DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PAKISTAN MFA ON DARFUR

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 002495 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPKO PK SU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PAKISTAN MFA ON DARFUR PEACEKEEPING REF: A. STATE 65750 ¶B. ISLAMABAD 2083 ¶1. (SBU) On June 4, PolOff delivered reftel points urging Pakistan to weigh in with the UN and the AU on the need for UN command and control of the proposed hybrid operation to MFA Director (UN-I) Haider Shah. Shah said that the substance of our message made sense, as Pakistan has in the past also called for a more unified command in UN peacekeeping operations. He said that failing to resolve command and control issues in advance of a hybrid operation would be diastrous for the mission. Shah said that he would consult with Pakistan Army headquarters because they would have to support any decision to send peacekeepers. He pointed out that the challenges to the hybrid operation were political as well as technical, meaning that the AU must be seen as an important component of the operation. Echoing what Foreign Secretary Khan said about the Darfur mission last month (ref B),Shah concluded that Pakistan would be deliberate in deciding how to contribute to a hybrid operation. BODDE