U/SYG LE ROY BRIEFS AMBASSADOR RICE ON UPCOMING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000681 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SU AF SUBJECT: U/SYG LE ROY BRIEFS AMBASSADOR RICE ON UPCOMING SUDAN TRIP Classified By: Ambassador Susan E. Rice for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: On July 7, Under Secretary General for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy and Under Secretary General for the Department of Field Services Susana Malcorra met with Ambassador Rice to brief her on Le Roy's upcoming trip to Sudan. Head of the Darfur Inter-operational Team (IOT) Mike Gaoette also participated in the meeting. Le Roy said he would meet with the UNMIS and UNAMID SRSGs Qazi and Adada, as well as UN/AU Joint Chief Mediator Bassole, to stress that they must all be on the same page for upcoming national issues, like elections and the referendum. Le Roy also discussed personnel issues with upcoming UNMIS and UNAMID leadership transitions, and expressed concern that the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) was not devoting sufficient resources to building government capacity. Le Roy also briefly discussed UNAMID issues. End Summary. One Sudan; Two Peacekeeping Operations -------------- ¶2. (C) U/SYG Le Roy met with Ambassador Rice on July 7 to discuss his upcoming trip to Sudan. U/SYG Malcorra and Darfur IOT Director Gaoette were also present. Le Roy departs for Sudan July 7 and returns to New York July 15. He will visit Khartoum, Juba, El Fasher and El Geneina. Le Roy said that while he has not received a request to meet with President Bashir, such a request could be made on the ground, and he would be forced to accept the meeting, given the size of the two UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan. ¶3. (C) Le Roy noted that he would meet in Addis with the Special Representatives of the Secretary General (SRSG) for both the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and the hybrid United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) -- SRSGs Qazi and Adada -- and with the UN/AU Joint Chief Mediator Bassole. Le Roy stated that, while there are two separate UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan, both missions must coordinate and convey a unified UN approach to national issues like the 2010 elections and the 2011 referendum. Le Roy said his meeting with Qazi, Adada and Bassole would focus their attention on developing a unified approach. UN Leadership Transitions -------------- ¶4. (C) Le Roy shared that the Secretary General had received a letter from the GOS concerning SRSG Adada,s tenure with ;UNAMID. Le Roy said that the letter stated that the government of Sudan (GOS) had received &informal information that some Western Powers are pressing to terminate the mandate of H.E. Rodolph Adada, the Joint Special Representative of UNAMID, and nominate a substitute for him8 without consulting with the African Union (AU) or the GOS. Le Roy said that the GOS had conveyed to the Secretary General that it reserved the right to reject any nomination for a new SRSG, as well as for the commander of the military component and other high ranking staff of UNAMID. Le Roy also said that the UN had replied that, per the terms of his contract, Adada must leave at the end of the year. Le Roy noted that within the AU, Commissioner Lamamra does not object to Adada leaving at the end of the year, but Jean Ping is opposed. (Note: In a side conversation on the margins of the meeting, Gaoette indicated to POLOFF that Adada,s supporters had conveyed that the UN should find another job for Adada if he is expected to leave UNAMID at the end of the year. End Note.) ¶5. (C) Le Roy shared the names of two candidates for Adada,s position that the UN is currently considering -- Kenyan General Lazaro Sumbeiywo and current SRSG for West Africa Said Djinnit, who is Algerian. Le Roy said that the UNAMID position must be filled by an African national, though there is no such restriction on the UNMIS position. Le Roy said that he had approached Sumbeiywo, who is interested in the position. Le Roy also said that he had tested this idea with AU Commissioner Lamamra, who expressed support for Sumbeiywo. Le Roy said that he had not yet approached the GOS. He indicated that one concern with Djinnit could be that, because he is from the Maghreb, he might not be accepted by the Zaghawa. Gaoette also said that there might be a perception problem with a Djinnit candidacy; he could be seen as pro-government. ¶6. (C) Le Roy noted that the GOSS had rejected South African candidate Mojanku Gumbi, former Legal Advisor to former President Thabo Mbeki, as a replacement for SRSG Qazi because GOSS officials believed she was too close to Mbeki and potentially, therefore, too easily influenced by the National Congress Party (NCP). Le Roy also said that the UN is considering the current SRSG for Timor-Leste, Atul Khare, who is Indian, as a replacement for Qazi, along with New Zealander Ross Mountain, who is currently Deputy SRSG for the USUN NEW Y 00000681 002 OF 002 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ambassador Rice asked whether the UN had considered Tunisian Heidi Annabi, who is the current SRSG for the UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Malcorra said that Annabi,s wife has some health issues so he would be unlikely to accept the position. ¶7. (C) Le Roy asked Ambassador Rice whether she had any suggestions, and she said that she had thought of Djinnit as a candidate to replace Adada. Rice noted that while she had not thought of Sumbeiywo, his candidacy was a good idea. She said the UN might want to consider the former Permanent Representative from Botswana, Alfred Dube, and Gaoette said the NCP might oppose a candidate from Botswana, given Botswana,s vocal support for the Rome Statute. Wrapping up the personnel discussion, Le Roy confirmed that the UNAMID Force Commander, Nigerian General Agwai, would be replaced by Rwandan Major General Patrick Nyamvumba, and Ambassador Rice agreed that this was a good decision. UN Concerned by Lack of Capacity in South -------------- ¶8. (C) Le Roy said that if a referendum takes place in 2011, there is no way to avoid secession, and the UN is alarmed by the lack of capacity building taking place in the South. Ambassador Rice stressed that, in her personal view, the international community should recognize and acknowledge that secession will be the likely outcome of the referendum and work urgently to strengthen the capacity of the South. Gaoette asked whether the USG was prepared to show "tough love" to the Sudan People,s Liberation Movement (SPLM),and Ambassador Rice said that the USG indeed had been talking about capacity building to the SPLM, along with anti-corruption issues. Rice also said the issue is not as simple as that the GOSS lacks seriousness about developing government institutions, but that they lack the knowledge needed to do so. ¶9. (C) Le Roy also said that the entire region is afraid of what will happen if the South secedes, mentioning Prime Minister Meles of Ethiopia in particular. Ambassador Rice said that, while she understood this fear, regional countries must accept responsibility to ensure implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Rice said that, in particular, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia could play a constructive role. Malcorra said that the AU focus on making unity attractive deflected from the urgent work that needed to be done now in preparing for the referendum. She noted that both parties are preparing for conflict, and there has been no focus on developing the minimum requirements for capacity building. UNAMID -------------- ¶10. (C) Ambassador Rice briefly discussed the upcoming UNAMID mandate renewal, noting that while it would be premature in this roll-over to address certain issues, the USG believes that in the longer-term, if there is a cessation of hostilities, issues including ceasefire monitoring and the coordination between UNAMID and MINURCAT would need to be addressed. Le Roy raised the issue of monitoring the border between Chad and Sudan, and said that it would not be feasible for the United Nations to accept this responsibility. Rice acknowledged that this would be a difficult task. She asked about threats to civilians in Darfur, and Le Roy responded that recent attacks have been between the GOS and the rebels, but there had not been substantial harassment within the camps. Rice asked about the level of returns, and Gaoette responded that there had been a small number of returns, and the UN was engaged with internally displaced persons. Ambassador Rice also asked about the New Horizons peacekeeping reform project, and Le Roy said that by the end of next week, he hoped to have a finished product. RICE