CORRECTED COPY: GUINEA-BISSAU: SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001016

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DAKAR PLEASE PASS TO BISSAU WATCHER; IO PLEASE SHARE WITH
PM/PPA FOR ACTION REQUEST, IF APPROPRIATE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL UNSC PHUM SNAR XY PU ZA
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY: GUINEA-BISSAU: SECURITY COUNCIL
CONCERNED WITH SECURITY SECTOR, DRUGS, AND UN TRANSITION

REF: STATE 1140261


1. (SBU) This is an action request. Please see para 15.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: In various UN and USUN meetings recently on
Guinea-Bissau, UN officials have discussed the challenges
facing both the country and the follow-on UN mission there.
In the Security Council on November 5, UN Peacebuilding
Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) Representative
Joseph Mutaboba said in an open session that there has been
progress on national reconciliation, especially since he has
secured a dialogue between President Sanha and Prime Minister
Junior. He reiterated the "window of opportunity" for
Guinea-Bissau, but warned that hegemonic politics and
intra-party divisions threaten stability. Ambassador Rice,
during the Council's closed consultations, said the U.S.
remains deeply committed to helping Guinea-Bissau achieve a
sustainable peace and pushed for progress on the Commission
of Inquiry into the March and June political assassinations.


3. (SBU) SUMMARY CONTINUED: Also in the Council's closed
consultations, UN Office on Drugs and Crime Executive
Director Costa described a "disturbing" drug problem in both
Guinea-Bissau and in broader West Africa. Ambassador Rice
noted the U.S. concern with drug trafficking. Following
consultations, the Council adopted a Presidential Statement,
S/PRST/2009/29. In a meeting with a DPA staffer on November
2, USUN staff heard that the transition from UNOGBIS to the
integrated mission, UNIOGBIS, planned for January 1, 2010 is
on track, although most of the staff for the mission probably
will not be in Bissau until mid-January and beyond. Earlier,
Mutaboba, in a meeting with Ambassador DiCarlo on October 30,
asked for U.S. assistance in obtaining a biometric passport
reader for Guinea-Bissau, and asked the U.S. to deploy the
PISCES program there. Finally, Mutaboba asked to be put in
touch with the Department's Coordinator for Counter Piracy so
that UNOGBIS (and UNIOGBIS) can play a role in that effort.
END SUMMARY.

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POLITICAL RECONCILIATION AND SSR ON TRACK...FOR NOW
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3. (SBU) During an open session of the Security Council on
November 5, UNOGBIS Representative Mutaboba said that there
has been momentum in recent days on political reconciliation.
President Sanha had opened the legislature on November 3 and
called for a National Stability Pact. The Speaker of the
Parliament also called on legislators to expedite security
sector reform (SSR) laws. Sanha's appointment of a new
Prosecutor General for the Commission of Inquiry was a
positive step, and the new defense leadership (including the
swearing in of the Chief of General Staff on October 27) has
been "legitimized." Mutaboba reiterated the
Secretary-General's sentiment that there is a "window of
opportunity" in Guinea-Bissau, and told Council members that
Guinea-Bissau still needs help.


4. (SBU) Brazilian PermRep Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, as
Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission's (PBC) configuration
on Guinea-Bissau, also participated and flagged insufficient
infrastructure in the country as key to economic recovery.
African Union Acting Permanent Observer Tete Antonio worried
that Guinea-Bissau's army was oversized compared to the
general population; he also said that solving the problems
with the pension fund for retired military was the key to
success on SSR. Guinea-Bissau PermRep Alfredo Lopes Cabral,
in unscripted remarks, explained that the needs of his
country still warrant the international community's
confidence. He also asked for international partners to help
build prisons, explaining that the people of Guinea-Bissau
need to have faith in their justice system.


