SYG BAN ON DRC, BURMA, SUDAN, SOMALIA, FINANCIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000957 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2018 TAGS: PREL EFIN KPKO SU SO BM SUBJECT: SYG BAN ON DRC, BURMA, SUDAN, SOMALIA, FINANCIAL CRISIS REF: A. USUN 936 ¶B. USUN 910 Classified By: Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad, for reasons 1.4 b/d. 1 (SBU) SUMMARY: Secretary-General Ban briefed Security Council PermReps on October 20 on his upcoming trip to Asia as well as developments in Sudan, Somalia, and the DRC. Ban also discussed UN views on a summit to address the global financial crisis. End Summary. Asia trip, plans for Burma visit -------------- ¶2. (C) During his monthly lunch with Security Council PermReps on October 20, SYG Ban told the Council that he was planning a trip to the Philippines, India, NEPAL and Bangladesh during the week of October 27. Ban's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, also confided to Amb. Khalilzad that the SYG had decided to send Nambiar to Burma in order to lay the groundwork for a Ban visit, but that the dates were not yet certain. Ban is following through on the proposal mentioned in Ref A (NOTAL). DRC --- ¶3. (SBU) Ban briefed PermReps on tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, which he feared could escalate into a broader conflict in eastern Congo and potentially overwhelm MONUC. In an attempt to defuse tensions, Ban invited DRC President Kabila and Rwandan President Kagame to a meeting on the margins of the Francophonie summit in Quebec. To Ban's disappointment, Kabila did not show, while Kagame sent his prime minister. Ban told the Council that in his view, higher-level engagement is necessary to facilitate dialogue between Kabila and Kagame, implying that SRSG Doss might not be sufficiently senior to effectively mediate between the two heads of state. Ban believes that there are two options: either he would need to get involved personally in the talks or else send someone of "great stature." Separately, Council PermReps reiterated their support for SRSG Doss's disengagement plan (Ref B). Members also supported Doss's proposal for strengthened MONUC capabilities, while stressing the need for a full DPKO assessment of the proposal. Sudan -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The SYG told Council members that Undersecretaries-General LeRoy and Malcorra both returned optimistic from their recent visits to Khartoum, reporting that the Sudanese government appears eager to cooperate and that many obstacles to deployment (e.g. visas) had already been resolved. According to Ban, UNAMID is on track for 65% deployment by the end of the year (approximately 15,600 troops). While there appeared to be substantial progress on deployment of additional troops to Darfur, U/SYG LeRoy has voiced concerns that not enough attention is focused on upgrading the capabilities of AMIS legacy troops. ¶5. (SBU) Ban reported optimism on the political front as well. Darfur Chief Mediator Bassole is back in Khartoum and reports that major players, including JEM, Abdulwahid and the Sudanese government are engaging him and feel a sense of urgency to establish a political process in Darfur. Somalia -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Ban reported no breakthrough in his outreach to potential troop contributing countries for a multinational force (MNF) or peacekeeping operation (PKO) in Somalia, though talks are ongoing. Council members noted that approval of either a MNF or PKO would have significant fiscal implications and some questioned if the global financial crisis would affect the Council's willingness to approve and fund a significant new peacekeeping operation. Financial crisis -------------- ¶7. (C) Addressing the financial crisis directly, Ban told the Council that during the Francophonie summit in Canada, French President Sarkozy had raised the idea of holding a G8 summit to address the crisis. The SYG had suggested the UN as a possible venue. He noted the UN's demonstrated ability to host large conferences and said he believed that hosting such an event at the UN would send a positive signal given the UN's role as a center for multilateral problem-solving. Ban USUN NEW Y 00000957 002 OF 002 said that President Bush had offered to host the meeting after discussing the issue with Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, but that the SYG still felt that the UN should be involved. The UN would have a particularly important role if the meeting resulted in proposed changes to Bretton Woods institutions, Ban said, adding that the UN also would have an important role as a voice for developing countries at such a gathering. The Chinese PermRep, who later privately admitted that he was speaking on instructions, said that China supported the proposed meeting but that China preferred it be held in a new format rather than "G8 plus others." ¶8. (C) In a subsequent one-on-one conversation with Ambassador Khalilzad, SYG Ban said that he would ultimately support whatever decision the U.S. made on a financial summit, whether at the UN or in Washington, but stressed again his strong feeling that the UN should be involved. Khalilzad