VZCZCXRO7219
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHDU RUEHFL RUEHGI RUEHIK
RUEHJO RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPOD RUEHRN
RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0242/01 0771958
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171958Z MAR 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3926
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN IMMEDIATE 0008
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 2111

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000242 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF AND IO FOR FRONT OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNSC KPAL ET ER MOPS
SUBJECT: UNSC QUALIFIED ANGER AT ERITREA 
 
REF: USUN 175 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  On March 13 U/SYG Guehenno told the 
Security Council that UNMEE has completed the relocation of 
personnel and equipment from the Temporary Security Zone 
(TSZ) to Asmara.  Guehenno listed several incidents that he 
described as Eritrean attempts to "humiliate" UNMEE during 
the evacuation.  Ambassador Wolff told members that Eritrea's 
indefensible humiliation of a UN mission merited their 
consideration of a full range of responsive measures.  In 
contrast to members' unambiguous condemnation of Eritrea on 
February 21 (reftel), deliberations in this session had 
several members more interested in discussing the 
Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute, with some members expressing 
sympathy for Eritrea's position and suggesting that the 
Eritrean foreign minister be invited to meet informally with 
the Council.  The Russian presidency undertook to sound out 
the Eritrean PermRep about such a meeting.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
DPKO: Eritrea Humiliating UN to the End 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a March 13 briefing to the Security Council, 
Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping (DPKO) Jean-Marie 
Guehenno said that UNMEE has completed the relocation of 
personnel and equipment from the Temporary Security Zone 
(TSZ) to the Asmara vicinity and has closed all 32 UN posts 
and Team Sites in the TSZ.  He said 1,260 UNMEE military 
personnel have been relocated with 702 of them returned to 
their home countries.  He said a small number of peacekeepers 
would remain in Eritrea to secure $18 million in UN/TCC-owned 
equipment and facilitate its shipment, which will be 
completed by mid-May. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Guehenno reported a number of incidents in which 
Eritrean Defense Forces (ENDF) attempted to obstruct or 
hinder UNMEE during the evacuation process (reftel).  In one 
incident, Guehenno reported that 17 Indian Battalion vehicles 
heading to Camp Dunn to assist with the evacuation were 
stranded at an Eritrean controlled checkpoint for three days. 
 In another incident on February 27, Guehenno said two UN 
military observers were detained and interrogated by ENDF 
officials for over seven hours.  Guehenno complained that 
UNMEE officials had made numerous attempts to coordinate with 
ENDF, so that UNMEE could depart in a more "orderly and 
dignified" manner but had not received substantive responses 
from ENDF on key coordination issues.  He reported that $2 
million in equipment left on the posts and team sites were 
quickly seized by local residents upon UNMEE's departure 
after local officials in each area refused to take 
responsibility for it. 
 
UNSC Displeased with Eritrea -- to a Point 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Unlike the consensus condemnation of Eritrea during 
the February 21 UNSC session at the height of the fuel crisis 
(reftel), some members had more nuanced comments on March 13, 
with several in outright sympathy with Eritrea's motives if 
not its tactics.  South African PermRep Kumalo said that the 
Eritrea's decision to cutoff fuel supplies to UNMEE and the 
subsequent events related to the evacuation of the 
peacekeepers reflected a "complete breakdown of 
communication" between the host country and the Secretariat. 
Calling the Secretary-General's special report "one-sided," 
he suggested the Council invite the Eritrean foreign minister 
to New York to present another view.  (NOTE: The South 
African political coordinator told poloff during the session 
that the Eritrean PermRep had approached Kumalo about such a 
meeting. END NOTE.)  Libyan PermRep Ettalhi concurred and 
argued that an informal meeting with the Eritrean PermRep, 
such as the forum recently afforded the Chadian FM, could 
help the Council better understand what had happened and 
consider even now what could be done about it. 
 
¶5. (SBU) UK Deputy PermRep Pierce saw the fuel crisis as 
reflecting an Eritrean effort "to establish the EEBC 
(Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission) border as a reality." 
She added that, "We need to sort out the border, but we need 
to keep that separate from the relocation crisis."  Italian 
PermRep Spatafora lamented that, "The Council has lacked an 
overarching political strategy; we can't expect Eritrea to 
cooperate without getting something for itself."  Panamanian 
PermRep Arrias said, "We need to give a message that we are 
going to address the border issue.  We need to schedule 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000242  002 OF 002 
 
 
meetings on both issues (UNMEE's demise and the border) and 
invite in Eritrea.  Any effort to condemn Eritrea without 
first trying to engage Eritrea could backfire." 
 
¶6. (SBU).  Ambassador Wolff said the UN Secretariat had 
documented numerous, unreciprocated efforts by the UN to 
communicate with the Eritrean government to head off the fuel 
crisis.  He said the Council should assume a share of the 
blame for not actively intervening earlier but added that "it 
is too late to talk to ministers now with UNMEE completing 
its relocation."  Wolff urged the Council to consider "the 
full range of measures that could be taken against Eritrea" 
for its humiliation of a Security Council mission, adding 
that a failure to do so would set an unfortunate precedent 
for other unhelpful actions by host countries elsewhere and 
would chill potential troop contributors.  France, UK, Italy, 
Croatia, Costa Rica and Belgium agreed that a strong Council 
statement should be considered once the relocation is 
complete. 
 
¶7. (SBU) At the close of the session, delegations agreed that 
the Russian presidency would approach the Eritrean Permanent 
Mission about his foreign minister's interest in a Council 
appearance and report back to the Council.  Russian PermRep 
Churkin subsequently reported that the Eritrean PermRep had 
taken note of Churkin's probe and undertaken to refer it to 
Asmara. 
 
KHALILZAD