CONGRATULATIONS TO USUN

UNCLAS STATE 133992 C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED PREL TAGS) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PRELUNSC SUBJECT: CONGRATULATIONS TO USUN ¶1. The Department would like to convey its gratitude to USUN for making the Secretary's December 15 - December 16 trip to the UN a success on many levels. In two short days, we accomplished numerous strategic objectives: a strong intervention on Zimbabwe with a call for Robert Mugabe to step down and cede power; a meeting of the Quartet; passage of a UN Security Council resolution charting the way forward on the Middle East by affirming the Annapolis Process; an International Contact Group meeting on Somalia; a bilateral meeting with the UK Foreign Minister to advance a PKO in Somalia; and a historic Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force to combat piracy on land in Somalia. The Secretary was very pleased with the results of her trip, and much of the credit for this successful visit goes to USUN. The Department is grateful to those who skillfully negotiated the two resolutions and to those who organized the UN meetings for the Secretary. RICE