UN/SOMALIA: FRANCE OPPOSES AL-SHABAAB LISTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000650 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2017 TAGS: PREL UNSC ETTC SU PGOV SUBJECT: UN/SOMALIA: FRANCE OPPOSES AL-SHABAAB LISTING UNDER 1267 REF: A. STATE 61215 ¶B. PARIS 1101 Classified By: MINISTER COUNSELOR JEFFREY DELAURENTIS, FOR REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) On July 16, the French UN mission conveyed to USUN that France is not in favor of listing the Somali organization "al-Shabaab" under UNSCR 1267 (Terrorism/Al-Qaeda sanctions) (ref A and B). Acting on instructions from Paris, the mission explained that France's opposition is based on its assesment that there is no al-Shabaab allegiance to either Osama bin-Laden or al-Qaeda; the organization is more "nationalist" in character than global jihadist"; and listing al-Shabaab now would undermine the developments in the Somali political process since the Djibouti Agreement. ¶2. (C) The French mission underscored, however, that Paris agrees with our assessment that al-Shabaab poses a threat and France would be open to listing individual members of al-Shabaab (but not the organization itself) under 1267. The French mission also noted that the Security Council had tasked the Somalia Sanctions Committee to identify new specific targeted measures for use against those who undermine the political process in Somalia -- such measures, Paris believed, might be applicable to al-Shabaab. Khalilzad