VAN WALSUM IN MADRID MAY 18

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 000937 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA/MAG FOR ROBERT EWING NEA/FO FOR DAS GRAY E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2017 TAGS: PREL PBTS AG MO WI SP SUBJECT: VAN WALSUM IN MADRID MAY 18 REF: STATE 64947 Classified By: CDA Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to MFA Deputy Director General for North Africa Manuel Gomez-Acebo on May ¶17. Gomez-Acebo told Poloff that UN Personal Envoy Peter van Walsum had postponed his planned May 16-22 tour of the Maghreb on May 15 and would instead be in Madrid May 18 for a meeting with Foreign Minister Moratinos. Gomez-Acebo did not know what had prompted van Walsum to cancel his consultation trip. ¶2. (C) On the substance of the demarche, Gomez-Acebo agreed that the resolution was a success and that the Group of Friends needs to maintain the momentum. He said that Spain could support the idea of bringing the sides together to discuss format and formalities simply to get the process moving rather than attempting to address substance at a first meeting. During DAS Gray's April visit to Madrid, Director General Alvaro Iranzo had similarly proposed initial meetings to address issues of lesser importance before tackling the main dispute. On the idea of selecting a location, Gomez-Acebo offered that this could be done through informal consultations with the Group of Friends, and he added that Spain would support getting van Walsum to address these formalities quickly even if he wants to move more slowly on beginning substantive negotiations. Gomez-Acebo noted that Spain shares van Walsum's concern that it would be risky to try for too much too fast. ¶3. (C) Noting previous statements by Gomez-Acebo and Iranzo that perhaps the Polisario did not see van Walsum as a credible facilitator, Poloff asked whether Spain feels that van Walsum can do the job. Gomez-Acebo replied that Spain is definitely not advocating replacing van Walsum, but given the importance of this opportunity, it is necessary to take advantage of the moment and make sure that neither party has an excuse to refuse negotiations. Gomez-Acebo said that van Walsum has proven to be less pro-Morocco than initially perceived. He regretted that van Walsum had postponed his trip to the region as it would have been a good chance to check the temperature of the Polisario. -------------- Visit Embassy Madrid's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/madrid/ -------------- LLORENS