US embassy cable - 05ABUJA1480

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001480 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, AORC, KUNR, NI, UNSC 
SUBJECT: WHAT WENT WRONG BETWEEN THE AU AND THE G-4? 
JAPANESE AMBASSADOR BRIEFS CHARGE' 
 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Thomas P. Furey for Reasons 1.4 (b) an 
d (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  According to the Japanese Ambassador to 
Nigeria, who was at the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, emotional 
appeals about Africans standing up for their rights against 
Western "colonialists" carried the day in persuading the AU 
to stick to its demand for veto rights for any new permanent 
members of the UN Security Council.  Tanaka also reported 
that there are tensions within the G-4 as a result of an 
unauthorized concession in Addis Ababa by the Brazilian 
Foreign Minister, who agreed (supposedly on behalf of the 
G-4) to support an additional non-permanent member for the 
UNSC.  The Japanese Government plans to step back and let the 
dust settle, but is confident that a solution satisfactory to 
the G-4 will be approved by the General Assembly before 
Christmas.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Akio Tanaka, 
briefed Charge Furey and British Charge Martin Shearman 
August 11 on his observations about the African Union summit 
in Addis Ababa and UN Security Council reform.  Ambassador 
Tanaka served at the Japanese mission to the UN in the late 
1990s and was sent by the Japanese Government to lobby the AU 
on behalf of the G-4. 
 
3.  (C) Tanaka said the Nigerians were confident as they went 
into the summit that they could persuade the AU to agree to 
drop the demand that the new permanent members have veto 
authority.  He said his interlocutors, including the Sudanese 
Ambassador, who were in the conference hall told him that 
several small countries insisted that the African members 
would have to have the veto.  He attributed this to emotional 
appeals by some representatives:  since Western powers had 
colonized Africa, it was now time for African countries to 
stand up for their rights.  When recounting this, Tanaka 
shook his head in frustration and noted that "even Chad," 
which cannot vote in the General Assembly because of failure 
to pay dues, took this position. 
 
4.  (C) As an aside, Tanaka noted with some bemusement that 
he has lobbied with several African ambassadors in Abuja 
about the veto issue and that many of them, "who did not seem 
to be following the reform issue closely," reacted viscerally 
against the idea that Nigeria would have veto rights in the 
UN Security Council.  The African ambassadors reacted with 
comments such as:  "Why should a country that cannot even 
generate electricity on a regular basis be given veto power 
in the UN?" 
 
5.  (C) There are tensions within the G-4 now, according to 
Tanaka, as a result of an unauthorized maneuver by the 
Brazilian Foreign Minister in Addis Ababa.  The night before 
the summit began, the Foreign Minister met with the South 
African and Nigerian delegates and agreed on behalf of the 
G-4 to a proposal to add an additional non-voting member 
(which would be the 26th member under this proposal) to the 
UNSC.  Tanaka said he and the Germans and Indians were 
surprised to learn about this the next day.  He noted that 
the Brazilian Foreign Minister had served previously as 
ambassador to the UN and "unfortunately thinks he knows more 
than the rest of us" about UN issues. 
 
6.  (C) The Japanese Government plans to take a step back 
right now and let the dust settle, Tanaka said, adding, 
"there is no way this can be resolved by September." 
Nevertheless, he and his Japanese colleagues are confident 
that enough support can be lined up for a solution 
satisfactory to the G-4 to be approved by the General 
Assembly before Christmas.  He said Japan's sense of urgency 
on this issue arose from the incident in 1998 when North 
Korea launched a missile in the direction of Japan and the 
belief of Japanese delegates to the UN that their presence on 
the Security Council at that time helped greatly in 
representing their interests. 
 
FUREY