VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0391/01 1390023
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190023Z MAY 07
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1908
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN PRIORITY 0934
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 0143
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 1309
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 0730
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 1175
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0605
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA PRIORITY 0287

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000391 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ET PGOV PREL SU UNSC
SUBJECT: UNSC MISSION TO AFRICA WILL INCLUDE SUDAN 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met on 
May 16 and 17 to discuss the draft itinerary and terms of 
reference (TOR) for its Mission to Africa in June.  In the 
May 16 discussion Members agreed in principle that the UK and 
South Africa would co-chair the visits to Addis Ababa and 
Accra and Congo would lead a follow-on visit to Abidjan and 
France to Kinshasa.  Members agreed that the mission's first 
visit would be in Addis Ababa on June 16 for consultations 
with the African Union (AU) and its Peace and Security 
Council (PSC) on improving AU cooperation with the UN and the 
UNSC by developing mechanisms for closer ties in conflict 
prevention, peacekeeping, and post-conflict peacebuilding. 
The mission would spend June 18 in Accra to meet with current 
AU Chairman, President Kufuor, and his Foreign Minister, 
former Ghanaian Permanent Representative (PR) Effah-Apentang. 
 The mission would then proceed to Cote D'Ivoire under 
Congolese leadership, spending part of June 19 there before 
flying the same day to Kinshasa for a meeting with DRC 
President Kabila on the morning of June 20.  Although the 
UNSC originally envisioned sending smaller missions to 
Abidjan and the DRC,  Members eventually agreed that the full 
Council should visit all stops. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 16 South African PR Kumalo reported on his 
delegation's consultations with the Sudanese Mission in New 
York over a possible stop in Khartoum June 17 to meet 
President Bashir and senior officials about the crisis in 
Darfur while the Council is en route to Accra from Addis 
Ababa.  Kumalo painted a picture of a reluctantly hospitable 
Government of National Unity (GNU), although asserting that 
Khartoum would welcome such a visit to continue its dialogue 
with the Council on Darfur.  Council opinion about the 
stopover was divided, but a majority of Members (including 
the five Permanent Members and European delegations) favored 
such a stop, noting that the deployment of a peacekeeping 
mission was only one dimension, albeit an important one, in 
Council dealings with Sudan.  Others argued that there should 
be a more concrete reason to stop in Khartoum and insisted 
that the GNU formally invite the Council.  The UK reported 
that its PR Jones Parry and South African PR Kumalo would 
meet that afternoon with Department of Peacekeeping 
Operations (DPKO) Under-Secretary-General Guehenno to discuss 
DPKO support for and preparation of the Council's meetings in 
Addis Ababa. 
 
¶3. (SBU) At a USUN-chaired a meeting of Council coordinators 
May 17 on the UNSC mission, PolMinCouns outlined the basic 
timeline for the mission as follows: depart New York June 14 
to arrive in Addis Ababa in the evening of June 15; spend all 
day June 16 at the AU PSC; depart for Khartoum on the morning 
of June 17 and leave for Accra the same day; spend the day on 
June 18 in Accra before departing that evening for Abidjan; 
spend part of the day on June 19 in Abidjan before flying to 
Kinshasa and spending the night there; and leave for Europe 
on June 20 to arrive back in New York on June 21. 
PolMinCouns requested the UN Secretariat to begin its 
planning for the mission based on this timeline.  The 
Secretariat rep asked that delegations revert as soon as 
 
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possible with the name and passport information of the 
members who would travel for each UNSC delegation. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The UK delegate reported that the UNSC would meet 
the AU PSC on June 16 in a plenary session to discuss 
cross-cutting issues between the AU and the UN, with a focus 
on managing peacekeeping missions, as well as on Somalia and 
Sudan.  The UK rep then suggested that the plenary session be 
followed by "break-out" sessions to discuss other African 
issues, proposing Ethiopia/Eritrea among others.  The 
Ghanaian rep warned Members against creating an exhaustive 
list of topics to be discussed at the AU PSC, recommending 
that Members stay flexible on this agenda.  The South African 
Counselor urged Members to "show goodwill" toward the GNU 
during the June 17 stop in Khartoum.  In response to a 
suggestion by the Belgian delegate that a Council stop in 
Juba could be helpful, the UK rep offered inviting GNU First 
Vice-President and Government of Southern Sudan President 
Salva Kiir to Khartoum on that day.  The South African 
delegate advocated a "wait-and-see" approach before 
finalizing such an itinerary in Sudan. 
 
¶5. (SBU) On TOR for the mission, there was much discussion 
about drafting separate TORs for each leg of the mission. 
The South African rep suggested that the TOR for the Khartoum 
leg be incorporated into the Addis Ababa portion.  The 
Secretariat staff specified that there would be one letter 
 
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from the UNSC to the Secretary-General on the mission, to 
which each set of TOR would be annexed so that the document 
could be presented to the UN Comptroller as one package. 
Members agreed to delete from the draft TOR use of the phrase 
"prospects for" when describing political transition in Cote 
d'Ivoire and implementation of border decisions in 
Ethiopia/Eritrea.  The U.S. and French delegations advocated 
deletion of the mention of "financial and other support for 
regional organizations" in the opening paragraph about 
exploring the UN-AU relationship. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The UN Secretariat will circulate during the week of 
May 21 an updated itinerary and TOR for the mission. 
KHALILZAD