UN PREVIEWS PLANNED SUPPORT TO AMISOM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000013

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR KPKO UNSC SO
SUBJECT: UN PREVIEWS PLANNED SUPPORT TO AMISOM


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. In two meetings on January 6, UN Under
Secretary-General Malcorra and Department of Field Support
(DFS) staff briefed USUN on the status of UN planning to
implement the Secretary-General's proposed measures to
strengthen the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
DFS is coordinating very urgent Secretariat action on this
effort in the expectation that the Security Council is about
to issue an authorizing resolution. Malcorra and staff
explained that a technical assessment mission will arrive in
the region on January 12 and that a comprehensive budget will
be prepared within days of its January 26 return. DFS's
preliminary estimate is that costs -- assuming a force of
8,000 troops -- will approach $600 million over 12 months for
logistics, expendables, and construction with an additional
$300 million needed from donors over that period for troop
salaries and the training of Somali security personnel.
Assuming both that the Security Council adopts the necessary
resolution and that the Secretariat develops a budget when
the TAM returns, the Secretariat will present a proposed
budget to the relevant General Assembly committees as quickly
as possible. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On January 6 DFS officer Max Kerley (UK) briefed
USUN political and management reform officers on the state of
the Secretariat's Department of Field Support (DFS) planning
to implement the logistical support to AMISOM proposed by SYG
Ban in his letters to the Council of December 19 and December

31. Kerley said DFS has adopted two "principles" in its
approach to Somalia planning in the absence of a formal
peacekeeping mandate: maintain only a minimal UN footprint on
the ground and, accordingly, provide as much of the agreed
support to AMISOM as possible via contractors.


3. (SBU) Kerley said that the Secretariat is sending a
technical assessment mission (TAM) to Nairobi and Addis Ababa
from January 12-26 (to include a possible visit to Mogadishu
depending on security conditions) in order to finalize
logistical planning to implement the SYG's proposal. He said
the Secretariat is well aware that the P3 are discussing a
text based on the SYG's recommendations and is acting now in
order to be ready if such a resolution is approved.


4. (SBU) Kerley said that a comprehensive budget could be put
together within several days of the TAM's January 26 return
from the region. He provided a "back of the cigarette pack"
estimate that UN support to AMISOM for 12 months would cost
$500 million exclusive of the proposed transfer of assets
from the former UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
He said UN-provided support measures would include rations,
fuel, potable water, medical facilities, camp construction
and operation, electric power, limited airfield services, and
voice and data communication.


5. (SBU) In a follow-on session, Under Secretary-General for
DFS Susanna Malcorra commented on internal UN political
considerations in undertaking planning for UN support to
AMISOM and on the way forward. Repeatedly saying that DFS is
"pushing the envelope" and "entering uncharted waters,"
Malcorra said DFS is committed to supporting AMISOM. She
made clear she is guided in this regard by the indication in
the SYG's December 31 letter to the Security Council
(S/2008/846) that "I am pleased to inform you that the
Secretariat has already initiated action to secure the
provision of logistics support for AMISOM."


6. (SBU) Malcorra's vision of UN support to AMISOM, once
authorized by Security Council resolution, presumes an 8,000
troop AMISOM force and has DFS initially entering into a sole
source contract with a current contractor and later
concluding at least three contracts with different
contractors for provision of rations, logistics (fuel, water,
etc.),and facilities. She estimated total support cost at
$600 million for 12 months exclusive of a $300 million donor
trust fund dedicated to troop salaries, the training of
Somali security personnel, and other essential expenses not
normally assumed by a UNPKO. (NOTE. Malcorra provided USUN
with a written preliminary cost breakdown and this has been
forwarded to IO. END NOTE.) She said the Secretariat would
prepare a more comprehensive budget very quickly after the
return of the TAM and that, assuming the Security Council
adopts a mandate authorizing resolution, the budget would
enter the ACABQ and Fifth Committee process of the General
Assembly in March.


7. (SBU) Malcorra noted that the initial contract would
likely be sole-source rather than resulting from a tender
process and mentioned Dyncorp, the largest contractor already
on the ground, as the most likely initial contractor. She
acknowledged that the UNAMID sole-sourcing exercise had
proven problematic but insisted that DFS had learned from
that experience and would obviate problems by significantly

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limiting the initial contract in time and clearly delineating
a transition to follow-on arrangements with multiple
contractors. She said that a solicitation of expressions of
interest had already been issued for the follow-on contracts.



8. (SBU) Malcorra insisted that UN support to AMISOM would be
subject to all the accounting and other controls normally
imposed on peacekeeping operations. She sees the UN
overseeing provision of support elements from a rear base in
Addis Ababa, Nairobi, or Mombasa with UN presence in
Mogadishu as required.


9. (SBU) COMMENT. This AMISOM support effort brings not just
DFS but us all into uncharted waters. The current draft of
the Somalia Security Council resolution envisions
incorporation of AMISOM forces into a UNPKO possibly as soon
as June 1. Even with adjustment of Malcorra's 12-month cost
estimates to fit that timeframe, this effort will incur
significant expense of which Department may wish to apprise
Washington agencies and Congress.

Khalilzad