SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATES AFGHANISTAN; UNAMA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000238 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC AF SUBJECT: SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATES AFGHANISTAN; UNAMA RENEWAL IMMINENT ¶1. (SBU) Summary and comment: On March 12, the Security Council held an open debate on Afghanistan, with newly appointed Special Representative to the Secretary-General (SRSG) Kai Eide in attendance. All 32 countries that spoke during the debate (including thel 15 members of the Security Council) expressed support for the UN to play the lead role in coordinating the civilian effort in Afghanistan and welcomed Eide's appointment as Special Representative. The debate, remarkable for its consensus and signal of international commitment to Afghanistan, was also devoid of the usual rhetorical clashes between neighboring countries. ¶2. (SBU) Summary and comment continued: Following the debate, Italy (as lead nation in the Security Council on Afghanistan matters) convened a meeting of the full Security Council, at expert level, to discuss the draft resolution renewing for one year the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). The draft resolution is on track for adoption on Thursday, March 20. Unhelpfully, the Libyan representative raised the oft-debated issues of civilian casualties and access to detainees. Italy circulated a revised draft on March 13. The Council has reached near consensus on outstanding issues. End summary and comment. THE SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON AFGHANISTAN ¶3. (U) Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN,s Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, opened the public session of the Security Council with a review of the UN,s recent report on Afghanistan. The insurgency has proven to be more resilient and more ruthless than imagined, said Guehenno, while a massive illegal drug economy thrives in the vacuum of state authority. He focused on recommendations contained within the report to "sharpen" UNAMA,s mandate. The six "points of emphasis" are: 1) enhanced coordination with the Government of Afghanistan and the international community; 2) political outreach; 3) subnational governance; 4) humanitarian coordination; 5) elections and 6) strengthened coordination with ISAF. Guehenno recalled that during the recent Tokyo meeting on Afghanistan, stakeholders agreed that the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB),which the UN and Afghanistan co-chair, is the primary coordination mechanism. Regarding ISAF and the UN, Guehenno said that the two have complementary but distinct mandates, and they need to coordinate their efforts in support of common goals in New York, Brussels, Kabul and the provinces. ¶4. (U) After the meeting, Eide spoke to the press, and emphasized his appreciation for the strong support that the international community had expressed for him, for UNAMA, and for the concept of a "sharpened" mandate in close coordination with the Afghan government. Eide emphasized the importance of elections preparation and reconciliation work, as well as the importance of working with NATO. He also underscored the international community,s shared goal of Afghanistan,s long-term self-sufficiency. Eide told the assembled press that he would travel to Iran and Pakistan in the near future. On relations with the Afghan government, Eide emphasized that he was appointed to help the government deal with the many interested international stakeholders. ¶5. (U) The 32 countries, including the 15 Security Council members, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, Canada and Japan, all expressed support for the UN,s leading role in coordinating the civilian effort, and for the nomination of Kai Eide as new SRSG. In addition to supporting UNAMA and Kai Eide, countries also expressed support for the Afghanistan Compact and the Afghanistan National Development Strategy. Italy said "the international community needs to stay the course in Afghanistan, possibly with evolving modalities but certainly with unchanged determination." France and the UK echoed Italy,s strong support for a long-term international commitment, and detailed their dedication to assisting in both the civilian and military components of the international effort. China expressed its appreciation of the efforts being made by UNAMA and ISAF and hoped that "the parties concerned, while carrying out military actions against terrorists, will strengthen their communication and cooperation with the Afghan security sector and UNAMA." China, as well as Pakistan and Russia, emphasized the importance of UNAMA being guided by the principles of "fairness and neutrality." Libya, South Africa and Indonesia underscored that the "use of force" cannot alone lead to success in Afghanistan. ¶6. (U) In his intervention, Ambassador Khalilzad emphasized that "Afghanistan is a keystone in the effort to defeat terrorism, to weaken extremism, to create regional stability in Central and South Asia, to advance the needed political and economic transformation of the broader Middle East and to USUN NEW Y 00000238 002 OF 002 reduce the threat of narcotics." He said the UN should be proud of the role it has played in Afghanistan. Kai Eide can "count on our support and we promise to work closely with him." The Ambassador urged the Security Council to fully support UNAMA and its team, including by providing them with a mandate sufficiently robust to meet the expectations of the people and governmeet of Afghanistan and the international community. ¶7. (U) Ambassador Tanin of Afghanistan called on the international community "to stay the course with firm determination and to prevent security nuances from weakening our resolve to achieve our shared goals." He said Afghanistan has made "remarkable progress." Today, he said, "a greater part of Afghanistan is secure from terrorism and violence." Tanin welcomed the UN,s "enhanced coordinating role" and expressed Afghanistan,s appreciation for the support and contributions of the UN and the international community. ¶8. (U) Following the intervention by the Afghanistan PermRep, the following non-Security Council members also spoke: Slovenia (on behalf of the EU),Australia, New Zealand, Spain, South Korea, Japan, Pakistan, Iceland (on behalf of the five Nordic countries),Canada, Turkey, India, Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Kyrgyzstan (on behalf of members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization),and Kazakhstan. Pakistan and India were nonconfrontational, and both expressed support for the UN and for Afghanistan. Iran also gave a largely nonconfrontational speech, excluding a vow that Iran,s development assistance to Afghanistan will continue despite the Security Council,s "illegitimate sanctions." Both Iran and Pakistan expressed hope that Afghan refugees in their respective countries would be repatriated in a "timely and promising manner." UNAMA RENEWAL: ADOPTION SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 20 ¶9. (SBU) Following informal consultations among the P5 and the Contact Group on Afghanistan, Italy convened on March 13 the first meeting of the Security Council, at expert level, to discuss the draft resolution renewing for one year the mandate of UNAMA (the current mandate expires March 23). Experts reached broad agreement on the framework of the resolution, including operative language that echoed the UN,s call for a "sharpened mandate," although there are still some outstanding issues. (Text of the latest draft was e-mailed to IO/UNP and SCA/A). Expert negotiations resume March 17. The resolution will likely go into "blue" on Wednesday, March 19, with adoption scheduled for Thursday, March 20. KHALILZAD