CHAD: FURTHER ON KOUCHNER PLAN

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000530 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPKO CD PHUM PREF SUBJECT: CHAD: FURTHER ON KOUCHNER PLAN REF: NDJAMENA 504 ¶1. (SBU) Francois Dureau, representing the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in talks in Chad, briefed ambassadors June 25, before departing the country, on the status of the two-track humanitarian protection plan for eastern Chad (reftel). He said that most of the discussions had moved to Paris, Brussels, and New York over the past ten days, particularly in relation to the second (military) track. Dureau had wanted to meet President Deby to go over the points agreed so far, but the foreign minister preferred to wait until all the main pieces were agreed before making a final presentation to Deby. Dureau said that DPKO had made it clear that Chadian police/gendarmes participating in the first (police) track could not carry UN uniforms, helmets, or insignia. The Chadians were asking for a Chadian component in the military track, which DPKO was resisting. There was no agreed name yet for the force. ¶2. (SBU) The French Ambassador Bruno Foucher said that he anticipated being ready to see Deby after a further meeting June 27 in Paris, where a Chadian military delegation had been present. The French visualized the military track as having three functions: protection of the camps, protection of the IDPs, and securing the IDPs' home villages. Deby had originally wanted only a French force, a plan which was unacceptable to French. Now the Chadians had asked for inclusion of African Union and CENSAD (Community of Sahel-Saharan States) troops in the military force. Another unresolved issue was the timing of transition of the military force from French/EU to UN. The Chadians wanted the transition to be stretched out to one year. WALL