AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD MEETS WITH PGA KERIM TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000901

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2017
TAGS: AORC KUNR UNGA UNGA UNSC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD MEETS WITH PGA KERIM TO
DISCUSS UN REFORM

REF: A. USUN 0882

B. USUN 0867

Classified By: Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, per 1.4 (b
) and (d).

1.(C) On October 17, 2007 Ambassador Khalilzad met with the
President of the UN General Assembly (PGA) Srgjan Kerim to
discuss UN management reform, UN Security Council (UNSC)
reform and mandate review. Ambassador Khalilzad highlighted
the importance of two key U.S. management reform priorities
1) the jurisdiction of the UN Ethics Office (UNEO) and 2) the
operational independence of the OIOS, and proposed a retreat
for key-players including the P-5, G-4 and the
Secretary-General to discuss UN reform in a "relaxed

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atmosphere" where all elements of UN reform, including UN
management reform and UNSC reform, would be addressed
together. PGA Kerim expressed support for this approach and
noted that addressing only one of the foregoing areas of UN
reform would be akin to "only painting one wall of house".
With respect to UNSC reform specifically, PGA Kerim laid out
a proposal for Member States to agree on the modalities and
substantive elements for the inter-governmental negotiations
on UNSC reform set to begin in the 2007-08 session of the
Open-Ended Working Group. (See reftel A for summary of PGA
proposal on UNSC reform). In addition, Ambassador Khalilzad
and PGA Kerim briefly discussed the way forward on mandate
review and the forthcoming report of the Human Rights Council
(HRC),respectively.

2.(C) PGA Kerim expressed support for Ambassador Khalilzad's
proposal for a retreat to discuss UN reform generally and
suggested that the U.S. take the lead in its organization.
Ambassador Khalilzad and PGA Kerim agreed on the importance
of considering all aspects of UN reform together. Ambassador
Khalilzad referred to concerns in the U.S. Congress regarding
the lack of substantive progress on a litany of management
reforms to date. Ambassador Khalilzad stated that because of
these concerns, progress on UNSC reform needs to be
accompanied by progress in other areas of UN management
reform-particularly in those areas identified in the US
non-paper on reform that was presented to PGA Kerim on
October 9, 2007 (reftel B),so that the reform of the UNSC
can be viewed as a part of a larger balanced UN reform
project.

3.(C) With respect to mandate review, PGA Kerim stated that
the Informal Plenary of October 18, 2007, convened at his
request to present ideas for a way forward, was only a
"preliminary step." PGA Kerim stressed the importance of
Member States not reacting directly to the specific proposals
for moving forward at this point. PGA Kerim stated his
intention to ask delegations to consider the proposals for
moving forward within their respective groups and with their
capitals with a view towards resuming substantive work on
mandate review after the conclusion of the work of the main
session in or around December 2007.

4.(C) Ambassador Khalilzad and PGA Kerim also discussed the
race to succeed Kerim as President of the 63rd session of the
UNGA. PGA Kerim agreed that the Nicaraguan candidate, Miguel
D'Escoto, would be a "disaster" as PGA because of his
"radical" and anti-American views. Asking that comments be
kept confidential, PGA Kerim said he had suggested to the
Dominican PermRep that the Dominican Republic use the
goodwill generated by its early withdrawal from the UNSC race
against Costa Rica to propose a PGA candidate of its own.
According to PGA Kerim, the Dominican PermRep was
"interested," but non-committal. The problem, PGA Kerim
opined, was that the D.R. has not identified a candidate for
PGA. Ambassador Khalilzad agreed that Kerim's idea was a
good one and agreed to work with the Dominican Republic to
identify a good Dominican candidate for the next PGA.

5.(C) At the conclusion of the meeting, PGA Kerim asked
Ambassador Khalilzad for the U.S position of the report of
the HRC, as it is due to come up in the Third Committee
and/or the Plenary during the first week of November.
Ambassador Khalilzad stated that the U.S is considering its
options in regard to the HRC report and will convey its
position to the PGA shortly.
KHALILZAD