated April 25, 2007 which
calls on the AL to declare that the human rights violations
occurring in Darfur are considered collateral cleansing, at a
time where no international or regional organization had used
that characterization. The General Secretariat expressed its
disappointment to the content of the Congress resolution
where it stated that the AL worked on impeding the spread of
the national troops in Darfur, which assures that false
information had been presented to the US congress on which it
built resolutions that are far from reality.
The AL referred to the expanded and high level cooperation
occurring between the AL, the AU and the UN during the peace
negotiations that took place over two years at the Nigerian
capital Abudja, the Addis Ababa meetings to insure more
international support to the AU mission in Darfur, and the
Arab Summit in Riyadh to overcome a number of special
obstacles related to different assistances, had proved
success to reach results that blend with all principles of
protection of civilian victims of struggles and the principle
of State sovereignty.
The AL stated that the security arrangements that are
currently being consulted - among which is the African /
National hybrid operation - which the Sudanese Government had
agreed upon in Addis Ababa meetings and in the African Peace
and Security Council in November 30, 2006, is considered a
basic step to secure the implementation of Darfur Peace
Agreement that was signed in May 2006. In accordance to
previous experiences in Africa and other areas, these
arrangements should be parallel to real and active political
efforts to treat the roots of the crisis in Darfur, which is
what the AL and its state members are doing in coordination
of efforts with the UN and the AU.
End text.
RICCIARDONE