5. (SBU) In closed consultations following the open session,
Mutaboba shared two "good news" items with Council members.
First, he said he has been able to secure a dialogue between
President Sanha and Prime Minister Junior. Sanha, according
to Mutaboba, expressed his appreciation to the UN for
bringing the two officials together. Mutaboba suggested this
momentum could help with the national political dialogue and
appealed for Council members to help bilaterally. Second,
Mutaboba has urged the Guinea-Bissau military to break away
from partitions, and called this the "only way to end
impunity." He pleaded with the Council to help fight
organized crime (including drugs, small arms and light


weapons, and human trafficking),as well as to help secure
and monitor Guinea-Bissau's borders.


6. (SBU) Ambassador Rice noted that the U.S. remains deeply
committed to helping Guinea-Bissau achieve a sustainable
peace, and is encouraged by the June and July elections. She
also informed Council members that the U.S. planned to
re-open a Mission in Bissau in the near future. She
suggested that the national defense reform plan adopted by
the National Popular Assembly in 2007 should serve as the
basis for SSR in Guinea-Bissau. The United Kingdom agreed
that SSR, as well as counter-narcotics, were the "immediate
priorities" for Guinea-Bissau. Most Council members mentioned
elements of SSR in their statements. Mutaboba while
answering wrap-up questions at the end of consultations asked
Council members to be more proactive in their SSR assistance,
and not wait for the Government of Guinea-Bissau to sign off
on a strategy. He said he would repeat this message when he
met with the European Union in Brussels on November 9.
(COMMENT: During negotiations prior to November 5, the French
and UK experts mentioned holding off on SSR until the
Government had a better idea of what it wanted to do. France
took a hard line on protecting European Union equities in the
PRST, which noted the EU's role in SSR. END COMMENT.)


7. (SBU) Ambassador Rice asked for an update on the
Commission of Inquiry into the March and June political
assassinations, including what could be done to protect
witnesses associated with its work. She flagged the Federal
Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) technical assistance to the
Commission and asked partner countries to do what they can to
assist; Russia thanked the U.S. for the FBI's work in this
area. During Mutaboba's rebuttal, he did not answer the
questions posed about the Commission, deferring judgment
until after the anticipated "progress" the new Prosecutor
General would kick-start.

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SOBERING MESSAGE ON DRUGS IN WEST, AND EAST, AFRICA
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8. (SBU) In both the open meeting and closed consultations,
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director
Antonio Maria Costa alerted Council members to what is
becoming a disturbing drug problem in Guinea-Bissau. He
expressed concern that the international community had
"wasted time" since he first alerted members five years ago
about the West Africa drug problem. He also made a link
between the country's rising drug trade and its poor judicial
system, uncontrolled sea and air space, and open land
borders. In closed consultations, Costa highlighted the
intercontinental drug problem, in which drugs originating
from Afghanistan and Pakistan are transiting through East
Africa and converging in the Sahel area with those from West
Africa. He also explained that West Africa is becoming a hub
for drug consumption, not just transit. He posited that
chemical precursors do not originate in West Africa, so are
obviously coming from elsewhere (he suggested Asia, coming
through the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then to Mexico
and West Africa).


9. (SBU) Ambassador Rice said that the U.S. is extremely
concerned about drug trafficking in West Africa, and
suggested the Economic Community of West African States
should be encouraged and supported to take the lead on a
coordinated, regional approach to fight drugs. She also
encouraged the UN Office for West Africa to do its part in
the effort. All Council members agreed with Rice, with most
calling for more funding for counter-narcotics efforts.
France asked for regular UNODC briefings on Africa-related
trafficking; Costa in response said he would welcome the
opportunity. Libya said that the drug problem in West Africa
is not only a regional issue, highlighting the role North
Africa plays in fueling the trafficking.

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A HARD FOUGHT PRST
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10. (SBU) Following consultations, the Council adopted a
Burkinabe-drafted PRST (S/PRST/2009/29) after last-minute
revisions from Russia. Intense side negotiations during
consultations between Burkina Faso, Mexico (who insisted on
inclusion of the wording),and Russia--as well as the U.S.
and France--ultimately helped work out differences.



