US embassy cable - 04ROME2746

UNCLAS ROME 002746 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
FROM US MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME 
 
STATE FOR A/S PRM DEWEY, MCKELVEY AND KNUDSON, NEA/ENA, A/S 
IO HOLMES AND IO/EDA BEHREND AND KOTOK 
USAID/W FOR ADMINISTRATOR NATSIOS, D/A SCHIECK, AA/DCHA 
WINTER, AA/AFR ACTING, DCHA/D/FFP LANDIS, DCHA/OFDA OWENS 
USMISSION GENEVA FOR AMBASSADOR MOLEY AND USAID/KYLOH 
BRUSSELS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS AND USAID/LERNER 
USUN FOR TAMLYN AND MLUTZ 
NSC FOR JMELINE AND AFRICA DIRECTORATE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, EAID, ELTN, LY, CD, SU, WFP 
SUBJECT:  World Food Program Update on Opening New 
Transportation Corridors through Libya for Darfur and 
Eastern Chad 
 
REF: (A) STATE 150719, (B) ROME 002371 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) As requested ref A, Mission spoke 07/12 with WFP 
and conveyed information. WFP has not been considering the 
shipment of commodities from Libya (Al Kufrah) by road 
directly into northern Sudan down to Darfur because of 
serious security constraints, which would require 
substantive Sudanese military escorts for each shipment. 
Only the Al Kufrah-eastern Chad corridor is presently 
operative for commercial traffic and Libyan truckers are 
both familiar and comfortable with using this latter route. 
Note. Given the relative inaccessibility of large regions of 
Darfur, and the rainy season which has now commenced, WFP is 
considering possible use of Al Kufrah to conduct 
humanitarian airdrops, assuming GOS agreement can be 
obtained. End note. 
 
2. (SBU) WFP informed that they have received a Swiss cash 
donation which will permit them this week to finalize a 
tender to purchase in Europe or Turkey and ship 
approximately 450 metric tons of wheat, for delivery to 
eastern Chad via Libya. The plan is to have a WFP team 
arrive in Libya o/a July 27 to iron out the remaining 
details related to use of Libyan ports and transport through 
Libya (transport charges, fees, customs clearance, etc), and 
sign necessary documentation/letter of understanding. 
Assuming this is successfully and promptly concluded, the 
WFP vessel would arrive at Benghazi port o/a August 5. 
Several members of the WFP team would remain in-country to 
monitor the trial shipment operation. 
 
3. (SBU) At a WFP/Rome briefing on Darfur (07/13), the 
Libyan Ambassador to Italy and the UN Agencies assured that 
his government had come to agreement with WFP on all the 
major logistical modalities of the use of the Libyan 
corridor. 
 
4. (U) Given that the WFP appeal for Darfur (EMOP 10339.0 
"Food Assistance to Population affected by War in Greater 
Darfur") is only 35 percent funded (with the United States 
contributing U.S. $46.1 million of the $66.8 million 
received by WFP to date), US Mission will host a meeting of 
OECD Permanent Representatives on July 22. 
 
5. (U) Khartoum minimize considered. Hall 
 
 
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 2004ROME02746 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED