P5 AGREE TO COOPERATE ON SUDAN AND OTHER ISSUES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000368 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CD PGOV PREL SU UNSC KPKO YI UNMIK SUBJECT: P5 AGREE TO COOPERATE ON SUDAN AND OTHER ISSUES ¶1. (SBU) On May 10, Ambassador Khalilzad convened his first meeting of the Permanent Five United Nations Security Council Members (UNSC). Members welcomed Ambassador Khalilzad's commitment to begin regular P5 consultations and to make use of this forum to advance shared goals and harmonize positions where possible. Members agreed to coordinate efforts with Secretary-General (SYG) Ban Ki-moon on how to make progress SIPDIS on Darfur. The UK circulated draft demarche points to be used as the basis of possible P5 interventions in Khartoum and in New York. China was non-committal on the effort and urged caution, saying it needed guidance from Beijing and warning Members not to undermine ongoing UN efforts toward political reconciliation. The UK and France called for movement from the UN on addressing the situation in eastern Chad. Other issues discussed at the meeting included SYG senior-level appointments and Kosovo, on which Ambassador Khalilzad announced our intention to circulate a draft resolution on May 11. END SUMMARY. IMPETUS FOR DARFUR PROGRESS NEEDED -------------- ¶2. (SBU) UK Permanent Representative (PR) Jones Parry opened the discussion on Sudan by lamenting the slow rate of progress on the political, security and humanitarian fronts in Darfur. Jones Parry pointed out that in the immediate term, due to largely bureaucratic obstacles (pending Egyptian provision of armored personnel carriers for new battalions, land acquisition for construction of camp sites, identification of water sources at these sites in North Darfur),there could be no real movement on deploying elements of the Heavy Support Package (HSP) of assistance to the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) before the fall. According to Jones Parry, such obstacles were not exclusive to the HSP, as the AU reportedly reverted to the UN with extensive amendments to its proposed structure for the hybrid operation, pushing back hybrid deployment, still subject to Sudanese approval, until early 2008. AMIS meanwhile continued to flounder financially and militarily. In this context Jones Parry introduced a draft demarche paper intended for P5 use in Khartoum and New York, aimed at injecting a sense of urgency and coherence into the effort to address the Darfur crisis. ¶3. (SBU) Not unexpectedly, Chinese Deputy PR Liu urged caution with such an approach, warning that if not coordinated with the SYG, it could serve to undermine efforts already underway, like those of UN Special Envoy Jan Eliasson and AU Special Envoy Salim Salim. Liu suggested letting the SYG remain at the forefront of such outreach, bolstered by P5 "advice." Liu agreed, however, that a shared P5 objective was to accelerate Sudanese cooperation on the Darfur political process and peacekeeping efforts. Russian PR Churkin was more supportive of the initiative but raised questions about the substance of the draft demarche, namely its characterization of the HSP as merely a step toward reaching the hybrid operation, which, he argued, might give the Khartoum an incentive for procrastination on its deployment. Churkin also questioned the impression given in the paper that the Council would be "compelled" into action to address the Darfur situation. ¶4. (SBU) Ambassador Khalilzad agreed that the demarche should take into account SYG efforts on Darfur, and all P5 Members agreed on the need to coordinate with him. Ambassador Khalilzad promised to organize a P5 meeting with the SYG on this topic. Ambassador Khalilzad also agreed to "massage" the language of the text to incorporate Russian suggestions and consider whatever input Beijing may offer. It was not decided if demarches would be delivered by P5 Members together or in sequence. AMIS FUNDING IS ISSUE AS MANDATE EXPIRATION LOOMS -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Ambassador Wolff pointed out that the potential for a security vacuum in Darfur was real if there were no movement on Darfur peacekeeping by AMIS' mandate expiration on June 30. Chinese DPR Liu jumped on this point, insisting that the UNSC and the donor community must be prepared to sustain AMIS financially until the hybrid could deploy. Liu recommended encouraging the SYG to make full use of the Tripartite Mechanism between the UN, the AU and the Sudanese Government, to chart the way forward on Darfur. Chinese USUN NEW Y 00000368 002 OF 002 Political Minister Counselor Li Jun-hua told PolMinCouns and Poloff after the meeting that AMIS funding was the major issue in moving forward, well aware that donors' financially sustaining a weak AMIS ad infinitum was in Khartoum's interest. USUN replied that ad hoc financing for AMIS would not continue indefinitely, making the need for UN-AU agreement on the hybrid and Sudanese approval thereof all the more crucial. When asked by USUN about the Chinese engineering unit pledged to the HSP, Li said Beijing had not yet decided on whether to re-locate first a parallel unit from UNMIS in the South to be back-filled by the new pledged unit in the interest of getting boots on the ground in Darfur more quickly. ¶6. (SBU) NOTE: In a May 9 conversation with Poloff, Ghanaian Political Officer described an inchoate plan to address the AMIS funding issue by transferring the responsibility temporarily to African donors. Ghana, as AU President, was planning to demarche AU Commission Chairperson Konare on the idea of seeking African-only funding for AMIS for one month as a way of driving home with African leaders the need for a more sustainable system of funding, thus ultimately leading to pressure by these leaders on Khartoum to accept the hybrid operation, which would be financed through UN assessed contributions. END NOTE. ¶7. (SBU) Ambassador Sanders raised the importance of involving African UNSC Members in the process of demarching on Darfur's future. UK PR Jones Parry suggested that the UNSC consider a June 17 stop in Khartoum between its June 16 visit with Konare in Addis Ababa and with Ghanaian President and current AU Head John Kufuor on June 18. NEED DPKO ACTION ON CHAD -------------- ¶8. (SBU) UK PR Jones Parry and French PR de La Sabliere expressed frustration with the inaction on the part of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to address the situation in eastern Chad. Both stressed the need to get elements of the advance mission authorized in January on the ground to reconcile differences with the GOC on modalities of peacekeeping there. They also stressed that the Chad government would welcome such a visit but it seemed held back by "bureaucratics" in New York. KOSOVO -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Ambassador Khalilzad announced the U.S. intention to circulate a draft resolution on Kosovo on May 11. Although Russian PR Churkin seemed taken by surprise with this development, there was no reaction from other P5 Members (Churkin hurridly conferred with Chinese DPR Liu after the meeting). SYG APPOINTMENTS -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Russian PR Churkin recommended convening regular P5 meetings with the SYG to deal with the "problem" of senior-level appointments. Churkin and Chinese DPR Liu spoke to the need for P5 input to the SYG in appointing the head of disarmament affairs, and Churkin advocated the candidacy of Sergei Karev (Russia) for Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Director, a post to be vacated in June by current director Javier Ruperez (Spain). The French DPR countered with words of support for the French candidate, Jean-Pierre Laborde. Churkin also opposed the appointment of an Under-SYG for gender equality, suggesting that such responsibilities could be absorbed by current UN Deputy SYG Migiro. Ambassador Khalilzad committed to setting up an early P5 meeting with SYG Ban, a step welcomed by the other Members. KHALILZAD