P-3 PLUS GERMANY DISCUSS COUNTER-PIRACY AND THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002256 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2018 TAGS: PTER PHSAUNSC MARR EWWT KPKO UNSC FR SUBJECT: P-3 PLUS GERMANY DISCUSS COUNTER-PIRACY AND THE HORN OF AFRICA Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Young. Reasons 1.4b,d ¶1. (SBU) Summary: At a 12/2 meeting hosted by the French MFA on combatting piracy off the Horn of Africa, the P-3 plus Germany agreed in principle to the creation of an international Contact Group (CG) and deliberated on the timing of its roll-out with respect to a planned UNSC Ministerial Meeting on piracy in mid-December. PM A/S Mark Kimmitt and Counter-Piracy Coordinator Ambassador Stephen Mull laid out U.S. thinking on CG membership and elaborated on how the CG could facilitate greater intelligence sharing, outreach to maritime industry, agreement on judicial arrangements, in addition to a robust public diplomacy role in discouraging piracy off the Horn. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Chantal Poiret, the French Coordinator for Action Against Maritime Piracy, hosted a meeting of the P-3 plus Germany to discuss boosting international cooperation in the fight against piracy off the Horn of Africa. PM A/S Mark Kimmitt led the U.S. delegation, joined by Counter-Piracy Coordinator Ambassador Stephen Mull, Susan Biniaz (L),David Glancy (PM),Joseph Fitzgerald (IO/UNP), Peter Chisholm (EUR/RPM),Jun Bando (AF/RSA),and Embassy Poloff. Other principals included UK FCO Director International Security Paul Johnston and, for Germany, Foreign Office Deputy Director General for UN Affairs Michael von Ungern-Sternberg and Office Director for ESDP Bernhard Kampmann. The French side also included FM Kouchner's African Affairs Advisor Charlotte Montel, PM PDAS-Equivalent Jean-Hugues Simon-Michel, IO DAS-Equivalent Fabien Penone, legal affairs advisor Annick Mathis, ESDP deskoff Samer Melki, PSI deskoff Thomas Guibert, Somalia deskoff Thierry Caboche, PolMil Deskoff Guillaume Dabouis, and MoD Piracy Lead Naval Captain Henri Bobin together with Naval Captain Francois Pasi. ¶3. (C) All participants concurred on the need for additional international action to counter the worsening piracy threat off the Horn of Africa. French PM PDAS-Equivalent Simon-Michel provided a briefing on the ESDP maritime security mission to begin on December 8. He noted that the Netherlands and Greece were contributing vessels to the ESDP mission and he asked that they be included in Contact Group membership. The delegations discussed the challenges in reaching an international consensus on the use of force on land in Somalia against pirate sanctuaries; Germany in particular questioned whether such actions would prove effective. ¶4. (C) There was agreement on standing up an international Contact Group on maritime piracy off the Horn of Africa that would support the following actions: -- Quickly setting up a center in the region that would pool information about ongoing military activities as well as about pirate activities in the region; -- Building tighter links with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and private shipping industries, particularly in encouragin the IMO to play a more political role on the issue and to facilitate military and potentially civilian security shipriders on commercials vessels, as the French already do; -- Developing clearer procedures for handling Persons Under Control, particularly in developing commonly agreed procedures for prosecuting detained pirates, including through building the capacity of domestic courts in the region and exploring other approaches, such as a possible tie-in with existing international courts. -- Developing a common picture of financial flows to/from pirates as a prelude for possible interdiction or law enforcement actions; -- Signaling to Somalis the CG's firm opposition to illegal fishing in Somali territorial waters and stating a willingness to help the Somalis assert their Exclusive Economic Zone rights; and -- Enhancing security assistance to littoral states in the region. ¶5. (C) There was agreement to the tentative CG membership roster proposed by the U.S., comprising the Partners (U.S., UK, France, Germany) and Denmark, Spain, Russia, China, PARIS 00002256 002 OF 002 India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya, and the UAE, with the addition of Greece and the Netherlands given their role in Operation Atalanta. The UN Secretariat, NATO, the EU and possibly the African Union would have observer status. ¶6. (C) The participants agreed that, for tactical reasons, the first CG meeting should follow -- not precede -- a mid-December UNSC Ministerial which would feature adoption of a Presidential Statement (PRST) or resolution calling for additional international efforts to confront piracy off the Horn of Africa. There was also agreement to delay work on a code of conduct regarding ransom for vessels and hostages until the CG was firmly established. The delegation agreed to meet again before the UN Ministerial meeting, if necessary. Next Steps -------------- ¶7. (C) The delegation agreed on the following approach: -- The U.S. will rework a draft non-paper to reflect areas of agreement as outlined above, and to circulate it to French, UK and German counterparts. -- The U.S., UK, France and Germany will coordinate outreach invitations for preliminary membership in the CG. -- The U.S. will provide language to USUN, which will coordinate with the French and British delegations on a draft UNSCR that would include calls for support of enhanced international coordination; creation of a regional coordinating cell; tighter coordination with IMO and shipping companies; and more cooperation on prosecution pirates. -- The French will circulate a paper on how the CG might be able to use lessons learned from the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative to support counter-piracy operations. ¶8. (U) A/S Kimmitt's party cleared this message. PEKALA