JAPANESE-HOSTED BREAKFAST CONSIDERS MANDATE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000153 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2019 TAGS: PREL AF UNSC MARR SUBJECT: JAPANESE-HOSTED BREAKFAST CONSIDERS MANDATE OF UNAMA Classified By: Ambassador Rice, For Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Action request in paragraph 3. ¶2. (C) On February 18 the Japanese PermRep Yukio Takasu in his capacity as President of the UN Security Council for February hosted a breakfast to discuss Afghanistan, including the status of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The participants, including Ambassador Rice, initiated a discussion on the mandate of UNAMA and whether a reconfiguration was desirable. UK PermRep John Sawers and Japanese PermRep Takasu said the mandate should not expand beyond its original objectives and its current structure should be trimmed. Afghani PermRep Zahir Tanin and SRSG for Afghanistan Kai Eide disagreed, stating that UNAMA's broad mandate was the preferred option. Also in attendance were Secretary General Ban ki-moon, Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Leroy, and the PermReps of Canada, France, and Germany. ¶3. (C) Action request: USUN requests swift interagency guidance, informed by the broad Afghanistan and Pakistan policy review, if the USG supports a reconfiguration to the UNAMA's current mandate, which ends on March 23, 2009, per Security Council Resolution 1806. End action request. Rice