SUDAN: EGYPTIANS PROPOSE UN/AU ENVOYS DRAFT A

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 001360 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV EG SU SUBJECT: SUDAN: EGYPTIANS PROPOSE UN/AU ENVOYS DRAFT A DARFUR ROADMAP REF: KHARTOUM 676 Classified by Minister Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs, William R. Stewart, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) During a May 9 meeting, MFA Cabinet staff member responsible for African affairs Ahmed Abu Zeid told poloff that the foreign minister was putting the final touches on an oral message on Darfur which would be transmitted later the same day. The message would be addressed, he said, to Secretary Rice, other P-5 capitals, Brussels, the African SIPDIS Union, and regional parties involved in the Darfur conflict. In brief, he explained, the message would propose creation of a new "Roadmap" for Darfur, to be crafted by AU envoy Salim Ahmed Salim and his UN counterpart Jan Eliasson as a result of their international consultations. This issue formed the substance of discussions in Cairo on May 7 between FM Aboul Gheit and the two envoys. ¶2. (C) A Darfur Roadmap, he said, would energize the political process and would follow upon the general agreement during international consultations in Tripoli on April 28-29 (reftel). While participants in the Tripoli talks, he said, agreed on the need to move forward on the political track, the GOE is focused on how to implement such agreement. The Roadmap that Eliasson and Salim would craft should include a timetable for actions, clear principles and objectives, and clarity on the relationship between the political process and peace-keeping operations in Darfur. There must be clear incentives and punitive measures in the document, he said. Once a document is crafted by the two envoys, the UN Security Council and the international community must endorse the plan. It is crucial, he continued, that we send a clear signal to all parties that there is no patience for games; the international community is serious about reaching a lasting political solution to the conflict. A general political framework is necessary, he added, in which principles, parameters, and expectations for all parties are clear. Echoing public remarks made by Eliasson and Salim following their May 7 meeting with Aboul Gheit in Cairo, Abu Zeid called for international pressure on both sides - the government and the rebel movements - to ensure each carries out its responsibilities to end the conflict. (Note: During their joint press conference on May 7, Aboul Gheit and the two envoys reportedly agreed "the main problem has been that the rebels have felt they are protected against sanctions." End note). ¶3. (U) Minimize considered. RICCIARDONE