UGANDA: GOU CONSIDERS USG POSITION ON ANTI-ISRAELI

UNCLAS KAMPALA 001542 PASS TO IO/UNP ANDREW MORRISON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNGA IS PA LE SY UG SUBJECT: UGANDA: GOU CONSIDERS USG POSITION ON ANTI-ISRAELI RESOLUTIONS REF: STATE 123081 ¶1. PolOff delivered reftel points to Ministry of Foreign Affairs Multilateral Organizations and Treaties Office Director Isaac Sebulime on November 20, calling on Uganda to vote against or at a minimum abstain on unhelpful and disproportionate resolutions against Israel. Sebulime said that the GOU recognized that the Israel-Palestine issue was "politicized" within the UN, but noted that it was a problem created by the UN and therefore viewed by many in the international community as the place to solve it. In the end, Sebulime said that the GOU would review past resolutions and consider the USG position accordingly. ¶2. Comment: As noted in reftel, Uganda in the past has had a mixed record in supporting the U.S. position on anti-Israeli resolutions. Barring imminent changes in key positions at the Foreign Ministry or at the Ugandan Mission to the UN, we do not expect any substantial shifts in GOU voting patterns towards Israel or Palestine. BROWNING