DARFUR: UN/AU TASK FORCE NEEDS USG SUPPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 000287

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS, AF/SPG,
AF/PD, AND PA
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV AU KPAO UN SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR: UN/AU TASK FORCE NEEDS USG SUPPORT

REF: A. KHARTOUM 00235

B. TRIPOLI 00190

Classified By: CDA Cameron Hume, Reason: Sections 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) This is an action request. Please see para. 4.


2. (C) On February 25, UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) Director
for Political Affairs Abidoun Bashua briefed POLOFF on the
progress made in establishing the joint UN/African Union (AU)
task force to engage with Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA)
non-signatories (Ref A). Dubbed the Joint Mediation Support
Team (JMST),the task force held its first meeting on
February 21. Its terms of reference will include: 1)
Preparing for the visits of UN Envoy Jan Eliasson and AU
Envoy Salim Ahmed Salim to Chad and other neighboring
countries to meet with DPA non-signatories; 2) Meeting with
the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM),the National
Redemption Front (NRF),the G-19, and the Sudan Federal
Democratic Alliance (SFDA) to test the acceptability of
mediation with those groups; and 3) Preparing an inventory of
actors to be contacted for consultation with the envoys and
planing a course for engagement. At present, the JMST will
consist of a two-person secretariat in Khartoum -- with the
goal of expanding the staff as soon as possible -- and will
be supervised by Bashua and the AU's head of DPA
implementation, Sam Ibok. Four UN and AU staff members plan
to travel to Chad on March 1 to meet with the non-signatories.


3. (C) Bashua emphasized that the Addis Ababa and Abuja
agreements of November 2006 charged the UN and AU with
coordination of the political process. He said that the
proliferation of initiatives to engage the non-signatories
has since undermined the UN/AU role and requested USG
assistance in gaining a strong endorsement from the
international community for their efforts. Though Bashua
said that Eliasson and Salim welcomed the assistance of
regional partners, such as Libya and Eritrea, in engagement
with the DPA non-signatories, the envoys needed to coordinate
the process, not to compete with concurrent efforts from the
sidelines. He was glad that the USG did not have a
representative at the recent discussions in Tripoli, as such
attendance would have legitimized an event outside the UN/AU
process (Ref B).


4. (C) Action request: Post requests that the Department
Spokesman issue a statement from the podium re-iterating the
USG's policy to support UN Envoy Eliasson and AU Envoy Salim
in leading and coordinating the political process with the
non-signatories.


5. (U) Tripoli minimize considered.
HUME