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O 031611Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4805
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE IMMEDIATE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 001461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ER ET GH PREL SO SU
SUBJECT: PDAS THOMAS-GREENFIELD MEETS WITH AU PEACE AND 
SECURITY COMMISSIONER 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  On June 30, on the margins of the June 
28-July 2 African Union Summit in Accra, Principal Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield met 
with AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit.  They 
agreed with the need to coordinate AU and UN documents on 
Sudan.  Djinnit stressed the need to deploy the hybrid force 
quickly (by the end of this year) and to resolve pay problems 
for the troops.  On Somalia, Djinnit highlighted the need to 
raise financial commitments and to support Burundi in 
contributing troops.  He saw no new movement in getting 
dialogue between Ethiopia and Eritrea.  End summary. 
 
Sudan 
----- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  PDAS Thomas-Greenfield inquired about the recent 
AU PSC statement on Darfur and requested that the AU work 
closely with the UN so that its statement supported the 
planned UN resolution.  She also emphasized the importance of 
the Rwandans and Ghanaians getting paid in a more timely 
fashion and noted that a system for payment of troops must 
insure fairness for those troops currently deployed as well 
as those soon to be deployed. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Djinnit strongly agreed that Sudan must not be 
able to play the UN and AU against one another and made it 
clear that the AU document was intended to support the UN 
resolution on Sudan.  He noted Sudan,s sensitivities on the 
issue of command and control, however, and said the AU did 
not want to craft a document that would give Sudan any issue 
to oppose and thereby possibly diminish overall support 
within the AU.  He added that the AU was definitely open to 
consultation on its document.  Djinnit also emphasized the 
need to move fast on the hybrid deployment, complaining that 
its projected deployment date of February 2008 was much too 
late.  He pled that the deployment must be as soon as 
possible and absolutely must occur by the end of the year. 
He made the point that the pay issue must be resolved in 
order not to destabilize the situation among the various 
peacekeeping forces.  He said money had been found to pay 
troops for March and April and that money was available to 
pay them until the end of June but after then payment would 
again be an issue, although he thought a projected $10 
million from the Netherlands and $10 million from France 
should suffice until the end of August. 
 
Somalia 
------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  PDAS Thomas-Greenfield told Djinnit that Ghanaian 
President Kufuor had reaffirmed Ghana's commitment for 350 
troops to AMISOM, noting that Kufuor said they needed money 
for equipment and training, but he also failed to mention any 
timetable.  Ghana was drafting a diplomatic note for the AU 
on the matter.  Thomas-Greenfield stated that we were 
prepared to assist with funding, with an immediate 
contribution of $1-2 million.  She also informed Djinnit that 
the Ugandans had said they were committed to their continued 
presence in Somalia, and that it appeared to be just a matter 
of time before Burundi contributes troops to AMISOM.  She 
emphasized that we were hopeful of getting a very positive 
outcome from the upcoming Somali reconciliation conference, 
which would be crucial to building stability in the country. 
Furthermore, we wanted to internationalize the AMISOM 
deployment as soon as possible in order to take some of the 
political pressure off the Ugandans. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Djinnit also noted the importance of the 
reconciliation conference and called for the deployment of 
the Burundians as early as possible.  He asked that the U.S. 
talk frankly to its partners about securing money and 
resources for Somalia.  He said the British had pledged $8 
million.  Djinnit said the EU had provided $15 million and 
the Italians $10 million but that additional funds would be 
necessary to support the Ghanaian, Burundi, and Nigerian 
deployments.  He added that the main goal at the moment was 
to support the Burundians who in his view are not ready to 
deploy. Djinnit said he would be in Washington July 11-12 and 
hoped to meet with Assistant Secretary Frazer at that time. 
 
Ethiopia/Eritrea 
---------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  When PDAS Thomas-Greenfield asked what the 
Eritreans were doing, Djinnit said he did not know but it 
 
ACCRA 00001461  002 OF 002 
 
 
appeared they were exploiting the situation in Somalia in 
order to criticize the Ethiopians.  He noted that the 
Ethiopians and Eritireans were not talking to each other, 
although Konare had tried to promote a dialogue.  He said the 
effort had been made to get Heads of State to talk to both 
Ethiopia and Eritrea but that Eritrean President Isaias 
Afewerki had resisted. 
 
¶7.  (U)  PDAS Thomas-Greenfield cleared this message. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BRIDGEWATER