MONUC RENEWAL: FRENCH STILL PREFER 6-MONTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001669 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2019 TAGS: KPKP KPKO UNSC PREL CG FR SUBJECT: MONUC RENEWAL: FRENCH STILL PREFER 6-MONTH EXTENSION REF: A. STATE 125749 ¶B. KANEDA-LAMORA E-MAIL OF 12/04/2009 Classified By: Andrew Young, Political Counselor, 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The French continue to prefer a 6-month extension of the MONUC mandate and do not think either a 12-month mandate with an initial 4-month review process or a 4-month mandate to be followed by a 12-month mandate are practical. The French are willing to continue discussion of this in New York but this is their position "at this moment" in response to ref A. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) MFA DRC desk officer Frank Marchetti said on November 9, after we had earlier discussed with him the USG's reasons for supporting a 12-month extension (ref B),that the GOF still preferred a 6-month mandate renewal for MONUC. Marchetti said that he had discussed the matter with his IO counterpart Jeanne Simon since our communication earlier on November 9 and that his response was "our position at this time," as he understood that Washington needed a French response as soon as possible, even if only initial. He reminded that discussions were on-going in New York and that France could provide further comment there. 3,. (C) Marchetti first noted that France, the UK, Russia, and China (i.e., all of the P-5's members except the U.S.), the UN SYG, and the DRC favored a 6-month extension. French reasoning remained as stated ref B. He said that a 12-month mandate with a review taking place after four months, as the U.S. offered in ref A, could pose other problems. First, Kabila would have from the end of April until June 30 to exploit politically whatever the review process yielded. Kabila could make more out of this, depending on what the review process recommended, than he might if the UNSC were to let the mandate expire on June 30 and simultaneously implement a new one at that time in the context of a 6-month mandate. He also said that the 12-month mandate that would incorporate an initial review process of four months would have to be drafted in such a way as to contain options on how the last nine months of the mandate would be implemented as a function of the result of the review process. Marchetti thought it could be difficult to draft such a resolution. ¶4. (C) Marchetti was not receptive to the idea of a 4-month mandate followed by a 12-month mandate. He deemed the 4-month mandate as too short and he thought it could raise difficult questions as to why it was so short, even if it contained a commitment to follow it with a 12-month mandate. He understood the reasons why the USG wanted to avoid having the MONUC mandate expire at the end of June 2010 when the DRC would be celebrating its independence, and he understood that Kabila would like to take political advantage of that "historical accident." But he said that that was what it was -- a coincidental historical accident that would gain meaning if we tried to contort the mandate to avoid it, which is what he said might happen if we agreed to a 12-month mandate with a 4-month review process and even more so if we agreed on a 4-month mandate followed by a 12-month mandate. ¶5. (C) Marchetti mused that perhaps a way out would be to announce in January in the context of a 6-month mandate that it would be followed by a 12-month mandate that would take into account lessons learned during the 6-month mandate. He said, however, that that was not an official GOF proposal, merely food for thought. He said that the GOF would continue to ponder the issue of the length of the mandate, he expressed appreciation for the USG's willingness to share its ideas even if they were not immediately appealing, and he indicated that the GOF had no objection if further discussion took place in New York. . RIVKIN