GUIDANCE FOR JANUARY 14 BRIEFING BY UNRCCA SRSG

UNCLAS STATE 002600 SENSITIVE C O R R E C T E D COPY (SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNSC UN TX SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR JANUARY 14 BRIEFING BY UNRCCA SRSG MIROSLAV JENCA ¶1. (U) USUN is instructed to draw from the following talking points in paragraph two for the January 14 Security Council Briefing by the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia (UNRCCA) Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General(SRSG) Miroslav Jenca. -------------- Talking Points -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Begin Points: -- I would like to welcome Special Representative Jenca back to the Council today and thank him for his report. -- We applaud the Center's growing reputation as an effective institution that will advance the cause of regional cooperation and stability in Central Asia. -- We offer the Special Representative our full support as he continues to implement his mandate. We encourage him in particular to move forward in efforts to establish a regular framework to resolve regional water disputes with a long-term approach, to work on regional approaches to counterterrorism, and to encourage leaders in the region to intensify their counter-narcotics cooperation. -- We commend UNRCCA's efforts to develop a regional framework of consultations on water and energy issues, such as its hosting of a constructive meeting of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea which brought together water ministers of the five Central Asian countries in Ashgabat in July. -- We hope UNRCCA will become a successful platform for Central Asian countries to develop a long-term approach to water and energy resource cooperation and coordination; and we look forward to its assessments of the prospects for Central Asian energy and water cooperation. -- On the topic of counterterrorism, we understand that UNRCCA is working with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) on efforts to counter the roots of terrorism in Central Asia. We would welcome more information about this effort. We also look forward to hearing the results of the ministerial conference on counterterrorism planned for next October. -- Finally, I would like to note that the Center's activities are potentially a vital complement to the international community's efforts to establish peace and security in Afghanistan. -- We look forward to the outcomes of the UNRCCA and UNAMA conference scheduled for next year to address the support that Central Asian countries can provide to Afghanistan. -- Given that Central Asia is a critical transit region in the battle against narcotics trafficking from Afghanistan, UNRCCA's ministerial level conference on drug trafficking next year can be useful in addressing this critical issue. -- We also encourage UNRCCA to get ahead of any issues that may arise as Afghanistan begins looking into taking more control and ownership of its water resources for power and irrigation needs. End points. CLINTON