DJIBOUTI ASKS UNSC TO GIVE ERITREA AN ULTIMATUM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000972

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2018
TAGS: PREL MOPS ER DJ SO
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI ASKS UNSC TO GIVE ERITREA AN ULTIMATUM

Classified By: Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad, for reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) SUMMARY: Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh told
the Security Council on October 23 that continued inaction by
the international community in the face of Eritrea's
occupation of Djiboutian territory would leave his country
with no option but to use force to protect its "natural
integrity." Council members called for the parties to accept
UN and regional mediation efforts. The U.S. and many others
went further to single out Eritrea for its defiance of all
efforts at mediation by the UN and the international
community. France said that it would begin discussions next
week on a draft text, but remained vague on the format
(presidential statement vs. resolution) and timeline for
action. The Djiboutians would prefer a resolution but may
have to settle for a strong PRST that lays the groundwork for
future Council action if Eritrea continues to refuse to
engage. End Summary.

Djibouti
--------------


2. (SBU) In an open Security Council meeting on October 23,
Djiboutian President Guelleh condemned Eritrea's "sudden,
inexplicable" invasion of Djiboutian territory and lamented
the fact that all of Djibouti's efforts at peaceful
resolution - including appeals to the UN, AU, Arab League and
OIC - had been in vain. Guelleh said that Eritrea "at this
moment illegally occupies (the peninsula of) Doumeira and the
islands of Doumeira" despite Djibouti's withdrawal of its
armed forces, as requested in the Security Council's
Presidential Statement (PRST) of 12 June.


3. (SBU) Guelleh warned that conflating the Djibouti-Eritrea
border conflict would only encourage Eritrea to provoke other
conflicts in the region. He outlined a three stage approach
to resolving the crisis:

- Eritrea should accept the SYG's offer of his good offices
- Both sides should demobilize their forces and return to
previous positions
- The two sides should build trust and submit to a legal
process to determine and demarcate the disputed border.

Guelleh asked the Security Council to give the parties a
limited amount of time (he suggested three weeks) to commit
themselves to resolving the problem or face sanctions.

Eritrea
--------------


4. (SBU) Eritrean PermRep Araya Desta spoke immediately after
Guelleh, who left the Council chamber immediately after
finishing his intervention and did not return. Desta
referred to a "series of hostile campaigns against Eritrea."
After proclaiming that he would not "dwell on the genesis of
a manufactured crisis," he went on to attribute the June
hostilities between Djibouti and Eritrea to an unprovoked
attack by Djibouti against Eritrean troops on Eritrean
territory. However, he continued, the "crisis is not of
Djibouti's making but created by others." Desta alleged that
Ethiopia occupies land awarded to Eritrea by the
Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) and Ethiopia had
deployed "offensive weaponry" on Mount Musa-Ali, supplied by
roads built on Djiboutian territory, though Desta said that
the latter was "not related to the issue at hand." He said
Eritrean President Isaias and President Guelleh had discussed
matters in keeping with the "sisterly ties" between the two
countries and the leaders' mutual concern for regional
stability. He insisted that Eritrea "will not allow itself
to be dragged into...a diversionary and fabricated conflict."

Council reaction
--------------


5. (SBU) Council members uniformly called on parties to
refrain from violence, comply with previous Council requests
and accept the SYG's offer to use his good offices to help
resolve the crisis. Burkina Faso praised Djibouti for its
restraint and said that the fact that its president and prime
minister had both briefed the Council on the situation showed
Djibouti's commitment to resolving the crisis peacefully and
through UN channels. Burkina Faso said that the Security
Council had a responsibility to "reaffirm" its involvement
and suggested that an arbitrated solution could be found for
the border if the two sides could not resolve their
differences bilaterally. Belgium urged Djibouti to persevere
in its pursuit of peace and said that Eritrea had chosen for
itself the path of isolation. Belgium continued that the
Eritrea-Djibouti conflict cannot be linked to the
Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict, but said that Eritrea's rights
vis-a-vis Ethiopia are the flip side of its obligations

USUN NEW Y 00000972 002 OF 002


vis-a-vis Djibouti.


6. (SBU) Italy said it appreciated Djibouti's restraint and
responsible behavior and regretted Eritrea's failure to
engage with the international community, withdraw its forces
as requested by the Council or cooperate with the UN's
Fact-Finding Mission into the Djibouti-Eritrea conflict.
Italy suggested that the EEBC or the Yemen-Saudi Arabia
border dispute might serve as a model for an arbitrated
solution in this case. Indonesia and South Africa regretted
that the UN Fact-Finding Mission "was unable to visit" Asmara
without assigning blame to Eritrea. Indonesia said that
while it did not want to blur the Djibouti-Eritrea conflict
with that between Eritrea and Ethiopia, it was important to
see that the two are "geographically linked." South Africa
said it hoped that the recent visit of AU Chairperson Jean
Ping to Asmara would create a new channel for dialogue and
said it would be "regrettable" if the SC were forced to take
action on this matter. Vietnam hoped for a resolution
consistent with the UN charter while Libya hoped that the
parties would make use of legal instruments to resolve the
border issue.


7. (SBU) France confirmed that it intended to honor its
commitments to Djibouti and said that it would begin
consultations on a draft text in the coming week. The UK
praised Djibouti and said it looked to Eritrea to take an
equally constructive role. While welcoming Ping's visit to
Asmara, UK PermRep John Sawers said that if Eritrea continued
to block dialogue, the Security Council would need to
consider what action to take. Russia said that Eritrea
should immediately withdraw and it expected an immediate good
offices mission to be sent to the region in order to engage
in high-level mediation. Croatia hoped that both sides would
accept the offer of a good offices mission and regretted
Eritrea's failure to withdraw. Costa Rica said that
Eritrea's actions showed "serious inattention to its
obligations and international law" and emphasized that
compliance with SC decisions is not meant to be voluntary.
Panama said that if Eritrea did not engage, the UN "would
have no other choice than to defend Djibouti's territorial
integrity."


8. (SBU) The U.S. statement was the most forward-leaning.
Amb. Khalilzad said that the United States took seriously
President Guelleh's message and hoped that other members
would as well. The ambassador contrasted Djibouti's
constraint and cooperation with the international community
against Eritrea's record of provocation and obstruction. He
echoed President Guelleh in calling for Eritrea to be given a
clear timeframe to accept international mediation or face
appropriate Council action. China, as president of the
Council, spoke last, delivering a very mild statement calling
on the parties to return to dialogue.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) The French tell us that the lack of detail surrounding
their draft is due to the Djiboutians, who have insisted to
the French that a second PRST is not acceptable and that they
would prefer not to have any Council product if they cannot
get a resolution. While we do not sense Council support for
an immediate move towards a resolution, we will continue to
press for a strong PRST which will hold Eritrea accountable
and lay the groundwork for future Council action if Eritrea's
defiance of the international community continues. End
Comment.



Khalilzad