VZCZCXYZ0012
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #9816 1872326
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 062302Z JUL 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS STATE 069816 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNSC PREL PHUM PHSA EWWT KCRM SO XA XW
SUBJECT: SOMALIA: TALKING POINTS FOR UNSC JULY 9 DEBATE 
 
¶1.  USUN may draw from the talking points in paragraph 2 for 
the UN Security Council's July 9 debate on Somalia. 
 
¶2.  Begin talking points: 
 
-- The United States remains committed to: supporting 
Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in its 
battle against al-Shabaab and other violent extremists; 
bolstering the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM); assisting the 
TFG to establish itself as a stable government capable of 
providing services to its citizens; and partnering with the 
international community to alleviate the suffering of the 
people of Somalia and to battle the scourge of piracy off the 
Somali Coast. 
 
-- The United States condemns in the strongest terms the 
recent military offensives to topple the TFG launched by 
al-Shabaab, which the U.S. has designated as a foreign 
terrorist organization.  These groups only wish to continue 
the nearly two-decade-long cycle of violence and poverty that 
has ravished Somalia.  The international community must stand 
united in support of the TFG.  If the extremists are 
successful, we risk losing another generation of Somalis to 
the tragedies of war, disease, and poverty.  The people of 
Somalia have already suffered for too long.  The 
international community must support their efforts to improve 
security, extend the reach of government and its 
institutions, and continue life-saving humanitarian 
assistance.  Without our support, Somalia risks being 
exploited by extremists to train and provide safe haven to 
those plotting to carry out terrorist attacks around the 
world. 
 
-- The African Union Mission in Somalia is playing a 
tremendously important role in its efforts to stabilize the 
security situation on the ground.  The bravery and dedication 
of the Ugandan and Burundian forces are particularly to be 
commended, but AMISOM needs the support of the UN and its 
member states to achieve its objectives.  This is why the 
United States continues to support the provision of a UN 
support package to AMISOM as approved by the Council in 
resolution 1872.  In addition, the U.S. has provided over 
$135 million worth of training, equipment and logistical 
support to AMISOM since its creation.  Still, more needs to 
be done, and we call on AU states to consider sending 
peacekeepers to this vital mission and UN member states to be 
generous in their support of AMISOM'S activities. 
 
-- Not only must we support the TFG and AMISOM, we must bring 
immense pressure to bear on those that are working 
to subvert the TFG, the Djibouti Process, and efforts to 
stabilize Somalia.  It is certainly no secret that 
al-Shabaab has been bolstered by al Qaeda operatives and 
hundreds of foreign fighters pouring into Somalia.  We all 
must do a better job to stem this flow of extremists, weapons 
and financial support to Somalia. 
 
-- The United States is particularly concerned about the 
financial, military, logistics, and political support that 
the Government of Eritrea is offering to al-Shabaab and other 
extremists in Somalia.  The United States and others 
have tried to engage with the Government of Eritrea 
leadership to convince them to stop this assistance, but to 
date the Eritreans have rebuffed all attempts to engage them. 
 As a result, we believe the UN should seriously consider 
pursuing UN sanctions against the Eritrean leadership, as the 
African Union and Inter-Governmental Authority on Development 
(IGAD) have requested.  We look forward to working with the 
Council in the coming weeks on this important issue. 
 
-- Supporting the TFG, however, does not just mean providing 
it with money and weapons to defend itself.  It 
means partnering with the TFG so that it can begin to bring 
others into the Djibouti Process as a means of stabilizing 
Somalia.  This means supporting the creation of an 
environment where much needed services can begin to flow to 
the Somali people; particularly policing, medical support, 
education, sanitation, road repair, and clean water.  These 
services are necessary to maintain the support of the Somali 
people in the Djibouti process. 
 
-- The United States is extremely concerned about the 
deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia.  To date, 
there have been nearly 500,000 Somali refugees who have fled 
the country and more than 1.5 million internally displaced 
persons.  In January 2009, the UN Food and Agriculture 
Organization reported that 3.2 million people were in need of 
humanitarian assistance in Somalia, which represents roughly 
43 percent of the total population.  In Fiscal Year 2009, the 
U.S. Government has provided more than $149 million for 
humanitarian assistance programs in Somalia, including more 
than $9 million in USAID/OFDA funding to support agriculture 
and food security, economy and market systems, health, 
nutrition, protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene 
interventions.  The security situation in Somalia 
tends to be the international community's number one focus, 
and perhaps it should be as the security situation 
exacerbates the humanitarian one.  The international 
community, however, must redouble its efforts to 
provide humanitarian assistance in order to avoid a 
humanitarian catastrophe. 
 
-- We are particularly concerned, as is the Government of 
Kenya, with the large influx of Somali refugees into Kenya. 
Given geography, Kenya, along with Ethiopia, Djibouti, and 
Yemen, will continue to be a primary destination for those 
fleeing Somalia.  There is an urgent need to expand the 
refugee camp capacity in Kenya as the three primary camps 
near the border at Dadaab are terribly overcrowded with over 
275,000 refugees in space designed for 90,000.  The United 
States and other donors are supporting UNHCR efforts to 
acquire more land for additional camps and to address the 
impact on Kenyan communities of hosting so many refugees. 
 
-- Finally, I would like to say a word about piracy.  We all 
know that piracy is only a symptom of the greater 
problems facing Somalia ashore.  We will never eradicate 
piracy off the Somali coast unless we address the endemic 
instability, poverty, and impunity currently plaguing 
Somalia.  However, we must continue to treat the symptoms, 
while we work on a cure for the disease. 
 
-- The international response and coordination on the 
military/operation side has been impressive.  Still, 
significant legal, logistical, and political problems persist 
related to the prosecution of suspected pirates, a key 
component to an effective deterrence strategy.  The U.S. 
Government believes those states victimized or affected by 
piracy, those who flag a ship, own the ship, or have crew 
members on the ship bear the primary responsibility to 
prosecute pirates.  These states must step forward and 
shoulder their share of the prosecution burden.  The United 
States is currently prosecuting in a domestic court in New 
York City the suspected pirate in the attack on a US flag 
ship earlier this year.  We applaud other affected states, 
like France and the Netherlands, who have also made the 
decision to prosecute domestically.  In the rare case where a 
victim state cannot prosecute, we applaud the willingness of 
regional states like Kenya to be considered as an alternative 
venue.  In such cases, we believe it is the responsibility of 
the affected states to help defray the financial costs 
associated with prosecuting suspected pirates. This is why 
the U.S. supported the establishment of an international 
trust fund on Somalia piracy at the last meeting of the 
Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. 
 
-- Finally it is apparent to all that the payment of ransom 
is perpetuating acts of piracy.  The position of the United 
States Government is to not offer concessions to those that 
take hostages, be it for political or financial reasons.  We 
would encourage all states to adopt a similar position and 
would be interested in forming a group of "no concession" 
states to work together to slow the increase of piracy off 
the Somali coast. 
 
-- The United States looks forward to our continued 
cooperation with all UN member states to finally bring about 
a stable, secure, and more prosperous Somalia. 
 
End points. 
CLINTON