UNSC MISSION TO AFRICA WILL INCLUDE SUDAN

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000391

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SENSITIVE
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ET PGOV PREL SU UNSC
SUBJECT: UNSC MISSION TO AFRICA WILL INCLUDE SUDAN



1. (SBU) The United Nations SECURITY COUNCIL (UNSC) met on
May 16 and 17 to discuss the draft itinerary and terms of
reference (TOR) for its Mission to Africa in June. In the
May 16 discussion Members agreed in principle that the UK and
South Africa would co-chair the visits to Addis Ababa and
Accra and Congo would lead a follow-on visit to Abidjan and
France to Kinshasa. Members agreed that the mission's first
visit would be in Addis Ababa on June 16 for consultations
with the African Union (AU) and its Peace and SECURITY
Council (PSC) on improving AU cooperation with the UN and the
UNSC by developing mechanisms for closer ties in conflict
prevention, peacekeeping, and post-conflict peacebuilding.
The mission would spend June 18 in Accra to meet with current
AU Chairman, President Kufuor, and his Foreign Minister,
former Ghanaian Permanent Representative (PR) Effah-Apentang.
The mission would then proceed to Cote D'Ivoire under
Congolese leadership, spending part of June 19 there before
flying the same day to Kinshasa for a meeting with DRC
President Kabila on the morning of June 20. Although the
UNSC originally envisioned sending smaller missions to
Abidjan and the DRC, Members eventually agreed that the full
Council should visit all stops.


2. (SBU) On May 16 South African PR Kumalo reported on his
delegation's consultations with the Sudanese Mission in New
York over a possible stop in Khartoum June 17 to meet
President Bashir and senior officials about the crisis in
Darfur while the COUNCIL is en route to Accra from Addis
Ababa. Kumalo painted a picture of a reluctantly hospitable
Government of NATIONAL Unity (GNU),although asserting that
Khartoum would welcome such a visit to continue its dialogue
with the COUNCIL on Darfur. COUNCIL opinion about the
stopover was divided, but a majority of Members (including
the five Permanent Members and European delegations) favored
such a stop, noting that the deployment of a peacekeeping
mission was only one dimension, albeit an important one, in
Council dealings with Sudan. Others argued that there should
be a more concrete reason to stop in Khartoum and insisted
that the GNU formally invite the Council. The UK reported
that its PR Jones Parry and South African PR Kumalo would
meet that afternoon with Department of Peacekeeping
Operations (DPKO) Under-Secretary-General Guehenno to discuss
DPKO support for and preparation of the Council's meetings in
Addis Ababa.


3. (SBU) At a USUN-chaired a meeting of COUNCIL coordinators
May 17 on the UNSC mission, PolMinCouns outlined the basic
timeline for the mission as follows: depart New York June 14
to arrive in Addis Ababa in the evening of June 15; spend all
day June 16 at the AU PSC; depart for Khartoum on the morning
of June 17 and leave for Accra the same day; spend the day on
June 18 in Accra before departing that evening for Abidjan;
spend part of the day on June 19 in Abidjan before flying to
Kinshasa and spending the night there; and leave for Europe
on June 20 to arrive back in New York on June 21.
PolMinCouns requested the UN Secretariat to begin its
planning for the mission based on this timeline. The
Secretariat rep asked that delegations revert as soon as

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possible with the name and passport information of the
members who would travel for each UNSC delegation.


4. (SBU) The UK delegate reported that the UNSC would meet
the AU PSC on June 16 in a plenary session to discuss
cross-cutting issues between the AU and the UN, with a focus
on managing peacekeeping missions, as well as on Somalia and
Sudan. The UK rep then suggested that the plenary session be
followed by "break-out" sessions to discuss other African
issues, proposing Ethiopia/Eritrea among others. The
Ghanaian rep warned Members against creating an exhaustive
list of topics to be discussed at the AU PSC, recommending
that Members stay flexible on this agenda. The South African
Counselor urged Members to "show goodwill" toward the GNU
during the June 17 stop in Khartoum. In response to a
suggestion by the Belgian delegate that a COUNCIL stop in
Juba could be helpful, the UK rep offered inviting GNU First
Vice-President and Government of Southern Sudan President
Salva Kiir to Khartoum on that day. The South African
delegate advocated a "wait-and-see" approach before
finalizing such an itinerary in Sudan.


5. (SBU) On TOR for the mission, there was much discussion
about drafting separate TORs for each leg of the mission.
The South African rep suggested that the TOR for the Khartoum
leg be incorporated into the Addis Ababa portion. The
Secretariat STAFF specified that there would be one letter

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from the UNSC to the Secretary-General on the mission, to
which each set of TOR would be annexed so that the document
could be presented to the UN Comptroller as one package.
Members agreed to delete from the draft TOR use of the phrase
"prospects for" when describing political transition in Cote
d'Ivoire and implementation of border decisions in
Ethiopia/Eritrea. The U.S. and French delegations advocated
deletion of the mention of "financial and other support for
regional organizations" in the opening paragraph about
exploring the UN-AU relationship.


6. (SBU) The UN Secretariat will circulate during the week of
May 21 an updated itinerary and TOR for the mission.
KHALILZAD