VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0654/01 2042337
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 222337Z JUL 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4663
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN IMMEDIATE 0947
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA IMMEDIATE 0965
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 1973
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 2255
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO IMMEDIATE 8507

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000654 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KUNR UNSC GM JA IN PK BR
SUBJECT: UNSC REFORM: PGA KERIM PLANS TO LAUNCH 
NEGOTIATIONS ON ALL OPTIONS 
 
REF: A. USUN NEW YORK 545 
     ¶B. USUN NEW YORK 343 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (U) Please see the action request in paragraph 4. 
 
¶2.  (C) President of the General Assembly (PGA) Srgan Kerim 
told the Ambassador in a July 21 meeting that he planned to 
submit a report to the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) 
recommending that the General Assembly adopt a resolution 
that the OEWG should continue its work in the 63rd session 
and that inter-government negotiations on Security Council 
reform should be launched on the basis of all options 
proposed to date by member states and using the PGA's own 
Seven Principles as a basis for further discussions.  The aim 
of the inter-governmental negotiations, Kerim said, would be 
to seek a solution that garnered the widest possible 
agreement from the member states. 
 
¶3.  (C) The PGA stressed that he would counter any attempts 
to challenge this way forward, i.e. such as the introduction 
of a resolution proposing a single way forward as India has 
threatened to table.  (Note: Kerim believes India will not 
move forward with its resolution.  End note.)  Kerim noted 
that he might convene an OEWG meeting in September for states 
to discuss how they see the negotiation process moving 
forward, to satisfy the concerns of the Uniting for Consensus 
(UFC) bloc which has been seeking a negotiating process 
within an agreed framework. 
 
¶4.  (C) Kerim said that, while he would listen to the views 
of the major stakeholders at a lunch hosted July 23 by San 
Marino, he was seeking their support for his approach on 
moving a recommendation to the General Assembly.  The 
Ambassador responded that he would brief Washington on 
Kerim's plans and seek to be helpful in his own remarks at 
the luncheon by emphasizing the points we have made before 
(reftels).  Action Request: Unless Mission hears otherwise 
from Washington by OOB on July 23, Ambassador plans to 
express support for the PGA's way forward and to restate our 
key points on Security Council reform.  End Action Request. 
 
¶5.  (C) Kerim said that he does not believe 
inter-governmental negotiations will result in actual reform, 
given the many competing demands from the various groups. 
Instead, he believes negotiations will demonstrate the need 
for an interim solution for 12-16 years, followed by a 
comprehensive system-wide reform effort led by "big 
personalities" rather than member states. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Kerim provided the Ambassador with a copy of his 
proposed draft General Assembly resolution copied below. 
Kerim noted that the language in paragraph (g) describing 
whether inter-governmental negotiations would "commence" or 
"launch" is still in play and could be "softened," depending 
upon the reaction he hears from the July 23 lunch. 
 
Begin text of draft resolution: 
 
General Assembly, 
(a) Took note of the report of the Working Group on the 
Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the 
Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related 
to the Security Council on its work during the sixty-second 
session of the General Assembly; 
 
(b) Noted with appreciation the Chairperson's initiative and 
efforts in the process of a comprehensive reform of the 
Security Council; 
 
(c) Noted with appreciation the work done by the Open-Ended 
Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on 
and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and 
Other Matters related to the Security Council and its 
Vice-Chairpersons; 
 
(d) Decided that the Working Group should continue to exert 
efforts during the sixty- third session of the General 
Assembly aimed at achieving progress in the consideration of 
all issues relevant to the question of equitable 
representation on and increase in the membership of the 
Security Council and other matters related to the Security 
Council, taking into account the progress achieved from the 
forty-eighth to sixty -second sessions of the General 
Assembly; 
 
(e) Further decided that the Working Group should submit a 
report to the General Assembly before the end of its 
sixty-third session, 
 
(f) Decided also that: 
 
1) The positions and proposals of member states: African 
Union, G-4, League of Arab States, Organization of Islamic 
Conference, Overarching Group proposal, P5 perspectives, 
Small Five States, Uniting for Consensus, 
 
2) The five key issues: categories of membership, the 
question of veto, regional representation, size of an 
enlarged Council, working methods of the Security Council and 
the relationship between the Council and the General Assembly; 
 
3) The followinq documents: Report of the Open-ended Working 
Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and 
Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other 
Matters related to the Security Council (A/61/47); General 
Assembly decision (61/561); "Report of the Vice--Chairpersons 
to the President of the GA on the Question of Equitable 
Representation on and Increase in the Membership of Security 
Council" of June 9, 2008, (Report of the Open-ended Working 
Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and 
Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other 
Matters related to the Security Council during 62 Session), 
and 
 
4) The Seven Principles proposed by the President of the 
General Assembly (A/62/PV47-51), may form a basis for the 
intergovernmental negotiations; 
 
(g) Decided also to commence (launch) intergovernmental 
negotiations on the question of equitable representation on 
and increase in the membership of the Security Council and 
other matters related to the Security Council, in an open, 
inclusive and transparent manner, with the objective to seek 
a solution which can garner the widest possible agreement 
among Member States; 
 
(e) Decided to continue intergovernmental negotiations on the 
question of equitable representation on and increase in the 
membership of the Security Council and other matters related 
to the Security Council, during the sixty-third session of 
the General Assembly. 
 
End text. 
Khalilzad