U/S BURNS' PARTICIPATION IN G8 POLITICAL DIRECTORS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ROME 000687

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2019
TAGS: PREL PARM MNUC PTER AF BM GG IR IT KN
PK, YM
SUBJECT: U/S BURNS' PARTICIPATION IN G8 POLITICAL DIRECTORS
MEETING, ROME, JUNE 8-9

REF: A. ROME 144

B. ROME 427

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Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor J. Liam Wasley for R
easons 1.4 (B) and (D)

1.(SBU) Summary: Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs Bill Burns participated in the third Political
Directors meeting of the Italian G8 presidency in Rome, June
8-9. The Political Directors spent most of their time
discussing the latest draft of the Chairman's Statement for
the June 25-27 G8 Foreign Ministerial in Trieste. The
Political Directors generally agreed that the most important
political issues to be elevated to the L'Aquila Summit were
nonproliferation, counterterrorism, peacekeeping and
transnational organized crime, Afghanistan and Pakistan,
Iran, Middle East, DPRK, along with any other major issues
that might emerge in the next few weeks. End Summary.

FOOD SECURITY


2. (SBU) The United States proposed the inclusion of
references to non-traditional threats like food security in
the G8 Chairman's Statement, and secured general agreement in
principle for its inclusion. Russia expressed some concern
on placing too much emphasis on food security over climate
change, energy security and other issues that are generally
discussed by leaders.

NONPROLIFERATION


3. (SBU) Russia favored greater focus on steps already taken
in nuclear disarmament, as well as making clear that key
disarmament matters (such as CTBT and FMCT) are of concern to
more than just Russia and the United States. Germany pushed
for the inclusion of text on a "world free of nuclear
weapons" (a point on which France has blocked consensus),
while France suggested that perhaps language from President
Obama's April Prague speech on nonproliferation could resolve
the disagreement. Canada stressed that the Leaders' and
Foreign Ministers' statements on nonproliferation must be
fully consistent and thought the current language could be
strengthened.

AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN


4. (C) Italy stressed that it wanted the Afghanistan/Pakistan
portion of the Chairman's Statement to be short because there
would be two other Afghanistan/Pakistan statements issued: a
stand-alone G8 statement that would include input from the
Afghan and Pakistani governments and a statement from the 47
countries involved in the outreach meetings on
Afghanistan/Pakistan. Because of the difficulties of
achieving consensus amongst so many countries, the last
statement would likely be rather general and free of many
engagements. All other delegations agreed on keeping the
Afghanistan/Pakistan language in the Chairman's Statement
short. Japan and Canada both noted that if the G8's
priorities in the stand-alone statement ended up being
watered down significantly by the Afghan and Pakistani
governments, then the G8 should issue their own statement in
some other format so as not to lose the message. Italy
agreed that it would be necessary to take stock of the
situation in Trieste.


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PIRACY


5. (C) Italy began the piracy discussion by noting the
importance of a strong statement that did not duplicate
existing efforts, but nonetheless demonstrated a sense of
concrete G8 engagement. Because the United States had
previously circulated a non-paper opposing the creation of an
international piracy tribunal, the Italians accepted that
there was no G8 consensus on the international legal
framework issue and agreed to fine tune their proposals to
address our concerns. The UK shared our legal framework
concerns and our call for more general piracy language that
would support existing efforts rather than duplicate them.
France and Canada also echoed U.S. and UK concerns on not
duplicating existing efforts. Canada also shared the U.S.
view that Leaders' discussions at the summit should explore
the larger issue of maritime security, rather than just
piracy off the Horn of Africa.


6. (C) The European Council highlighted the need to build
capacity on shore, track pirate assets, and perhaps
discourage maritime insurance companies from paying ransoms.
Japan (the promoter of much of the problematic G8 piracy
proposal) suggested that if others disliked the term "action
plan", it could be called "guidance" or something else.
Russia stressed the importance of finding a meaningful niche
for G8 Ministers to deliver a message on the issue, and said
the G8 should worry more about substance than form. Italy
tried to argue that the Contact Group on Piracy of the Coast
of Somalia (CGPCS) was focused only on repression of piracy
so the G8 had to do something on capacity building, but was
strongly opposed by the United States, UK, Canada, and
others. Italy accepted the non-advisability of a piracy
conference.

