ZIMBABWE AT THE UN: FRANCE SUPPORTIVE BUT NOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 000819

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

ADDIS ABABA PLEASE PASS USAU
DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP-GOLDENBURG, IO/RHS-OSTERMEIER,
AF/S-HILL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2018
TAGS: PREL UNSC XA AU ZI FR
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE AT THE UN: FRANCE SUPPORTIVE BUT NOT
SURE FORMAL SESSION POSSIBLE

REF: STATE 44297

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 1.4 (b/d
).


1. (C) French MFA IO and AF desk officers (Franck Paris,
Isabelle de Boisgelin) said on April 28, in response to
reftel demarche, that France very much supported the idea of
a formal UNSC session on Zimbabwe but said they were not sure
that there would be Council agreement to hold one or that it
could take place soon. They cited continuing support among
Africans, particularly South Africa as current Council
president, for Mugabe as one of the fathers of African
independence and a reluctance on the part of Africans to
agree to a formal Council session, which could only be viewed
as a strong form of pressure against him. Boisgelin said
that ANC President Zuma, during his April 25 visit to Paris,
indicated his personal reluctance to go after Mugabe even at
this stage, in view of all that he had done for Africans
during their colonial struggles.


2. (C) Paris (IO Bureau) said that the impetus for holding
a formal session immediately after the April 29 informal
session seemed to emanate from the UK, which very much wanted
the formal session to take place during South Africa's
presidency and not during the upcoming UK presidency. The UK
wanted to avoid starting off its presidency with an act that
could be viewed as hostile to Zimbabwe, with which the UK
already had enough problems. Paris said that France would
support its UK ally in trying to formalize a session in the
few days remaining of the South African presidency, but he
repeated that such was not likely. He indicated the MFA
would instruct the French UN delegation to take a firm stance
at the April 29 informal session, exploit any possibility
that the Council could support a rapid formal follow-on
session, but not push aggressively for one if it were clear
that broader Council support was lacking.


3. (C) On the substance of the USG's points in reftel,
Paris said that the GOF was in complete agreement on the need
to raise Zimbabwe more actively at the UN. However, he
reiterated that circumstances were such that doing so by
trying to organize a formal session quickly might not work
given the apparent sentiments of the Council, particularly
those of its African members. Boisgelin (AF Bureau) agreed
on the need to raise the ante in the UN against Mugabe, but
shared the IO (Paris) concern about the difficulty of gaining
Council support for a formal session. She said that among
regional countries, all seemed reluctant to pressure Mugabe,
save perhaps Zambia and Botswana. Boisgelin lauded AF A/S
Frazer's recent statements on the Zimbabwan elections, noting
that the things A/S Frazer said needed to be said and that
the U.S., viewed generally as an honest broker in Africa,
showed very appropriate and necessary leadership in this
instance.


4. (C) Both Paris and Boisgelin said they would keep us
informed depending on the outcome of the April 29 informal
session and any indications that it might provide on how best
to proceed.



Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm


STAPLETON