UN DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS SAYS SAUDIS

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000753 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL UNGA USUN KIRF KISL SP SA SUBJECT: UN DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS SAYS SAUDIS HAVE NOT FORMALLY REQUESTED UNGA SPECIAL SESSION ON RELIGION REF: A. GLOVER/HODSON/SCHEDLBAUER E-MAILS ¶B. MADRID 799 ¶C. STATE 74376 ¶D. USUN 555 ¶1. (SBU) UN Department of Political Affairs Asia and Pacific Division Director Lisa Buttenheim told Poloff August 18 that Saudi Arabia has not formally requested an UNGA Special Session on the political and religious components of interfaith dialogue. Poloff delivered the points contained in ref a and c to Buttenheim who had attended the World Muslim League Inter-faith Conference, July 16-18, in Madrid. She echoed the descriptions, contained in ref b, of the conference, saying that it had been thrown together very hastily but that the Saudis had pulled it off, likely because of the fact that King Abdullah was behind it and that was why participants had chosen to attend. ¶2. (SBU) Buttenheim voiced concerns about the Madrid Conference's final document which she said was not agreed upon by the participants even though it begins, "We, the participants." She speculated that was why the Saudi government had not yet sent the document to the Secretary-General, as they had the final document of the June Islamic Conference in Mecca. Buttenheim suggested that the Saudis do not know what they want -- a special session or just UN endorsement of a document. She stressed that a GA resolution is required to call for an UNGA special session. Neither she nor USUN is aware of any efforts by the Saudi mission in New York to table such a resolution. Buttenheim noted that a high-level meeting could be tagged on to an existing agenda item in the UNGA but that would require consultations with the President of the General Assembly (PGA). She was not aware of any consultations by the Saudi Mission with the PGA. Buttenheim stressed that logistically there was no way such a high-level meeting could be held before November, if even then. ¶3. (SBU) While Buttenheim noted that the Secretary-General wants to be supportive of King Abdullah's initiative, he does not want to own it. She suggested that maintaining King Abdullah's initiative in the NGO sphere, through the Muslim World League, might be the best course of action. While the Muslim World League does have Consultative Status as a NGO in ECOSOC, she mentioned that it is in danger of being suspended for not submitting a required report, according to the Committee on NGOs. If Saudi Arabia decides it does want to formally proceed with its initiative at the UN, either through the Muslim World League or as a member state, it would have to justify to other member states, Buttenheim raised, how its initiative differs from a number of already-existing initiatives on similar subjects. For instance, she noted that Saudi Arabia is not listed as a Friend of the Alliance on Civilizations, while other Gulf Cooperation Council states are part of that group. Khalilzad