MIDDLE EAST


7. (C) Italy emphasized that because so much was happening
at the moment on Israeli-Palestinian issues, this portion of
the Chairman's Statement would have to be revised closer to
Trieste. France and the European Council argued that the G8
should not make references to "illegal Israeli outposts" in
the West Bank since all settlements were illegal under
international law; thus no distinctions should be made about
types of settlements. The United States suggested that the
statement should use language from the Roadmap on
settlements, and proposed the inclusion of text
congratulating Lebanon for its peaceful June 7 election and
expressing support for Lebanese sovereignty and independence,
as well as language supporting a secure and united Iraq and
inclusive national elections in Iraq later in the year.
Russia sought reference to G8 support for an
Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Moscow at an
appropriate time.

SRI LANKA


8. (C) Russia called for "streamlining" language on Sri
Lanka to eliminate both references to the need for national
reconciliation. Russia also wanted to eliminate any G8 call
for the government of Sri Lanka to uphold its human rights
obligations and the norms of international human rights law
and any G8 call for thorough UN monitoring of developments.
Russia argued that the important thing was for the G8 to
focus on the humanitarian situation, and that it should not

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get involved in other areas. The United States, UK, Japan,
Canada, and Italy all strongly opposed the Russian effort to
water down the Sri Lanka language, arguing that national
reconciliation was crucial to preventing future violence and
terrorism, and that this should be the focus of G8 efforts.
Canada and the United States also highlighted the
responsibility of the government of Sri Lanka to provide
humanitarian access.

BURMA


9. (C) Japan reported on its efforts to engage the Burmese
government to release Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK). Burmese
leaders told the Japanese that ASSK would have a fair trial
and claimed they would not interfere in what was an
"independent" judicial process. Given that it was not yet
known how ASSK's trial would end, the final Burma language
would have to be worked out later. Japan stressed that the
text should not close off avenues of engagement with the
regime. While several delegations (including the U.S.)
highlighted the importance of mentioning both ASSK and
political prisoners in general, Russia again called for
"streamlining" and opposed mentioning ASSK in favor of a
general reference to political prisoners. All other
delegations strongly opposed this Russian idea; the UK termed
ASSK the symbol of Burmese democracy and said any move
against her was a move against democracy in Burma. Germany
said the regime should be held responsible for holding
democratic, free, and fair elections in 2010. The UK
accepted this idea as long as the G8 did nothing that seemed
to endorse what was likely to be a flawed electoral process.

YEMEN


10. (SBU) When Russia questioned Italy's call for
"sustaining a comprehensive political reform agenda" in
Yemen, Italy explained that it intended only to provide an
early warning on the need for serious reforms in order to
strengthen Yemen's institutions and prevent it from becoming
a failed state. Russia then suggested clarification of the
G8 message, saying it should focus on strengthening the
Yemeni institutional framework rather than issue a vague
reform call that might be misunderstood.

IRAN


11. (C) Russia favored focusing on the G8 commitment to
finding a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue
and downplaying Iran's intransigence on its nuclear program
or the need for Iran to restore the confidence of the
international community in the exclusively peaceful nature of
its program. The United States, Japan, and Canada all
stressed their preference for the current, stronger G8
language highlighting the G8's concerns on Iran's behavior.

DPRK, CAUCASUS, SUDAN, WEST AFRICA, ZIMBABWE


12. (SBU) The political directors concluded with brief
discussions of several other issues. On the DPRK, they
agreed to await the outcome of the pending UNSC resolution in
New York before discussion of G8 language or actions. On the
Caucasus, they agreed on the importance of supporting the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process along with improved
Turkish-Armenian ties. The UK called for G8 support for the
June 23 Washington DC conference in support of the

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Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan. The UK also sought
and received G8 support for condemning the recent killing of
a British citizen by Al-Qaeda in Mali. Russia sought to
eliminate any G8 reference to ongoing actions by opponents of
democracy in Zimbabwe, which the United States, UK, Canada,
and Japan strongly opposed. The latter group of delegations
argued that the G8 could not lose sight of the fact that
serious problems remain in Zimbabwe.
DIBBLE