AMBASSADOR RICE MEETS WITH NEW HEAD OF CAR MISSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000631 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV CT ZX SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RICE MEETS WITH NEW HEAD OF CAR MISSION Classified By: POL M/C JDelaurentis for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 23, Ambassador Rice met with the new Secretary-General Special Representative for the Central African Republic Sahle-Work Zewde. Zewde noted that CAR President Bozizie recently told visiting Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe that his primary concern was demobilization of the rebel forces, giving Pascoe the impression that the CARG is not devoting sufficient attention to mobilizing national resources for basic social services or expanding the government's reach outside of Bangui and its environs. Commenting from her previous position as Ethiopian Ambassador to the African Union, Zewde expressed concern that the AU Chair, Libya, was ignoring the African Union Constitution in insisting that all AU Peace and Security Council decisions be approved by the African Union Assembly. Zewde noted that Libya also seemed reluctant to permit AU censure of Mauritania, Madagascar, and Niger for violations of constitutional order. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) The newly appointed Secretary-General's Special Representative for the Central African Republic (SRSG) Sahle-Work Zewde met with Ambassador Rice on June 23 prior to departing to Bangui to take up her post as head of the UN Peacebuilding Support Office in CAR (BONUCA). Zewde is only the second woman to become a SRSG, and is also the second SRSG to take charge of a UN political mission that will transition into an integrated peacebuilding mission (the first integrated peacebuilding mission is UNIPSIL in Sierra Leone). ¶3. (U) Zewde noted that the transition from BONUCA to the new Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Central African Republic (BINUCA) would at best occur on schedule on January 1, 2010, and as a practical matter could not be accelerated as suggested by some Security Council and Peacebuilding Commission members. BINUCA would have a substantial personnel increase, corresponding to its revised and broadened mandate of assisting CAR with demobilization, elections, and other recommendations from the national Inclusive Political Dialogue. While Zewde was not yet at post, she listed several issues of concern raised during her consultations in New York. ¶4. (C) First, Zewde expressed concern over the death of Gabon President Bongo as the loss of a diplomatic intermediary who had led Bozizie and rebel leaders to rapprochment. It was not yet clear who in the region might have both sufficient stature and democratic credentials and be willing to step in to fulfill Bongo's role. Second, Zewde commented that the disarmament-demobilization-reintegration (DDR) process in CAR needed more coordination from the UN and pushback against the inevitable attempts by rebel factions to inflate the list of ex-combatants registered for demobilization. ¶5. (C) Zewde noted some questions on whether MINURCAT's presence in Northeastern CAR was complicating BONUCA's work with the national government and rebel factions. Finally, in response to Ambassador Rice's question about whether the national government was devoting sufficient attention and resources to boosting revenue from natural resources and re-establishing basic social services, Zewde referred to Under-Secretary Pascoe's recent visit to Bangui. Pascoe, Zewde said, had been alarmed by Bozizie's statement that his priority was demobilization for the rebel groups rather than re-establishing government function and providing basic social services outside of Bangui. 6.(C) Zewde had recently completed her assignment as the Ethiopian Ambassador to the African Union and offered perspective about Libya's current AU chairmanship. Libya, Zewde commented, was resisting AU censure of coup d'etats and other violations of constitutional order. Within the AU, Zewde said, Libya had referred to a "good coup d'etat" in Mauritania, brushing aside the AU position that coups, by definition, had to be condemned as destructive to advancing democracy and constitutional order. Zewde saw Libya as reluctant to censure Niger President Tandja for seeking constitutional changes to permit additional terms, and slow to move on the extra-constitutional removal of President Ravalomanana in Madagascar. Finally, Zewde said, Libya had fundamentally violated protocol and the African Union constitution by insisting that Peace and Security Council decisions be approved by the African Union Assembly. This would be like the General Assembly signing off on Security Council decisions, she noted. 7.(SBU) Ambassador Rice noted our concerns about whether the CAR government had adequate oversight of the revenue from natural resources and was sufficiently allocating its resources to national development rather than relying on ODA USUN NEW Y 00000631 002 OF 002 and the UN presence. The Ambassador asked SRSG Zewde to keep us informed of concrete requests for assistance, particularly with DDR, and noted US support for BINUCA and its expanded role in CAR. RICE