US embassy cable - 05PARIS3591

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003591 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KPKO, FR, UNSC 
SUBJECT: UNSC: ISSUES FOR FRENCH PRESIDENCY IN JUNE 
 
 
Classified By: Acting DCM Josiah Rosenblatt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: MFA IO DAS-equivalent for political affairs 
Jean-Pierre Lacroix reviewed with poloff May 23 issues likely 
to be raised during France's June presidency of the U.N. 
Security Council. 
 
IRAN 
 
2. (C) Lacroix said that the big question for the UNSC in 
June would be the terms of debate should Iran proceed with 
its stated intention to resume nuclear activity (conversion). 
 If they did so, Lacroix stated, the matter would be referred 
to the UNSC, which would have to decide how to proceed on 
Iran's violations, especially what the first step would be. 
 
IRAQ 
 
3. (C) When Lacroix noted that the MNF mandate was due for 
renewal by June 8, poloff responded that Iraqi FM Zebari 
would be in New York on May 31 or May 27 and that the USG 
preferred to take advantage of his visit to the UNSC to 
address all issues related to UNSCR 1546 together in one day 
in a low-key manner.  Lacroix offered that at some point, 
there would be a need to address the "extraordinary" status 
of UNMOVIC so that Iraq's status could be normalized, but 
said there would be no initiatives on UNMOVIC in June. 
 
LEBANON 
 
4. (C)  Lacroix commented that the UN mission to Lebanon had 
returned to New York and would shortly report on the issue of 
Syrian withdrawal.  He said that the GoF planned to deal with 
the report with maximum discretion, as it was likely to 
contain elements which were positive for Damascus.  Some in 
the UNSC, he said, would seize on these elements in the 
report to portray the Syrians as being in full compliance 
with UNSCR 1559.  Accordingly he said, an open debate on the 
report should be avoided, limiting discussions to informal 
consultations to avoid sending any false signals to Damascus. 
 Lacroix said that the UNSC should also address the 
post-election scenario in Lebanon in a prudent manner to 
avoid giving the impression that the situation was resolved 
when there was still a great deal of work to do.  Lacroix 
added that the commission of inquiry into the assassination 
of former PM Hariri was still conducting its work and was 
unlikely to report any time soon. 
 
 
ISRAEL/PALESTINE 
 
5. (C) Lacroix said that while Israel/Palestine issues arose 
in the Council "every month," there were no major issues to 
be addressed in June. 
 
WESTERN SAHARA 
 
6. (C) According to Lacroix, the GoF was seeking to promote 
discussion between Algeria and Morocco on Western Sahara. 
With Algeria apparently inflexible at present, he said, it 
made no sense for the SYG or the Council to raise the profile 
of Western Sahara by, for example, seeking to appoint a 
successor to James Baker as personal envoy. 
 
COTE D'IVOIRE 
 
7. (C) Lacroix said that the French text of the draft 
resolution on Cote d'Ivoire was largely completed.  The 
remaining issue was that of the extent of the reinforcement 
of UNOCI. 
 
DRC 
 
8. (C) Lacroix noted the positive developments in DRC, 
including the adoption of the constitution, saying that the 
worst was over.  In response to poloff's question, Lacroix 
said that France had never lost confidence in SRSG Swing who, 
he said, had been made a scapegoat for MONUC's problems, 
notably sexual abuse by some MONUC forces.  Swing he said, 
had taken steps to address the abuse problem and the 
questions over his tenure were now in the past. 
 
BURUNDI 
 
9. (C) Lacroix said that ONUB was due for renewal before the 
French presidency of the Council, but gave no indication that 
there was any difficulty on this issue 
 
 
SUDAN 
 
10. (C) Lacroix said that discussion on Sudan had been moved 
elsewhere (read: to Brussels) regarding how the AU should be 
supported, and by whom (read: by NATO and/or the EU). 
HAITI 
 
11. (C) Lacroix noted that there was a debate under way in 
New York following the UNSYG's request for civilian police to 
reinforce MINUSTAH in order to address the difficult security 
situation in Haiti.  He offered no indication of the French 
position on the SYG's request. 
 
KOSOVO 
 
12. (C) Lacroix said that the Council would receive the 
report on UN-endorsed standards for Kosovo and have to 
address the sequence of events concerning the nomination of 
the SYG's envoy and the degree of application of the 
standards.  Lacroix expected that the SYG's representative 
would be Norway's NATO Permrep Kai Eide, who would conduct 
the final status discussions.  Noting Russian reservations on 
Kosovo, Lacroix said that the UNSC was not bound to pronounce 
itself on the nomination of the envoy or the evaluation of 
standards, and could bypass formal discussions on these 
issues. 
WOLFF