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