Cablegate: Italy Briefed On Terms of Reference for Un Senior

VZCZCXRO6841
PP RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHRO #0017 0081324
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081324Z JAN 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9625
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0388
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 9183
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 2844
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 2989
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 4591
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0829
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 2910
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ROME 000017

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

SCA/A FOR MEGHAN BRADLEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IO PREL AF NATO EU IT
SUBJECT: ITALY BRIEFED ON TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR UN SENIOR
CIVILIAN FOR AFGHANISTAN

REF: STATE 1001

1. (SBU) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to Italian MFA
Coordinator for Afghanistan Sergio Mercuri on January 7.
Mercuri appreciated the opportunity to review the latest
version of the terms of reference/job description and was
pleased to find that the Senior Civilian Representative would
have the explicit authority to engage, not just with major
donors, but also with Afghanistan's neighbors in the region.
He agreed that Lord Ashdown has the personal authority and
energy needed to tackle the important task of donor
coordination.

2. (SBU) With regard to point 3 of the terms of reference
(lead authority for the Afghanistan Compact/co-chair JCMB),
Mercuri hoped that this function would allow donors and the
Afghan government to conduct a review of the Compact which
Italy believes is overdue. He also reiterated the Italian
position that the next donor conference on Afghanistan should
include a review of the benchmarks and time frames of the
Compact with a view toward focusing the energies of the donor
community and the Afghan government. Contrary to public
intimations made by FM D'Alema in the past, Mercuri said that
Italy is not interested in hosting such a conference, but
would welcome the opportunity to collaborate on setting the
conference agenda.
BORG

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