SECRETARY GENERAL ON SAUDI SESSION ON INTER-FAITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000860 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL UNGA USUN KIRF KISL SA SUBJECT: SECRETARY GENERAL ON SAUDI SESSION ON INTER-FAITH DIALOGUE REF: USUN NEW YORK 753 Classified By: Ambassador Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) The Secretary General told Ambassador Khalilzad September 15 that the Saudi government continues to seek a UN session on interfaith dialogue. He said that he had sent Terje Larsen with the Saudi Foreign Minister to a meeting at the Vatican to discuss next steps, given Vatican concerns about the unilateral nature of the Madrid Conference's final document which had not been coordinated with other faiths. In addition to Vatican concerns, the Secretary General noted that he had discussed the Saudi initiative with new General Assembly President (PGA) Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann who had his own views on such a session. ¶2. (C) The Secretary General said that the UN expected to receive a letter from the Saudis requesting such a session. He said he hoped the request would be for a high-level meeting, which the Secretary-General or the PGA can call, vice a special UN session, which requires the establishment of a bureaucratic structure. He noted that an understanding will have to be reached with both the Vatican and the PGA before such an event could proceed. ¶3. (C) On September 23 UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) Asia and Pacific Division Director Lisa Buttenheim (please protect) shared with Poloff the text of a letter the Secretary-General received from Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal a few days earlier. Prince Saud writes that the Saudi government decided to approach the PGA "to convene a high level meeting of the General Assembly during its 63rd session under item 48, Culture of Peace, in mid November, to provide the process initiated in Madrid with the necessary support from the international community." The letter does not specify Geneva as the venue (as previously discussed which would have required special UNGA approval),so the meeting will likely be held in New York. (Note: Mission e-mailed the Saudi letter to IO/UNP on September 24 and asks that its origin be protected since the text has not been circulated to member states. End note.) Khalilzad