VZCZCXRO4648
OO RUEHDE RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHFR #2256/01 3471040
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 121040Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5051
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3915
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2972
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 2463
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1652

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002256 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2018 
TAGS: PTER PHSAUNSC MARR EWWT KPKO UNSC FR
SUBJECT: P-3 PLUS GERMANY DISCUSS COUNTER-PIRACY AND THE 
HORN OF AFRICA 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Young.  Reasons 1.4b,d 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  At a 12/2 meeting hosted by the French 
MFA on combatting piracy off the Horn of Africa, the P-3 plus 
Germany agreed in principle to the creation of an 
international Contact Group (CG) and deliberated on the 
timing of its roll-out with respect to a planned UNSC 
Ministerial Meeting on piracy in mid-December.  PM A/S Mark 
Kimmitt and Counter-Piracy Coordinator Ambassador Stephen 
Mull laid out U.S. thinking on CG membership and elaborated 
on how the CG could facilitate greater intelligence sharing, 
outreach to maritime industry, agreement on judicial 
arrangements, in addition to a robust public diplomacy role 
in discouraging piracy off the Horn.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Ambassador Chantal Poiret, the French Coordinator 
for Action Against Maritime Piracy, hosted a meeting of the 
P-3 plus Germany to discuss boosting international 
cooperation in the fight against piracy off the Horn of 
Africa.  PM A/S Mark Kimmitt led the U.S. delegation, joined 
by Counter-Piracy Coordinator Ambassador Stephen Mull, Susan 
Biniaz (L), David Glancy (PM), Joseph Fitzgerald (IO/UNP), 
Peter Chisholm (EUR/RPM), Jun Bando (AF/RSA), and Embassy 
Poloff.  Other principals included UK FCO Director 
International Security Paul Johnston and, for Germany, 
Foreign Office Deputy Director General for UN Affairs Michael 
von Ungern-Sternberg and Office Director for ESDP Bernhard 
Kampmann.  The French side also included FM Kouchner's 
African Affairs Advisor Charlotte Montel, PM PDAS-Equivalent 
Jean-Hugues Simon-Michel, IO DAS-Equivalent Fabien Penone, 
legal affairs advisor Annick Mathis, ESDP deskoff Samer 
Melki, PSI deskoff Thomas Guibert, Somalia deskoff Thierry 
Caboche, PolMil Deskoff Guillaume Dabouis, and MoD Piracy 
Lead Naval Captain Henri Bobin together with Naval Captain 
Francois Pasi. 
 
¶3.  (C) All participants concurred on the need for additional 
international action to counter the worsening piracy threat 
off the Horn of Africa.  French PM PDAS-Equivalent 
Simon-Michel provided a briefing on the ESDP maritime 
security mission to begin on December 8.  He noted that the 
Netherlands and Greece were contributing vessels to the ESDP 
mission and he asked that they be included in Contact Group 
membership. The delegations discussed the challenges in 
reaching an international consensus on the use of force on 
land in Somalia against pirate sanctuaries; Germany in 
particular questioned whether such actions would prove 
effective. 
 
¶4.  (C) There was agreement on standing up an international 
Contact Group on maritime piracy off the Horn of Africa that 
would support the following actions: 
 
-- Quickly setting up a center in the region that would pool 
information about ongoing military activities as well as 
about pirate activities in the region; 
 
-- Building tighter links with the International Maritime 
Organization (IMO) and private shipping industries, 
particularly in encouragin the IMO to play a more political 
role on the issue and to facilitate military and potentially 
civilian security shipriders on commercials vessels, as the 
French already do; 
 
-- Developing clearer procedures for handling Persons Under 
Control, particularly in developing commonly agreed 
procedures for prosecuting detained pirates, including 
through building the capacity of domestic courts in the 
region and exploring other approaches, such as a possible 
tie-in with existing international courts. 
 
-- Developing a common picture of financial flows to/from 
pirates as a prelude for possible interdiction or law 
enforcement actions; 
 
-- Signaling to Somalis the CG's firm opposition to illegal 
fishing in Somali territorial waters and stating a 
willingness to help the Somalis assert their Exclusive 
Economic Zone rights; and 
 
-- Enhancing security assistance to littoral states in the 
region. 
 
¶5.  (C) There was agreement to the tentative CG membership 
roster proposed by the U.S., comprising the Partners (U.S., 
UK, France, Germany) and Denmark, Spain, Russia, China, 
 
PARIS 00002256  002 OF 002 
 
 
India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya, and 
the UAE, with the addition of Greece and the Netherlands 
given their role in Operation Atalanta.  The UN Secretariat, 
NATO, the EU and possibly the African Union would have 
observer status. 
 
¶6.  (C) The participants agreed that, for tactical reasons, 
the first CG meeting should follow -- not precede -- a 
mid-December UNSC Ministerial which would feature adoption of 
a Presidential Statement (PRST) or resolution calling for 
additional international efforts to confront piracy off the 
Horn of Africa.  There was also agreement to delay work on a 
code of conduct regarding ransom for vessels and hostages 
until the CG was firmly established.  The delegation agreed 
to meet again before the UN Ministerial meeting, if necessary. 
 
Next Steps 
---------- 
 
¶7.  (C) The delegation agreed on the following approach: 
 
--  The U.S. will rework a draft non-paper to reflect areas 
of agreement as outlined above, and to circulate it to 
French, UK and German counterparts. 
 
-- The U.S., UK, France and Germany will coordinate outreach 
invitations for preliminary membership in the CG. 
 
-- The U.S. will provide language to USUN, which will 
coordinate with the French and British delegations on a draft 
UNSCR that would include calls for support of enhanced 
international coordination; creation of a regional 
coordinating cell; tighter coordination with IMO and shipping 
companies; and more cooperation on prosecution pirates. 
 
-- The French will circulate a paper on how the CG might be 
able to use lessons learned from the U.S.-led Proliferation 
Security Initiative to support counter-piracy operations. 
 
¶8.  (U) A/S Kimmitt's party cleared this message. 
 
 
PEKALA