US embassy cable - 04ROME2765

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 002765 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR AF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PREF, PARM, MOPS, AU, SU, IT, HUMAN RIGHTS 
SUBJECT: ITALY - DOUBTS ON INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION FORCE 
FOR DARFUR 
 
REF: STATE 153857 
 
Classified By: A/PolMil Counselor Kelly Degnan. Reasons 1.5 (b)(d). 
 
1. (C) Stefano Dejak, MFA East Africa Office Director, 
expressed doubts and concerns regarding an expanded 
international protection force for Darfur. He stated that 
introducing such a force at this stage may be premature and 
that internationalizing the presence on the ground may not be 
wise. He stated that he would share reftel points with MFA 
and other officials. 
 
2. (C) Dejak stated that the current plans for an AU 
monitoring mission should be completed before considering an 
expanded international protection force. He stressed the need 
to ensure the success of the current effort to deploy troops 
to protect the AU mission. He stated that the main stumbling 
block to moving forward with this mission is the GOS argument 
that monitoring mechanisms should be independent of a 
protection force and that Darfur should not be an exception. 
According to Dejak, this argument "does not hold water" but 
would be even more pronounced in the context of a broader 
international protection force. 
 
3. (C) Dejak agreed with the critical need to rapidly deliver 
humanitarian assistance and stressed that to be successful in 
this effort, the international community must continue 
pressuring the GOS on its commitments. He highlighted the EU 
Foreign Minister's statement of July 12, Italy's support for 
our UNSC resolution on Sudan, Italy's participation in the 
EU's military observer group supporting the AU monitors 
(scheduled to travel this weekend), work on the monitoring 
mission's protection force, and current efforts to find 
funding for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human 
Rights' proposal to send six human rights observers to 
Darfur, as examples of the type of pressure the EU and Italy 
are exerting on the GOS. He also focused on the recent visits 
by Secretary Powell, UNSYG Annan and MFA Undersecretary for 
Human Rights Margherita Boniver as the "unabated pressure" 
needed to influence GOS attitudes. 
 
Visit Rome's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/rome/index.cf m 
 
SEMBLER 
 
 
NNNN 
	2004ROME02765 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL