SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATES UNAMA/AFGHANISTAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000647

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC AF
SUBJECT: SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATES UNAMA/AFGHANISTAN


1. (U) Summary: On June 30, the Security Council held a
quarterly debate on UNAMA/Afghanistan. SRSG Kai Eide briefed
on behalf of UNAMA, Ambassador Zahir Tanin briefed for
Afghanistan. In addition to interventions by Council
members, eleven other countries (ISAF members and
Afghanistan,s neighbors) spoke. Common themes were 1)
support for Afghanistan,s upcoming elections; 2) concern
regarding the security situation; and 3) support for UNAMA,s
mission and mandate. A plurality of countries clearly
supported UNAMA,s request for additional resources in 2010.
Many countries also called on UNAMA to present benchmarks, as
requested by UNSCR 1868, and expressed concern regarding
civilian casualties. Several, including SRSG Eide, welcomed
General McChrystal,s recent comments on addressing the issue
of civilian casualties. End summary.

INTERVENTIONS BY UNAMA AND AFGHANISTAN


2. (U) In his statement, SRSG Kai Eide touched on a number of
issues. He began by summarizing UNAMA,s election support
activities. Overall, UNAMA,s goal is to "ensure an election
process that is credible and where the result can be accepted
by the people." Eide urged all candidates to campaign with
dignity and fairness, called on all Government institutions
and officials to maintain impartiality, and called on the
international community to avoid any interference or
appearance of interference in the election process. Key
elements of the level playing field are "non-interference, a
dignified policy-oriented debate and total international
impartiality," said Eide.


3. (U) Eide noted "totally new momentum" in strengthening
security institutions, reforming agriculture and the private
sector, improving revenue collection and the government,s
internal coordination and developing comprehensive civilian
capacity-building programs. He said this momentum was the
result of competent Afghan ministries, although he singled
out the U.S. review of development policies as crucial to
this momentum. Eide welcomed U.S. readiness to support
"Afghan plans and Afghan priorities more generously than
before." The SRSG then turned to the issue of civilian
casualties, and supported the Secretary-General,s call (as
noted in the recent UNAMA quarterly report) to review the use
of AIR power in populated areas, to review the operations of
special forces, and to better prepare international military
forces for the Afghan political and cultural context. "It is
my view that the political costs of recent mistakes are
simply disproportionate to military gains and that such
reviews are urgently required," said Eide. He welcomed
General McChrystal,s "important statement" on the need for a
fundamental shift in attitude regarding civilian casualties.


4. (U) In closing remarks, Eide emphasized the need for a
perspective "that goes beyond the elections." He said the UN
was prepared to be a partner in a Afghan-owned and led peace
process, and noted the importance of regional security
cooperation and trade, which would require a serious
investment in Afghanistan,s infrastructure (especially a
railway network and an expansion of electricity lines). Eide
noted the many rising expectations and new opportunities for
UNAMA, and pressed for more resources "to fulfill our mandate
in donor coordination, to meet the new opportunities in
capacity and institution building, and to expand across the
country."


5. (U) Afghan PR Tanin took the floor next, and reinforced
Eide,s focus on elections. Like Eide, he also welcomed the
U.S. and NATO strategic reviews. Tanin repeated a similar
theme from his last intervention: namely, that Afghanistan
has improved dramatically in the last eight years, and that
this progress is ongoing. Despite the many improvements,
however, Tanin noted that insecurity and fragmented
development efforts checked Afghanistan,s progress. He
welcomed UNAMA,s strengthened mandate and its "essential
coordination role." Tanin ended with a reference to the
region surrounding Afghanistan. He said "our enemies are not
local, but regional, and find sanctuary and support outside
Afghanistan." In an intervention later in the day,
Pakistan,s deputy PR said the exact opposite: "The
insecurity challenges faced by Afghanistan are of internal
origin."

SECURITY COUNCIL INTERVENTIONS


6. (U) Statements by Council members shared common themes: 1)
support for Afghanistan,s upcoming elections; 2) concern
regarding the security situation; and 3) support for UNAMA,s
mission and mandate. Ambassador Rice emphasized the
importance of the upcoming elections, welcomed UNAMA,s
leadership in donor coordination, called for increased
resources for UNAMA, and addressed the issue of civilian
casualties - she recalled General McChrystal,s announcement

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that reducing civilian casualties would be a top priority.
The UK, Austria and Mexico cited General McChrystal,s
remarks on civilian casualties as particularly helpful.
Russia recognized ISAF efforts to minimize civilian
casualties, but concluded that they have not been sufficient.
The Russian deputy PR said "special terrorist operations"
should be Afghanized, and called for "meticulous
investigations" in situations where civilian casualties may
have occurred. He also stressed that Afghan national
reconciliation dialogues should not violate Security Council
sanctions on the Taliban, and that if the the GOA wants to
have a dialogue with "moderate" Taliban members, it should
only be with those who have agreed to lay down arms and
relinquish ties to al-Quaida. Libya was most critical of
civilian casualties, in keeping with its previous statements.
The acting Libyan PR called the withdrawal of foreign troops
the "sina qua non of national reconciliation" and said the
recurrent incidents of civilian casualties were deeply
disconcerting; they forced Libya to question the rules and
arrangements of ISAF,s presence in Afghanistan.


7. (U) Japan, Uganda, Croatia and the U.S. clearly supported
an increase in resources for UNAMA. France said it
approached the issue in an "open spirit." Other countries,
including the UK, Turkey, Costa Rica and Austria, focused
instead on the need for UNAMA to prepare benchmarks on
fulfillment of elements of its mandate. Eide noted that
UNAMA was working on benchmarks and would present them to the
Council in the next quarterly session.

INTERVENTIONS BY ISAF MEMBERS AND THE REGION


8. (U) In addition to Council members, New Zealand, Iran,
Germany, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Norway, Australia,
Canada, the Czech Republic, India, and Italy addressed the
Council. Canada,s Foreign Minister addressed the Council,
and touched on Canada,s priorities: the elections, rule of
law and capacity building within the Afghanistan security
forces. He also noted Canada,s interest in UNAMA,s
benchmarks and discussed his country,s focus on border
management issues. Germany and the Czech Republic echoed
calls for UNAMA to work on benchmarks, while Norway, India
and Italy supported UNAMA,s requests for more funding. Iran
and Pakistan noted that large numbers of Afghan refugees
still remained in their countries, and this placed a great
burden on their respective countries. Iran also noted "the
Afghans have made it clear that they will not accept the
indefinite presence of foreign forces in their country."
India exhorted members to "more vocally recognize and support
growing Afghan capabilities" and criticized the UN,s
description of Taliban and al-Qaida attacks as organized by
"anti-government elements" or "insurgents" instead of calling
them terrorism attacks.
RICE