UNMEE AIMS TO LEAVE BY END OF MONTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000022 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2018 TAGS: MOPS PBTS PREL PGOV ER SUBJECT: UNMEE AIMS TO LEAVE BY END OF MONTH Classified By: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen for reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) According to an UNMEE officer, the mission intends to close by the end of January. UNMEE has 48 international staff remaining in Asmara and all of its "Group 1" assets have been shipped to Massawa (note: Group 1 consists of equipment less than five years old. End note). As of mid-January, UNMEE intends to ship most of the Group 1 equipment will be shipped to UNAMID, with significantly smaller amounts being shipped to UNTSO, MINURCAST, and MINUSTAH. The Group IV assets (equipment the UN is writing off) are still in Asmara. Once UNMEE is notified that a ship is headed to Massawa, it will mobilize within two to three days to transport the Group IV shipment to Massawa. ¶2. (C) UNMEE still has material located in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) that will be abandoned (donated de facto) because the GSE will not allow UNMEE to take it. All of UNMEE's furniture, bottled water, and its 3,000 liters of remaining fuel will be donated to UNICEF. A smaller portion of assets will be donated to UNDP. All weapons remaining in Asmara and Addis will be shipped to UNAMID. ¶3. (C) The UNMEE officer also mentioned that the GSE has cut off UN access to cooking gas as of January. He concluded the remaining UN agencies should come up with an exit strategy soon. MCMULLEN