BAN WANTS U.S. HELP TO ENGAGE SAUDIS WITH BASHIR

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000931 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC BM SU SUBJECT: BAN WANTS U.S. HELP TO ENGAGE SAUDIS WITH BASHIR REF: USUN 927 Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Permanent Representative. For Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Over lunch on October 29, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Ambassador Khalilzad discussed Sudan, Burma and UN reform (septel). -------------- SUDAN -------------- ¶2. (C) SYG Ban said he was losing patience with President Bashir. Ban has asked a wide range of member states including South Africa, Egypt, India and China to weigh in with Bashir to accept the hybrid force in Darfur -- to no avail. Ban has reached the conclusion that Bashir is dragging his feet, and wants an ineffective force later on that can be easily intimidated. He was particularly troubled by reports of a recent statement attributed to the Government of Sudan that it would only accept forces from Africa, China and Pakistan. Ban said it was time to apply more pressure. He wants to re-engage King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to push Bashir. He asked the U.S. to weigh in with King Abdullah to pressure Bashir. Ambassador Khalilzad said he would convene a meeting of the P-5 as soon as possible to discuss Sudan's lack of cooperation as well. -------------- BURMA -------------- ¶3. (C) According to Ban, he informed the Burmese authorities on October 26 that he was sending Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari to Burma on November 1. Ban is working with the Chinese "to make it happen." He said the Chinese were helping and he hoped to hear back from them by the end of October 29. He asked the U.S. to keep a lower profile on pressing for the November 1 date while this plays out. Otherwise, he will be seen as doing the U.S.'s bidding, he said. Ban promised to keep Ambassador Khalilzad informed. Khalilzad