ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: RESPONSE TO USG INSTRUCTIONS ON

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000597 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ER ET PBTS PREL UNSC SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: RESPONSE TO USG INSTRUCTIONS ON TWO-TRACK APPROACH REF: SECSTATE 097935 ¶1. (SBU) On July 20 Acting PolCouns delivered reftel points to Ms. Margaret Vogt, Deputy Director of the Africa I Division in the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (DPA). Also present was DPA Africa I Division Political Officer Mamadi Toure and Poloff. (NOTE: DPA Under-Secretary-General Pascoe became unavailable on short notice for this meeting. END NOTE). Acting PolCouns stressed the USG wish to see the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) take advantage of its early September meetings with the parties to move the reconciliation process forward faster, given what appeared to be imminent hostilities between the sides. He highlighted the "break-through potential" offered by the EEBC September meeting in getting outstanding differences, particularly in terms of demarcation definitions and interpretations, clarified between the sides. ¶2. (SBU) Acting PolCouns emphasized the USG belief that the Secretary-General take the lead on the second track parallel SIPDIS to the EEBC process by considering sponsoring meetings on the margins of the EEBC September session as a forum for discussions on issues more "normal" than the divisive border talk between the two. Acting PolCouns said the USG would be willing to engage with the Witnesses to the Algiers Agreements, the Friends of the UN Mission to Ethiopia/Eritrea (UNMEE) and other interested parties to lend support to and generate momentum for this second track effort. Acting PolCouns pointed out that the USG role was best played behind-the-scenes, given our somewhat strained relationship with Eritrea. ¶3. (SBU) Deputy Director Vogt was encouraged to hear that the USG shared DPA's view of the importance of underlying issues between the sides, beyond the "technicalities of demarcation." She stressed the need to focus on issues such as the Eritrean economy, Ethiopian access to the sea, and Eritrea's insecurity over respect for its territorial integrity. She said that Eritrea considers pillar erection as the ultimate confirmation of its independence in the face of what Eritrea sees as lingering Ethiopian refusal to recognize that Eritrea has gone its separate way. Likewise, Vogt noted that Ethiopia needed a way to reassure its domestic constituencies that it did not "sell out" by granting Eritrea its independence. She considered Acting PolCouns' suggestion of creating a forum for discussion of confidence-building measures outside the border context as a way to give both sides a ladder to climb down. ¶4. (SBU) Deputy Director Vogt "did not see the Secretary-General saying no" to reftel request but warned SIPDIS that Eritrea had traditionally not been receptive to the SYG's offer of good offices. She expressed hope that interested parties, especially Norway, would play a supporting role if the SYG came out in front on the initiative. Vogt considered that discussions between the sides begin in advance of the September EEBC meeting as a way to "soften the ground" for the parties, something, as DPA Poloff Toure added, had been done before the agreement on the Bakassi peninsula through an SYG-convened meeting in Geneva. Both Vogt and Acting PolCouns agreed that September could represent the apex of an intensive outreach effort, in the months both before and after, in the run-up to the EEBC November deadline. ¶5. (SBU) In separate conversations with Poloff, the Italian and UK Missions expressed support for the EEBC September meeting. UKUN Poloff said London considered it "an opportunity not to be wasted," and both the UK and Italy saw the meeting as a chance to extend the EEBC's withdrawal deadline beyond November. Italian Poloff supported any initiative to build confidence between the sides, including through utilizing the Military Coordination Commission. Regarding the SYG's good offices, Italian Poloff saw appointment of a Special Representative as a possible way forward, including as a way to acknowledge the Eritrean position. He was concerned, however, that the latest SYG Report on the UN Mission in Ethiopia/Eritrea (S/2007/440), could hinder the SYG's good offices efforts, since the Report's language was "rightly tough" on Eritrea on some areas but no so in others. KHALILZAD