PANAMA: SUDAN NEEDS IMMEDIATE UN ATTENTION

UNCLAS PANAMA 000645 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPKO UNSC SU PM SUBJECT: PANAMA: SUDAN NEEDS IMMEDIATE UN ATTENTION REF: STATE 52648 ¶1. (SBU) "The situation in Darfur cannot be prolonged," responded MFA Director for Exterior Politics Javier Bonagas to DCM's delivery of reftel demarche. Bonagas acknowledged the Government of Sudan's history of reneging on its agreements and underscored the urgent need for the international community to clamp down on the incessant violence plaguing the region. Drawing a comparison to a forthcoming UNSCR on Kosovo independence, Bonagas stated his opinion that the crisis in Darfur is a matter that demands immediate UNSC attention, whereas a UNSCR aimed at conceiving an independent Kosovo should not be viewed with the same urgency as a current and ongoing genocidal crisis. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: Bonagas's view that Kosovo is not as urgent as Sudan may be a staff level trial balloon since it was volunteered when we demarched them on Sudan. This same argument was repeated by MFA Senior Advisor Nils Castro during a subsequent conversation with POLOFF. We note that both officials made those comments while FM Lewis Navarro was in Europe on his way to Moscow. Our suggested strategy of keeping the pressure on the GOP at senior level still stands. EATON