VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0796/01 2482254
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 042254Z SEP 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4899
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA IMMEDIATE 0971
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO IMMEDIATE 0980
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 2021
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 2305
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME IMMEDIATE 1004
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO IMMEDIATE 8522

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000796 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2018 
TAGS: PREL KUNR UNSC IN BR PK IT JP GM
SUBJECT: UNSC REFORM: OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP DEEPLY 
DIVIDED BUT NEGOTIATIONS UNDERWAY ON END-OF-SESSION REPORT 
 
REF: USUN NEW YORK 768 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
¶1.  (U) The Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Security 
Council reform met September 2 to discuss the draft report 
and decision that must be sent to the General Assembly for 
adoption before the end of the 62nd session (Sept. 12).  The 
debate illustrated the continuing divide between the Group of 
Four (G-4) who seek an immediate launch of inter-governmental 
negotiations in the UNGA and the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) 
bloc that first seeks agreement in the OEWG on the framework, 
modalities, and negotiables for those negotiations.  For the 
first time, the G-4 came out strongly against the General 
Assembly President's (PGA) Seven Principles since they call 
for negotiations based on reaching "general agreement" of the 
UN membership and a sequenced way forward. 
 
¶2.  (C) Ambassador Khalilzad pressed the PGA in a September 3 
bilateral meeting to retain reference to the Seven Principles 
in the draft since they include the need for reform of the 
broader UN system hand-in-hand with Security Council reform. 
A smaller group of states (representatives of both blocs, the 
P-5, and African states) met September 3 with the PGA's 
Security Council reform Task Force to bridge the considerable 
differences that remain.  Several more meetings will likely 
be held before the September 12 deadline.  A few states have 
proposed launching inter-governmental negotiations after a 
time-bound discussion of framework, modalities, and 
negotiables in the OEWG.  End Summary. 
 
Open-Ended Working Group: 
Clearly Divided 
------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) President of the General Assembly (PGA) Srgjan 
Kerim chaired the September 2 meeting of the Open-ended 
Working Group (OEWG) on Security Council reform in which 39 
states spoke on the PGA,s draft OEWG report and draft 
decision (e-mailed to IO/UNP on 8/26) which must be sent to 
the General Assembly before the end of the 62nd session.  The 
debate illustrated the continuing divide between the two main 
blocs: (1) Group of Four and its supporters, mainly the small 
island states, who want to launch inter-governmental 
negotiations immediately (with a specific timeframe) in the 
General Assembly with any outcome requiring an affirmative 
vote by two-thirds of the membership and (2) Uniting for 
Consensus and its supporters who favor further discussion in 
the OEWG on the framework, modalities, and negotiables before 
moving to start negotiations within the OEWG subject to the 
general agreement of the membership. 
 
G-4 Attack Seven Principles 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The debate also showed a split between the two 
groups on support for the PGA,s Seven Principles for 
approaching Security Council enlargement.  The G-4 and its 
supporters rejected the inclusion of the Seven Principles as 
one of the documents (listed in (d) (3) of the draft decision 
and in several places in the draft report) that will form the 
basis for negotiations.  The UFC, on the other hand, voiced 
full support for inclusion of the Seven Principles since they 
articulate their main concerns - identification of the 
negotiables before negotiations; consultation on the 
framework and modalities for the negotiations; requirement to 
reach general agreement on all aspects of Security Council 
reform.  At the end of the OEWG meeting, the PGA announced 
that the Task Force would begin a series of smaller meetings 
with states to negotiate amendments to the draft decision 
with a view to holding the next meeting of the OEWG early the 
following week, to conclude the process by Friday, September 
¶12. 
 
U.S. Bilat with PGA 
------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Ambassador Khalilzad met bilaterally with PGA Kerim, 
September 3.  The PGA, while taken aback by the G-4's attacks 
on him during the September 2 meeting for including the Seven 
Principles in the draft decision, said he was pleased that 
the membership was now focused on actual amendments to the 
 
 
text.  He opined that the G-4 had gone too far in its 
statements in the OEWG meeting, especially the German Perm 
Rep who said the OEWG is no longer needed.  Ambassador 
Khalilzad emphasized that the Seven Principles remain 
important to the U.S. and should appear in the report/draft 
decision since the first principle enshrines the requirement 
that UN Security Council reform must go hand-in-hand with 
reform of the broader UN system.  Ambassador Khalilzad 
suggested that a possible way to bridge the divide is to 
perhaps offer a time-bound discussion of the framework and 
modalities in the OEWG and then proceed with 
inter-governmental negotiations. 
 
