SOMALIA: UN BRIEFS ON SECURITY SUPPORT, POLITICAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000138 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS KPKO UNSC SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA: UN BRIEFS ON SECURITY SUPPORT, POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS REF: USUN 101 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: UN Under-Secretary-General (U/SYG) Malcorra briefed the Security Council on February 12 on UN plans to implement resolution 1863. Malcorra mentioned the need for a bridging arrangement with the contractor already on the ground and said that the UN planned to conclude its own logistical support contract by June. She outlined a smaller-than-expected initial budget request (approx. $150m) for the UN-funded support package to support the AU mission in Somalia for the period March 1 - August 31, but admitted costs will increase as the UN ramps up provision of support. U/SYG Pascoe followed with an upbeat briefing on political developments in Somalia, emphasizing that the peaceful departure of President Yusuf had been followed by the peaceful selection of President Sharif. He urged immediate donor assistance to TFG/ARS security forces. End summary. Funds for AMISOM support -------------- ¶2. (SBU) U/SYG for Field Support Susanna Malcorra delivered a detailed briefing on February 12 to the Security Council on the findings of the Secretariat's recent Technical Assessment Mission (TAM) and the UN's plans for support to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) as mandated by resolution ¶1863. Malcorra characterized the current level of support as "very basic" but said that it needed to be maintained in the short term as the UN launched complementary efforts to support a full deployment of 8,000 troops at UN standards. (NOTE: By "current level of support," Malcorra meant, but did not expressly say, the existing USG contract with DynCorp for provision of logistical support to AMISOM. End note.) Malcorra said that the Secretariat would seek assessed funding for AMISOM support from three pots: A - The Secretary-General would seek the immediate approval of the Administrative Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) to use $4m in unspent pre-mandate commitment authority (PMCA) funds that were originally approved for use by the Secretariat's Somalia planning team. These funds would be used to fund "quick wins" -- to start up a field support headquarters in Nairobi, to provide AMISOM with communications and IT support, to set up an AMISOM public information radio broadcast capability and to provide flak jackets and night vision equipment. Malcorra gave special emphasis to communications as an area where support could have a high impact, saying that AMISOM currently relied on vulnerable commercial cellular networks for communication. B - The Secretariat would also ask ACABQ to authorize $42m in additional PMCA funds which, combined with the $4m above and $4m already spent, would reach the PMCA ceiling of $50m. C - The Secretariat would then make a formal budget request to the Fifth Committee for approximately $100m to be funded through a new assessment. The roughly $150m total would fund mission support from March 1 to August 31. It would be used to build a new force headquarters in Mogadishu, to procure vehicles and ambulances, to fund supplies (through existing arrangements per reftel request),to build new camps for additional battalions and to provide port and airport enhancements including firefighting equipment and night signaling. The UN also plans to base a small jet in the region which would allow for emergency medevacs. Timelines -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Malcorra said that further details on logistical support to AMISOM would be forthcoming in a DFS report by the end of February and that the first "quick win" projects could be implemented in Q2 of 2009 pending approval by the General Assembly. Bids for the UN's logistical support contract will be submitted by the end of March, she said, and she hoped to finalize a contract by June. While the UN estimated that $150m would suffice until the end of August, Malcorra said that a second tranche budget request would be necessary by May, and that the amount of that request - while dependent on developments on the ground - would likely be significantly higher than $150m. Trust fund(s) -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The U/SYG said that planning for the trust fund and donors conference requested in resolution 1863 was moving ahead, and that separate trust funds would likely be established for AMISOM support and support to Somali security forces in order to minimize the potential complication of USUN NEW Y 00000138 002 OF 003 donors earmarking their contributions for a particular use. The AMISOM trust fund would likely be managed by DFS on the basis of a yet-to-be-concluded UN-AU agreement, while the trust fund for Somali security forces would likely be managed by the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS),which has been actively soliciting such support for some time. Malcorra said that the UN had initially proposed holding the donors conference during