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OO RUEHPA RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #0424/01 1331829
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 121829Z MAY 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4253
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN IMMEDIATE 1234
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2017 
TAGS: CDI ETTC PGOV PREL UNSC
SUBJECT: UN/COTE D'IVOIRE: BRIEFINGS BY SRSG CHOI AND 
SANCTIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN 
 
 
Classified By: MINISTER COUNSELOR JEFFREY DELAURENTIS, FOR REASONS 1.4 
B AND D 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: SRSG for Cote d'Ivoire Choi briefed the 
Security Council on April 28 on political developments in 
Cote d'Ivoire since January, noting that the Ivorian parties 
and the international community were making a serious 
commitment to facilitate upcoming elections on November 30, 
which had a realistic prospect of taking place.  However, 
lack of financing or progress on disarmament and voter 
certification could still derail the elections.  Member 
states encouraged further progress on disarmament and 
certification, and discussed Cote d'Ivoire's request to 
participate in the Peace Building Commission.  Belgian 
PermRep Verbeke, in his capacity as Chairman of the Cote 
d'Ivoire Sanctions Committee, reported on the Committee's 
consideration of the latest report of the Panel of Experts. 
End Summary. 
 
BRIEFING BY SRSG CHOI 
 
¶2. (C) Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) 
for Cote d'Ivoire Y.J. Choi briefed the Security Council on 
April 28 on the political developments in Cote d'Ivoire since 
his January 2008 briefing.  SRSG Choi's overall assessment 
was positive: the Ivorian parties and the international 
community had made a serious commitment to facilitate 
elections on November 30, and as a result "that date may 
hold."  Choi urged the international community to stay 
involved, pointing to three elements that could yet undermine 
the elections: financing, certification of voters, and 
progress on disarmament.  First, without adequate financing, 
the electoral bodies would not be able to organize the 
elections, and at present they were awaiting payment. 
Second, the certification process must be peaceful and 
inclusive, and the state media must publish the electoral 
list and the results of the certification.  Third, there must 
be public security during the elections.  Militia-held 
weapons must be controlled, although not removed, before the 
elections.  Choi confessed that questions about how, where, 
and by whom these weapons would be controlled still needed to 
be answered by the Ivorian authorities.  Choi added that any 
unrest would likely be civilian, not military. 
 
¶3. (C) French PermRep Maurice Ripert thanked Burkina Faso for 
President Compaor's efforts as Facilitator, and noted the 
unanimous support of all Ivorian parties for the November 30 
election date.  Burkina Faso PermRep Michel Kafando stated 
that the parties had taken seriously the need for political 
progress in Cote d'Ivoire and now certain steps were 
necessary for continued progress, in particular restoring the 
destroyed voter registers.  Kafando asserted that 
facilitation was more important than ever due to election 
risks arising from a lack of funding and security.  Ripert 
also pointed to Kenya and Zimbabwe--as did Panamanian 
Ambassador Suescum and Italian PermRep Marcello Spatafora in 
later interventions--to demonstrate the importance of the 
conduct of an election to its outcome.  Ripert encouraged 
further progress on DDR, full implementation of the 
Ouagadougou agreement, and the publication of the voter 
registers, which Chinese DPR Liu, UK Political Counselor 
Quarry, Vietnamese PermRep Minh, Costa Rican PermRep Urbina, 
and Libyan PermRep Ettalhi echoed.  Ripert stated that it was 
essential to maintain UNOCI's troop levels until after the 
elections. 
 
¶4. (C) UK Political Counselor Quarry also expressed concern 
about sexual violence in Cote d'Ivoire particularly directed 
against children.  Belgian PermRep Johan Verbeke suggested 
that the Council engage in a general review of the UN's role 
in Cote d'Ivoire once the elections had taken place, which 
Italy supported.  Indonesian PermRep Marty Natalegawa argued 
that the elections should not be an end in itself, and that 
the international community must continue to lend support to 
create a sustainable peace in Cote d'Ivoire 
 
¶5. (C) USUN DPR Ambassador Wolff welcomed that the parties 
had set a firm date for the nationwide elections and urged 
them to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to keep 
preparations on schedule.  Ambassador Wolff noted that it is 
critical that the DDR process continue, and that the 
identification of voters be completed to allow all Ivorians 
the opportunity to participate in the elections. 
 
PEACE BUILDING COMMISSION AND COTE D'IVOIRE 
 
¶6. (C) French PermRep Ripert also raised the Ivorian request 
to be placed on the agenda of the Peace Building Commission 
(PBC) and stated France's intention to propose a draft 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000424  002 OF 002 
 
 
response to Cote d'Ivoire  Belgian PermRep Verbeke suggested 
that the Council await the outcome of the elections before 
placing Cote d'Ivoire on the PBC's agenda, while the Chinese 
and Indonesian PermReps expressed interest in having the 
Council consider the issue before then.  In his national 
capacity (South Africa held the presidency of the Council for 
April), South African PermRep Dumisani Kumalo objected to the 
suggestion that the test for Cote d'Ivoire's participation in 
the PBC was the holding of an election.  He said that was not 
a precondition for PBC participation.  Kumalo also expressed 
surprise at the references to Kenya and Zimbabwe, stating, 
"some do not think that Africans can take care of their own 
conflicts," and that it was only after African intervention 
that progress was made in Cote d'Ivoire  He disagreed with 
the notion that there would be violence surrounding the 
elections in Cote d'Ivoire 
 
SANCTIONS BRIEFING 
 
¶7. (C) Ambassador Verbeke, in his capacity as Chairman of the 
Cote d'Ivoire Sanctions Committee then reported on the 
Committee's consideration of the latest report of the Panel 
of Experts, noting that there were no major arms embargo 
violations, but that Ivorian forces continued to refuse 
UNOCI's arms embargo inspections, and that as a result UNOCI 
would no longer attempt to inspect Republican Guard sites. 
Verbeke also reported that Ivorian authorities were not 
implementing the travel ban and assets freeze on those 
individuals found by the committee to be undermining the 
peace process. 
Khalilzad