Cablegate: Un Lowering Sights On Unamid Deployment Timeline
VZCZCXRO7911
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0805 2521949
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081949Z SEP 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4914
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000805
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AF PGOV PREL KPKO SU
SUBJECT: UN LOWERING SIGHTS ON UNAMID DEPLOYMENT TIMELINE
REF: A. USUN 794
B. USUN 711
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: UN Under-Secretary-General (U/SYG) for
Field Support Malcorra acknowledged to Ambassador DiCarlo
that the UN will not be able to meet its goal of 80 percent
deployment of UNAMID by December. Malcorra agreed that the
UN should consider going public with this information. She
offered to brief officials in Washington about UNAMID,s
logistical needs, especially involving airlift, and was open
to a small, private meeting of UN officials at headquarters
to coordinate logistical priorities. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) In her first meeting with U/SYG for Field Support
(DFS) Susana Malcorra, Ambassador DiCarlo reiterated U.S.
support for DFS and called for acceleration of UNAMID
deployment. DiCarlo pushed Malcorra to more clearly specify
UNAMID,s logistical needs, and Malcorra said she was open to
a small meeting involving relevant UN offices and major donor
states to agree upon uniform priorities either at the working
or a more senior level. She noted that while she views
member-states as critical stakeholders, this view is not
widely shared among her UN colleagues.
3. (SBU) Malcorra acknowledged that the SYG,s stated goal
of 80 percent deployment by the end of December could not be
met and said 60-65 percent is more realistic for 2008 with 80
percent achievable by the end of the first quarter in 2009.
DiCarlo encouraged Malcorra to discuss with her UN colleagues
making this information publicly available, noting that if
the UN continues to maintain the 80 percent figure publicly,
the failure to meet this goal in December will undermine the
mission,s credibility. Malcorra agreed to pursue this.
4. (SBU) Malcorra said she considers the biggest logistical
priority for UNAMID to be airlift for both Troop Contributing
Country (TCC) forces and equipment. She clarified that the
bottleneck of containers at the Port of Sudan has improved.
Malcorra said helicopters remain a priority to facilitate
fast movement of troops, with surveillance capability being a
secondary concern. Regarding camp construction, she will
meet with the Ethiopians and Egyptians this week to press for
light deployment, i.e. troops being self-sustaining by
setting up their own camps. Indicating that she appreciates
the emphasis that the United States attaches to a successful
UN operation in Darfur, Malcorra offered to travel to
Washington to brief officials in the executive and
legislative branches if this would be helpful.
Khalilzad