UN MISSION IN SUDAN: TALKING POINTS FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 074379

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPKO UNSC SU
SUBJECT: UN MISSION IN SUDAN: TALKING POINTS FOR
CONSULTATIONS


1. The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold
consultations on the Secretary-General's report on the UN
Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on July 17. USUN may draw on the
points in paragraph 2, as appropriate.


2. Begin Points:

I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his report on
the United Nations Mission in Sudan and
Under-Secretary-General Le Roy for his briefing. Today I
would like to make four points.

First, as the report notes, the security situation in Abyei
remains volatile, particularly given the expected July 22
decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The
Hague on the Abyei boundary dispute. We will expect both
parties to live up to their commitments to fully comply with
the decision in a peaceful manner. Our Special Envoy,
General Gration, will be in the region when the decision is
issued and has encouraged the leadership of both parties to
abide by their pledges of cooperation, and engage with local
communities to prepare them for the PCA's decision. We
welcome UNMIS' contingency planning measures and urge them to
put them in place as soon as possible. We believe that an
increased UNMIS presence in the weeks before and subsequent
to the decision will have a deterrent effect.

Second, we remain concerned that the National Elections
Commission (NEC) has not yet finalized a viable operational
plan and budget for elections, nor has the NEC developed a
voter registration plan. We are also concerned about
restrictions on civil liberties, including media freedom,
during the pre-election period. Elections in Sudan are an
important benchmark in Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
implementation and can lay the groundwork for the subsequent
2011 referendum. We continue to urge all relevant
stakeholders to complete the necessary legislative and
logistical tasks to enable credible elections to be
conducted. The United States has already provided
substantial elections assistance and will continue to do so,
having budgeted $95 million in fiscal year 2008 funding to
provide election administration assistance to the NEC,
encourage civic participation in elections, and facilitate
international observation of elections. We look forward to
receiving the UN elections assessment report and hope that
the report will help focus the attention of all parties in
Sudan and the international community on the pressing issues
that must be resolved for credible elections to take place.

Third, we are deeply concerned by the recent outbreak of
inter-tribal violence in Jonglei state. Escalating violence
in Southern Sudan threatens the stability of Sudan as a
whole. We welcome UNMIS' review of conflict mitigation
activities in Jonglei and its plans for strengthened "surge
capacity" of both military and non-military components for
future potential conflict situations. We praise the efforts
of UNMIS forces which have been deployed since May 10 to
Temporary Operating Bases in Akobo and Pibor. This helped to
stabilize the situation and prevent further clashes. We
believe that maintaining this mobility and a willingness to
establish temporary bases where they are most needed provides
a good model for the future, as undoubtedly tensions will
rise in the lead-up to elections. However, we note that
UNMIS cannot bear the sole responsibility for reducing tribal
tensions. The Government of Southern Sudan also must work to
strengthen the capacity of local authorities and traditional
leaders to deter inter-communal violence.

Fourth, we are deeply concerned by the increased Lord's
Resistance ARMY (LRA) attacks in Western, Eastern, and
Central Equatoria states, which have caused a sharp
deterioration in the humanitarian situation and displaced
thousands of people. As President Chissano noted in his July
15 briefing to the Council, UNMIS and MONUC must increase
their cooperative efforts to protect civilians. We continue
to urge both UNMIS and MONUC to work together to counter the
LRA threat to the region, to better protect local
populations, and to ensure that adequate humanitarian
assistance reaches those civilians harmed by LRA activity.

At the recent CPA conference hosted by Special Envoy Gration,
all agreed much work remains to be done to ensure the
successful implementation of the CPA. Though our task is an
enormous one, the results if we fail will be catastrophic.
The parties to the CPA and the international community as
guarantors to the peace process must urgently engage to

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resolve the remaining outstanding CPA implementation issues.

Thank you, Mr. President.
CLINTON