DEMARCHE DELIVERED: URGENT REQUEST FOR DEMARCHE ON UNSC

C O N F I D E N T I A L OUAGADOUGOU 000603 IO REBECCA GOLDENBERG USUN FOR JEFFERY DELAURENTIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: 07/03/2018 TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM UNSC ZI UV SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: URGENT REQUEST FOR DEMARCHE ON UNSC CHAPTER VII RESOLUTION ON ZIMBABWE REF: STATE 70836 Classified by Amb JJackson for 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On July 3, PolOff presented reftel demarche to MOFA Director for International Organizations Dieudonne Sougouri. Referring to meetings held at the recent African Union (AU) Summit in Egypt, Sougouri said that the GOBF, along with other African nations condemned the actions of President Mugabe as being undemocratic and non-transparent. Sougouri said that Burkina Faso was in favor of a political solution to the sham, run-off elections that took place in Zimbabwe, meaning that power could be shared by the opposition and ruling parties. Although African leaders had discussed Zimbabwe at the AU summit, they did not discuss the possibility of sanctions against Zimbabwe, Sougouri stated. ¶2. (C) Commenting on the draft resolution presented in reftel, Sougouri noted that in general, Burkina Faso was against unilateral sanctions taken against any country, but would be open to sanctions imposed if they were agreed upon by the international community, such as in the UN Security Council. Sougouri further promised to seek guidance immediately on the content of the draft resolution and pass this guidance onto the Burkina Faso permanent mission in New York. JACKSON