Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07USUNNEWYORK597
2007-07-20 23:28:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USUN New York
Cable title:
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: RESPONSE TO USG INSTRUCTIONS ON
how-toVZCZCXYZ0004 PP RUEHWEB DE RUCNDT #0597/01 2012328 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 202328Z JUL 07 FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2301 INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 0150 RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 1402 RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 1331 RUEHAE/AMEMBASSY ASMARA PRIORITY 1169 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0826 RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 1488 RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM PRIORITY 0254 RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON PRIORITY 0494 RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0745 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 8296 RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
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
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
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