VZCZCXRO0365
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #0631/01 1772251
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 262251Z JUN 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6799
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 2117
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1331

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000631 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV CT ZX
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RICE MEETS WITH NEW HEAD OF CAR MISSION 
 
Classified By: POL M/C JDelaurentis for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 23, Ambassador Rice met with the new 
Secretary-General Special Representative for the Central 
African Republic Sahle-Work Zewde.  Zewde noted that CAR 
President Bozizie recently told visiting Under-Secretary for 
Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe that his primary concern was 
demobilization of the rebel forces, giving Pascoe the 
impression that the CARG is not devoting sufficient attention 
to mobilizing national resources for basic social services or 
expanding the government's reach outside of Bangui and its 
environs.  Commenting from her previous position as Ethiopian 
Ambassador to the African Union, Zewde expressed concern that 
the AU Chair, Libya, was ignoring the African Union 
Constitution in insisting that all AU Peace and Security 
Council decisions be approved by the African Union Assembly. 
Zewde noted that Libya also seemed reluctant to permit AU 
censure of Mauritania, Madagascar, and Niger for violations 
of constitutional order. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) The newly appointed Secretary-General's Special 
Representative for the Central African Republic (SRSG) 
Sahle-Work Zewde met with Ambassador Rice on June 23 prior to 
departing to Bangui to take up her post as head of the UN 
Peacebuilding Support Office in CAR (BONUCA).  Zewde is only 
the second woman to become a SRSG, and is also the second 
SRSG to take charge of a UN political mission that will 
transition into an integrated peacebuilding mission (the 
first integrated peacebuilding mission is UNIPSIL in Sierra 
Leone). 
 
¶3. (U) Zewde noted that the transition from BONUCA to the new 
Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Central African Republic 
(BINUCA) would at best occur on schedule on January 1, 2010, 
and as a practical matter could not be accelerated as 
suggested by some Security Council and Peacebuilding 
Commission members.  BINUCA would have a substantial 
personnel increase, corresponding to its revised and 
broadened mandate of assisting CAR with demobilization, 
elections, and other recommendations from the national 
Inclusive Political Dialogue.  While Zewde was not yet at 
post, she listed several issues of concern raised during her 
consultations in New York. 
 
¶4. (C) First, Zewde expressed concern over the death of Gabon 
President Bongo as the loss of a diplomatic intermediary who 
had led Bozizie and rebel leaders to rapprochment.  It was 
not yet clear who in the region might have both sufficient 
stature and democratic credentials and be willing to step in 
to fulfill Bongo's role.  Second,  Zewde commented that the 
disarmament-demobilization-reintegration (DDR) process in CAR 
needed more coordination from the UN and pushback against the 
inevitable attempts by rebel factions to inflate the list of 
ex-combatants registered for demobilization. 
 
¶5. (C) Zewde noted some questions on whether MINURCAT's 
presence in Northeastern CAR was complicating BONUCA's work 
with the national government and rebel factions.  Finally, in 
response to Ambassador Rice's question about whether the 
national government was devoting sufficient attention and 
resources to boosting revenue from natural resources and 
re-establishing basic social services,  Zewde referred to 
Under-Secretary Pascoe's recent visit to Bangui.  Pascoe, 
Zewde said, had been alarmed by Bozizie's statement that his 
priority was demobilization for the rebel groups rather than 
re-establishing government function and providing basic 
social services outside of Bangui. 
 
6.(C) Zewde had recently completed her assignment as the 
Ethiopian Ambassador to the African Union and offered 
perspective about Libya's current AU chairmanship.  Libya, 
Zewde commented, was resisting AU censure of coup d'etats and 
other violations of constitutional order.  Within the AU, 
Zewde said, Libya had referred to a "good coup d'etat" in 
Mauritania, brushing aside the AU position that coups, by 
definition, had to be condemned as destructive to advancing 
democracy and constitutional order.  Zewde saw Libya as 
reluctant to censure Niger President Tandja for seeking 
constitutional changes to permit additional terms, and slow 
to move on the extra-constitutional removal of President 
Ravalomanana in Madagascar.  Finally, Zewde said, Libya had 
fundamentally violated protocol and the African Union 
constitution by insisting that Peace and Security Council 
decisions be approved by the African Union Assembly.  This 
would be like the General Assembly signing off on Security 
Council decisions, she noted. 
 
7.(SBU) Ambassador Rice noted our concerns about whether the 
CAR government had adequate oversight of the revenue from 
natural resources and was sufficiently allocating its 
resources to national development rather than relying on ODA 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000631  002 OF 002 
 
 
and the UN presence.  The Ambassador asked SRSG Zewde to keep 
us informed of concrete requests for assistance, particularly 
with DDR, and noted US support for BINUCA and its expanded 
role in CAR. 
RICE