US embassy cable - 04AMMAN9891

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 009891 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM, NEA AND IO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2014 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, KPAL, JO, UNRWA 
SUBJECT: UNRWA SUCCESSION - UNRWA STAFF AND DONORS 
RESIGNING THEMSELVES TO HANSEN EXTENSION 
 
REF: AMMAN 9013 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
. 
 
1. (C)  SUMMARY AND COMMENT. UNRWA's small cadre of reformist 
senior managers are resigning themselves to the growing 
possibility the SYG will extend Peter Hansen's tenure as 
UNRWA ComGen.  They fear that major donors' inability to 
coalesce around a viable alternative, combined with the fact 
that formal UNSYG office consultations with stakeholders is 
limited to the non-representative Advisory Commission (and 
led by a Hansen supporter), is leaving Annan no other option. 
 A preliminary survey of officials from ADCOM member states 
suggests it is possible Chef d'Cabinet Iqbal Reza could 
report that a majority of ADCOM members favor Hansen's 
extension.  Despite these prospects, Amman and 
Jerusalem-based major donor representatives confirmed in 
December 10-13 telcons with Refcoord that their governments 
have effectively ceased their effort to search for 
candidates, although three names are reportedly circulating 
in EU channels. Renewed USG engagement, including contingency 
planning to ensure that any "gentlemen's agreement" the SYG 
may make with Hansen to limit his tenure is enforced, may be 
critical to prevent the departure of Deputy ComGen Abuzayd 
and to preserve the gains reform-minded stakeholders have 
made over the last year.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
HANSEN DETERMINED TO REMAIN 
--------------------------- 
 
2. (C)  UNRWA External Relations Director Andrew Whitley 
(protect), who accompanied the UNRWA ComGen to the Agency's 
annual pledging meeting in NY last week, told Refcoord that 
Hansen appeared buoyed by a one-on-one meeting he had with 
Kofi Annan December 3.  He explained that while Hansen did 
not receive the explicit backing he had sought, he emerged 
believing that Annan's own recent experience fending off 
resignation calls had strengthened prospects that the SYG 
would approve a new term for Hansen.  According to Whitley, 
senior UNRWA officers were surprised that Hansen failed to 
make any mention of his future plans during his last 
scheduled meeting with the Management Committee (December 8), 
offering only an oblique reference to the fact that both he 
and Annan had discussed that they were both facing calls for 
their resignation (sic).  Hansen's extension of Gaza Field 
Director/Chief of Operations Lionel Brisson and Health 
Services Director Fathi Mousa in the past month (both 
considered &old guard8 opponents of donor efforts to 
establish greater oversight over UNRWA's operations) -- in 
contravention of UNRWA rules that prohibit a ComGen from 
extending staff beyond the period of his own tenure -- 
suggests that Hansen believes he has the support of New York. 
 
 
UNSYG CHEF D'CABINET CONSULTS ADVISORY COMMISSION 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
3. (C) Senior UNRWA staff regard Hansen's personal assessment 
of his standing in New York to be widely off base.  Whitley, 
for example, recounted how his contacts in the UNSYG's office 
had been incensed by Hansen's "unnecessarily provocative" 
statements, issued on the eve of this fall,s Major Donor,s 
Meeting, rationalizing UNRWA staff support for Hamas. 
Whitley added that the damage to Hansen's reputation did not 
appear to have been remedied when he accompanied Hansen to 
New York last week, as the SYG,s MidEast Advisor had told 
him over a private dinner that he thought Hansen was "in 
denial."  Separately, SDC Jerusalem Director Fritz Froelich 
told Refcoord that his Mission in New York confirmed that 
Annan made no commitment to support an extension at this 
meeting, noting USG opposition.  However, staff and donors 
both fear the ComGen,s optimism may be warranted for two 
reasons.  Formal UNSYG office consultations with stakeholders 
on the succession issue are being conducted by longtime 
Hansen supporter UNSYG Chef de Cabinet Iqbal Reza.  Second 
those consultations are limited, per UNRWA's 1949 mandate, to 
the members of UNRWA,s formal (but non-representative) 
consultative body, the UNRWA Advisory Commission (ADCOM). 
(COMMENT: The Secretary's November 30 call to the SYG 
reiterating our opposition to extending Hansen has not yet 
filtered to UNRWA field staff.  END COMMENT.)  An informal 
survey of local officials from the nine other ADCOM member 
states (Belgium, Egypt, France, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, 
Syria, Turkey, and the UK) was inconclusive, but left open 
the possibility that Reza could conclude the majority of 
ADCOM members support extending Hansen.  While the UK is 
clearly opposed to a fourth term, Syria and Lebanon are 
strongly supportive of extending Hansen.  Jordan is opposed, 
by is unlikely to make its views conspicuous.  According to 
Turkish Embassy Counsellor Sadi Altinok, Turkey has no 
official position on Hansen.  The Embassies of the remaining 
AdComm members, including the Japanese, could not confirm how 
they would respond to Reza.  (NOTE: We confirmed that 
Jordan's position has not evolved as a result of the recent 
turnover at the Department of Palestinian Affairs.  Senior 
Policy Advisor Muna Darwaza informed us that Reza had called 
incoming DG Azayzeh last week; although she was not privy to 
their discussion, she assured us Jordan's position favoring a 
change in UNRWA leadership remained firm. Japanese Embassy 
Polcouns Yamaguchi revealed that Japan did not have a single 
country backing its candidate, but was uncertain whether 
Tokyo was prepared to formally withdraw his candidacy. END 
NOTE.) 
 
