TALKING POINTS FOR FEBRUARY 5 SYG BRIEFING ON HIS

UNCLAS STATE 011495 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNSC PREL PHUM CG KE SO SU XA XW ZF SUBJECT: TALKING POINTS FOR FEBRUARY 5 SYG BRIEFING ON HIS AFRICA TRIP ¶1. USUN is instructed to draw from the following points for the Security Council's February 5 briefing from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on his recent trip to the AU Summit and Kenya Begin points: -- The United States thanks the Secretary-General for his very informative briefing on his visit to the AU Summit in Addis Ababa and his trip to Kenya. Africa continues to be of the highest priority for the United States, and we greatly appreciate the Secretary-General's hands-on leadership on these issues. -- The U.S. is committed to security, democracy, human rights, and development for the people of Africa - working through both bi-lateral relations and through regional and sub-regional organizations. With that in mind, today I would like to focus on the situations in Chad, Sudan, Kenya, and Somalia. -- The United States joins the African Union (AU) in condemning the attempt by armed rebels, entering from outside the country, to seize power in Chad. -- We are also extremely disturbed by numerous reports of Sudanese support for the rebel forces. We call on the Sudanese government to adhere to its international commitments and to end any support it may be providing to the rebels. We urge all parties to stop fighting, protect non-combatants, and to pursue peaceful means of resolving their differences. (IF THE SECRETARY GENERAL BRIEFS ON NEW AGREEMENT BY GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN AND BASHIR) -- Turning to Sudan, we welcome the agreement on UNAMID deployment by President Bashir and the Government of Sudan with troop contributing countries, and we hope that it will be implemented as soon as possible. Action is what counts. (End point if SYG briefs on new agreement.) -- The United States remains deeply concerned by the slow deployment of UNAMID. We strongly deplore all threats against and attacks on UNAMID by any party. An attack on UNAMID, such as that by the Sudanese Armed Forces on 7 January, must not be repeated. The Government of Sudan must agree formally to the full UN/AU list of troop contributing countries for UNAMID, agree to a Status of Forces Agreement with the UN and AU, grant night flight clearances, allow access to necessary land and water, and grant timely visas to UNAMID and its personnel. -- The Security Council must continue to pressure the Government of Sudan to refrain from impeding UNAMID's deployment. We call on all members to abide by the existing arms embargo. We also call on the UN and AU to name a joint Senior Negotiator who can assist all of the parties to reach a negotiated settlement of their conflict. Darfur peace talks must be re-energized because only negotiations can bring about a peaceful solution. -- On Kenya, the United States was pleased that the Secretary General visited Nairobi to meet with President Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to express the UN's full support of former Secretary General Kofi Annan's efforts to broker a political agreement between the two. The United States deplores the violence that continues to grip Kenya. We call on both sides to urge restraint among their supporters. We are pleased the parties have agreed on an agenda to begin national reconciliation. -- On Somalia, we welcome the recent deployment of a brigade of peacekeepers from Burundi to the African Union Mission there. We call on all AU missions that have promised to deploy peacekeepers to do so immediately and we urge the donor community to give generously to this worthy mission. -- We look forward to our continued cooperation with the UN, the AU, the many sub-regional organizations and NGOs, and the international community for continued progress in Africa. end points. RICE