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TRANSITION TO UNIOGBIS ON TRACK FOR JANUARY 1, 2010
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11. (SBU) Mutaboba told the Council that the integrated
follow-on mission, UNIOGBIS, would be ready to go on January

1. He said that UNIOGBIS had been given an "ambitious"
mandate and offered no details on other aspects. In a
meeting with USUN staff on November 2, UN Department of
Political Affairs (DPA) Integrated Peacebuilding Missions
Unit staffer, Vina Najibullah (protect),who is responsible
for all hiring and administrative aspects of DPA
peacebuilding missions, gave blunt details about the
transition from UNOGBIS to UNIOGBIS. Like Mutaboba, she
believes UNIOGBIS will be up and running on January 1, but
full staffing will take a number of months. She said that
DPA was "not good at field work," but has learned lessons
from the integrated peacebuilding mission in Sierra Leone
(the first such integrated mission). DPA has requested $19
million for UNIOGBIS with 119 staff, which includes 35 safety
and security staff and 32 support staff. She said that DPA
has completed 80 percent of the interviews for
staff positions, but new UN hiring practices are slowing down
the process.


12. (SBU) Najibullah asked for U.S. assistance in ensuring
the ACABQ recommends to the UNGA's Fifth Committee that it
adopt the proposed budget for UNIOGBIS, adding that
Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe often says that "we
should not continue anemic (peacebuilding) missions; we need
to invest for five years instead of continuing to trickle a
small amount of money in." She also said that Department of
Field Support (DFS) Assistant-Secretary-General Anthony
Banbury (U.S.) was a "breath of fresh air," and personally
spearheads a group in DFS to help with peacebuilding
transition missions. (COMMENT: Mutaboba during his myriad
meetings in NY offered no staffing details. Similarly, the
Secretary-General's recent report (S/2009/552) on
Guinea-Bissau lacked adequate information on plans for
UNIOGBIS. Post found out more in the meeting with the DPA
staffer than we had in any other meeting. The Mission has
received an advance version of the proposed budget which will
be issued as A/64/349/Add.3. The Fifth Committee will begin
its consideration of the proposed 2010 budgets and ACABQ
reports on all special political missions in late November.
END COMMENT.)

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MUTABOBA ASKS FOR U.S. HELP ON CRIME, DRUGS, AND
COUNTER-PIRACY
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13. (SBU) In a meeting with Ambassador DiCarlo on October 30,
Mutaboba asked for U.S. assistance to curb transnational
crime and drugs. He expressed frustration that Guinea-Bissau
now has biometric passports, but does not have the necessary
machine to read them. He had personally visited the airport
in Bissau and had taken a trip to the Senegalese border in an
effort to expose the key problem: lax security associated
with having a diplomatic passport; Bissau authorities do not
check a diplomatic passport holder's bags at all, making drug
trafficking easy.


14. (SBU) Mutaboba also asked for the U.S. to deploy PISCES
(Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation
System) in Guinea-Bissau. In this regard, he commented that
INTERPOL's presence in Bissau is incompetent staff, therefore
other assistance is needed. He lamented that Guinea-Bissau's
police are "close to nothing," and UNOGBIS has only been able
to help sporadically with training. Mutaboba also expressed
appreciation for the FBI's work on the Commission of Inquiry.

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ACTION REQUEST
--------------


15. (SBU) Mutaboba asked to be put in touch with the
Department's Coordinator for Counter Piracy, Robert Maggi, to
discuss counter piracy and Guinea-Bissau's role. Ambassador
DiCarlo agreed such a meeting was a good idea. (COMMENT:
Mutaboba seemed anxious to carve out a role for himself in
counter piracy, including by working with other UN missions
in West Africa. END COMMENT.) Post requests Department
assistance to arrange such a meeting or telephone call. Post


also requests Department's position on Mutaboba's two
requests above (paras 13 and 14),and whether Post should
seek more information from the UN on these requests.
Rice