4. (C)  While our preliminary count suggests this 
consultative process is still underway, Amman-based CIDA 
officials informed Refcoord December 11 that the Canadian UN 
Mission had a sent a troubling report last week claiming the 
SYG,s office is already poised to extend Hansen for a 
further nine months.  The possibility the SYG would extend 
Hansen under a "gentlemen's agreement" that he depart before 
2006 strikes most long-time UNRWA watchers as feasible, as it 
would enable the SYG to comply with his ten-year limit on 
senior management tenure in the absence of a viable 
alternative. 
 
MAJOR DONORS ARE NOT PURSUING THE CANDIDATE SEARCH 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
5. (C) Although the ADCOM position on Hansen is unclear, 
Amman and Jerusalem-based major donor representatives 
confirmed in December 10-13 telcons with Refcoord that their 
governments have effectively ceased their search for 
replacement candidates.  Swedish Vice Counsul Ann Mawe, for 
example, noted that even the ongoing visit of Deputy 
Development Cooperation Minister Anika Soeer to the region 
had failed to kickstart GOS' efforts.  Jerusalem-based EC 
UNRWA watcher Phillipe Jacques was unable to reach Near East 
Political Advisor Christian Berger to confirm lastest EU 
thinking on the COMGEN succession issue, but told Refcoord 
that he believed no/no European donor is mounting an eleventh 
hour search, based on recent EU email traffic.  These 
contacts confided that EU countries are looking to the U.S. 
for leadership.  As reported to PRM/ANE, SDC Amman made a 
formal demarche to Refcoord to inform us that Switzerland is 
prepared to publicly endorse "any candidate the U.S. backs." 
According to these contacts, three names are still being 
discussed in EU email chains as possible candidates: Former 
Amnesty International official Ian Martin -- who was recently 
dispatched to conduct a three month survey of the human 
rights situation in Darfur by the High Commissioner for Human 
Rights -- remains interested in the position, according to EU 
officials, but will not/not identify himself as a candidate 
if it means openly opposing Hansen.  Geir Pedersen is also 
regarded as a potential candidate despite concerns that he 
lacks management experience, having previously held only a 
D-2 position within the UN.  Finally, UNRWA Gaza Field 
Director/Chief of Operations Lionel Brisson has been mounting 
an effort to develop interest around his own candidacy, with 
little apparent support.  Andrew Whitley also told Refcoord 
that the SYG,s Senior Political Advisor told him in NY last 
week that the SYG had considered Kamel Merjane as a potential 
replacement, but had determined he was "too indispensable" to 
UNHCR during the Lubber transition. 
 
IMPACT OF A HANSEN EXTENSION -- DEPARTURE OF DEPUTY COMGEN? 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
6.  (C) Reform-minded UNRWA staff and donors believe a Hansen 
extension would deliver a significant blow to efforts to 
improve UNRWA operations by hastening the departure of the 
two senior officials who were instrumental in advancing 
stakeholders' calls for greater oversight and planning. 
Andrew Whitley and longtime UNRWA watchers are convinced 
Deputy ComGen Karen Abuzayd will step down this summer if 
Hansen were extended.  According to Whitley, Abuzayd agreed 
to a limited (one-year) term last August on the explicit 
understanding that Hansen would depart and that she would be 
needed to manage the transition.  SDC Representatives believe 
that she is angling for other UN positions, and only turned 
down the A/SYG positions she had been offered with UNHCR in 
Sudan and Iraq this past year because she hopes to be offered 
a more senior position.  Whitely told Refcoord December 12 
that he would also resign when his tenure expires in July if 
there is no change in UNRWA,s leadership.  Some donors 
believe that Budget Director Fiona Grant,s recent decision 
to leave UNRWA was prompted by her disillusionment with the 
resistance she was meeting while attempting to introduce some 
of the methodologies advocated at the high-level conference 
Switzerland hosted in Geneva last June to analyze 
systematically UNRWA operations.  While the departure of 
Abuzayd and Whitley would still leave some reform minded 
Field Directors (i.e., Syria and the West Bank) who are 
committed to implementing the reforms called for in Geneva, 
most donors believe any inroads made as a result of the 
Geneva Conference would be lost with their absence.  In a 
December 12 telcon, SDC Amman rep Adrian Gnaegi told Refcoord 
that he feared the only lasting achievement from Geneva would 
be the ongoing effort to reform UNRWA-stakeholder 
consultative bodies. 
 
7. (C) COMMENT:  Given the number of second hand reports we 
have received from New York claiming the SYG is contemplating 
extending Peter Hansen for an additional nine months under 
some sort of gentlemen's agreement, we are concerned the 
UNSYG's office may not be preparing the shortlist of 
alternate candidates promised in October.  Strategies that 
might be employed to limit Hansen's reappointment, could 
include keeping the ComGen position open after Hansen's term 
ends in February in order to extend the candidate search to a 
point where some officials under consideration within the USG 
and EU might become available (i.e., Martin, Merjane).  Our 
conversations with Amman and Jerusalem-based UNRWA watchers 
suggest there would also be strong support for a joint donor 
approach to the UN to ensure that any extension the SYG may 
offer Hansen is strictly enforced. 
HALE