¶6.  (C) The PGA responded that he had asked the Task Force to 
concentrate on amendments to the draft decision and the need 
for general agreement on a framework, modalities, and 
negotiables, since those are needed for the negotiation.  He 
was not prepared to throw out the Seven Principles but was 
prepared to move them to a different part of the text.  He 
said that both sides have to give -- the UFC has nothing to 
fear from starting inter-governmental negotiations and the 
G-4 and friends need to understand that negotiations must be 
based on modalities, framework, and negotiables. 
 
Meeting with Task Force Chairs: 
G-4 says "General Agreement" 
only applies to OEWG 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Three of the four Task Force Vice Chairpersons, the 
Perm Reps of Bangladesh, Chile, and Portugal, met September 4 
with a PGA-selected slate of states: Germany, India, Japan, 
Brazil, Pakistan, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Egypt, the UK, the 
U.S., Russia, Guinea, South Africa, and Uganda.  It was 
another session focused on strong statements by both blocs. 
G-4 members insisted that they would not accept the Seven 
Principles in the draft decision since that would give them 
legal standing.  The Indian DPR in particular objected to the 
fifth principle since it says any agreement "must contain" 
general agreement.  The Italian Perm Rep reiterated the 
historical record of negotiations based on general 
agreement/consensus.  The Pakistani expert said the OEWG 
should be the forum for the discussions and later interjected 
that if reform is to be achieved through negotiations then 
general agreement should be the aim. 
 
OEWG: Germans say its no longer useful; 
Canadians suggest technical roll-over 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The German DPR said Germany's concern with the 
Seven Principles stems from their sequencing.  He noted that 
the OEWG had been working for 15 years and "had surpassed its 
usefulness" and should end unless it receives a "sensible 
mandate" to continue.    The Canadian representative 
suggested that, if no agreement can be reached, a technical 
roll-over of the OEWG should be considered, but other states 
said that we were not yet at that point.  The Vice Chairs 
said another Task Force meeting would be scheduled. 
 
Possible compromise in sight? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The Egyptian Perm Rep reiterated calls for 
decisions to be based on general agreement to achieve reform 
with the broadest support, and suggested that 
inter-governmental negotiations start within the OEWG and 
after agreement on a framework and modalities.  If the 
negotiations do not progress, then those negotiations could 
move to the General Assembly, he suggested.  The Japanese 
Perm Rep argued in favor of using the final week of the 
present UNGA session to discuss the negotiables, framework, 
and modalities for inter-governmental negotiations.  He 
pressed for states to focus on these issues and compromise so 
that a draft decision can be agreed upon which includes a 
start date for inter-governmental negotiations.  (Note: In an 
August 22 meeting with the PGA reported reftel, the U.K Perm 
Rep had proposed a discussion of parameters during the 
opening months of the 63rd session and then the launch of 
intergovernmental negotiations at the start of 2009.  End 
note.) 
 
Next steps 
---------- 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) USUN will continue to attend these meetings 
organized by the Task Force and will draw from the following 
points if useful and appropriate to ensure U.S. redlines are 
not crossed: 
 
-- We continue to strongly support the PGA's Seven 
Principles, including his first principle -- that any reform 
of the Security Council must be undertaken hand-in-hand with 
the transformation of the wider United Nations system.  There 
are UN bodies in more dire need of reform than the Security 
Council.  A comprehensive package of reforms must therefore 
include reforms in other areas such as General Assembly 
financing and decision making  We have yet to see significant 
movement on these issues. 
 
-- We believe that it is vital to achieve the broadest 
possible support for Council expansion, to ensure that no 
significant portion of the membership is alienated by the 
result and agrees that it constitutes an improvement over the 
status quo.  For this reason, we continue to believe that the 
Open-Ended Working Group should be the forum to carry forward 
discussions on inter-governmental negotiations, including 
those actual negotiations. 
 
-- Several states have put forward proposals in the last few 
days to launch inter-governmental negotiations after a 
time-bound discussion of framework, modalities, and 
negotiables in the Open-Ended Working Group.  We believe that 
these proposals should be seriously considered by both sides 
going forward and urge further discussion on such a proposal. 
Khalilzad