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OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHDU RUEHFL RUEHGI RUEHIK
RUEHJO RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPOD RUEHRN
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DE RUCNDT #0634/01 1990044
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 170044Z JUL 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4622
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000634 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KPKO UNSC SU
SUBJECT: UN SECRETARIAT ON DARFUR: VERY BAD, GETTING WORSE 
 
REF: USUN 617 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  U/SYG Guehenno told the Security Council 
on July 16 that the security situation in Darfur is dire. 
He described widespread and generalized violence, disregard 
of the Darfur Peace Agreement, 200,000 additional civilians 
displaced this year, fragmentation and proliferation of rebel 
groups, and a non-existent peace process.  He said UNAMID 
deployment stood at 40 percent of authorized strength, but 
insisted the UN goal of 80 percent deployment in calendar 
year 2008 might still be achieved if troop contributions and 
logistics fell quickly into place.  He said the International 
Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's request for an arrest 
warrant against Sudanese President Bashir could provoke 
reactions on the ground and could change drastically the UN's 
modus vivendi with the Government of Sudan.   Member states 
generally echoed Guehenno's pessimism. Several mentioned the 
ICC proceedings against Bashir with South Africa, Russia, 
China, and Libya highly critical of their timing and Belgium, 
Costa Rica, Croatia and Italy praising the court.  The 
Council approved a UK-drafted PRST condemning the 8 July 
attack against UNAMID peacekeepers.   END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) United Nations Under Secretary-General for 
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Jean-Marie briefed the 
Security Council in closed consultations on July 16 on 
developments in Darfur since April.  Guehenno reported 
widespread baseline violence punctuated by dramatic spikes in 
violence including a late April/early May bombing campaign by 
Sudanese armed forces, a May 10-11 Justice and Equality 
Movement (JEM) assault on GOS forces, a July 13 cross-border 
JEM assault, inter-tribal fighting that has displaced 800 
families near Nyala.  He said 205,000 civilians had been 
displaced since January 1, nine humanitarian workers have 
been killed, and 170 international vehicles have been 
hijacked.  He said the Darfur Peace Agreement is being 
routinely ignored by signatories and  actively undermined by 
non-signatory groups.  He said rebel groups continue to 
fragment with the URF rebel group most recently splintered 
into three factions, adding further to the general security 
chaos.   He was equally downbeat about the political process 
but noted that Burkina Faso Foreign Minister and new UN/AU 
joint Djibil Bassole takes up his difficult assignment on 
July 18. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Guehenno reported that the main body of 170 Chinese 
engineers will soon deploy along with an advance party of 
Egyptian engineers and an advance party of Ethiopian 
infantry.  He put the total UNAMID deployment at 11,584 
personnel, 40 percent of its authorized strength.  He 
insisted that the Secretary-General's goal of 80 percent 
deployment in calendar year 2008 remains achievable but 
allowed that reaching that goal would require arriving troops 
to attain an improved level of self-sufficiency, improvements 
in the road between Port Sudan and Darfur, and improved 
contractor performance.  (NOTE.  DPKO staff later more 
expressly fingered the American company PA&E as seriously 
underperforming.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Guehenno matter-of-factly noted two Darfur 
developments postdating the SYG's July 7 report -- the July 8 
attack on a UNAMID military and police convoy (reftel) and 
the July 14 request by the International Criminal Court (ICC) 
prosecutor for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President 
Bashir.  He thought the ICC proceedings could produce 
reactions on the ground and could even force a new UN modus 
vivendi with the Government of Sudan that could ultimately 
compel the Security Council "to make tough decisions." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Member states were subdued and brief in reaction to 
Guehenno's briefing with most echoing his pessimism.  Several 
commented on the ICC proceedings.   South Africa cited the 
African Union's statement of July 11 that "the search for 
justice should be pursued in a way that does not impede or 
jeopardize efforts aimed at promoting lasting peace."   Libya 
also noted the AU statement and expressly called on the 
Council to "halt this (ICC) initiative before it undermines 
the peace effort."   China said that rebels, rather than the 
Government of Sudan, were the chief threat to UNAMID's 
successful deployment, and emphasized the threat that the ICC 
action could damage UN-GOS cooperation while emboldening 
rebels.   Russia did not directly mention the AU statement 
but emphasized that the indictments posed a risk to stability 
in the region and urged the Council to think of ways it could 
send a stabilizing message.   In contrast, Belgium, Costa 
Rica, Croatia and Italy specifically praised the ICC for its 
work and called on the Council to respect the independence of 
the ICC and the application filed by the office of the 
prosecutor. 
 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000634  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Council members approved a UK-drafted Presidential 
Statement condemning the July 8 attack on UNAMID peacekeepers 
in the strongest possible terms and calling on the Government 
of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the attack's 
perpetrators were brought to justice. 
Khalilzad