the February 26-27 meeting of the International Contact Group for Somalia, but that the AU was not ready. The UN was currently looking at a date in early March. Malcorra said that bilateral support mechanisms were AMISOM's "lifeline" as the UN stood up its own arrangements and stressed repeatedly that they should be continued. Additional measures -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Malcorra informed the Council that earlier on February 12 a UN-contracted ship carrying donated equipment from the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea was shelled by mortars while offloading in Mogadishu's harbor in an attack that killed four civilian porters. She used the example to make the point that the UN would need both blue water and brown water maritime security in order to deliver planned assistance to AMISOM. Blue water assistance was important to guarantee UN access to Mogadishu and prevent supplies from falling into the wrong hands (e.g., pirates),while brown water support was necessary as AMISOM's four small boats were "almost unable to operate because of a lack of maintenance." Malcorra said that donors might need to provide additional maritime security assets if TCCs could not provide them. ¶6. (SBU) Malcorra told the Council that the Secretariat was implementing assistance to AMISOM in full compliance with UN procedures. She said that DFS was planning for a small UN footprint on the ground in Mogadishu as meaningful accountability and oversight would be impossible otherwise. She said that the UN's planned field support HQ in Nairobi would have a presence in Addis Ababa in order to facilitate liaison with the AU and that the UN would seek where possible to strengthen the AU's financial management capabilities. Political process -------------- ¶7. (SBU) U/SYG Pascoe followed Malcorra's briefing with an update on political developments in Somalia, including the expansion of parliament to include members of the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and the election of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Pascoe praised the AU and particularly Ethiopia for reaching out to President Sharif after his election, and noted that defeated presidential candidate Nur Hassan Hussein traveled to the AU summit along with the new president in a show of political maturity. He said that the UN expected Sharif to name a prime minister and cabinet shortly and to travel with them to Mogadishu by early in the week of February 16. Pascoe mentioned that UNPOS had worked with the National Democratic Institute to hold training sessions for Somali parliamentarians during their stay in Djibouti. In response to questions from Council members on the possible inclusion of al-Shabaab in the political process, Pascoe cautioned against buying into a media-driven "al-Shabaab myth." He said that al-Shabaab's strength on the ground was often vastly overstated in outside media, and that many acts attributed to al-Shabaab were in fact simple acts of brigandage. ¶8. (SBU) Pascoe praised forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and ARS for providing security in many areas of Mogadishu, but said that following the departure of Ethiopian troops both faced critical shortfalls of rations and money to pay their soldiers. Donors could not wait to meet these needs through contributions to the trust fund mentioned by Malcorra, he said: the Somalis needed assistance now. Pascoe said that beyond immediate provision of rations and salaries, TFG/ARS forces and the Joint Security Committee meant to oversee them would require assistance and training as they sought to stand up the joint security forces called for under the Djibouti Agreement. He said that the deployment of civilian police was another important plank to a stabilization strategy for south-central Somalia, and that UNDP funding for police training had resumed. Council reaction -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Council members unanimously welcomed the election of President Sharif and many expressed hope that his election could signal a further expanded political process. Uganda USUN NEW Y 00000138 003 OF 003 confirmed that it and Burundi were planning to send one additional battalion each to reinforce AMISOM. China, Uganda and Burkina Faso mentioned their hope of rehatting AMISOM as a UNPKO by June, while the UK and Russia emphasized that such a decision had not yet been made. France and the UK worried over the cost of the proposed package, with France saying it expected to see more detailed justification of the cost and the UK voicing concern over limited resources. Mexico said that it hoped war crimes would be fully investigated, while Austria went further, saying it hoped that AMISOM's responsibilities under international humanitarian law would be incorporated into the UN's financial oversight process for assistance to AMISOM. Ambassador Rice welcomed the UN's increased engagement on Somalia, and urged the UN to streamline its contracting process to enable faster provision of support to AMISOM. She condemned al-Shabaab for its continuing attacks against AMISOM and civilians and urged the UN to redeploy UNPOS into Somalia at the earliest opportunity. Rice