US embassy cable - 05CAIRO9180

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 009180 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR THE SECRETARY 
FOR THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS 
FOR I/O ASSISTANT SECRETARY SILVERBERG 
USUN FOR AMBASSADOR BOLTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, EG, UNGA, UNSC, Visits 
SUBJECT: UN REFORM: AMBASSADOR TAHIR-KHELI'S DECEMBER 10 
MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER ABOUL GHEIT 
 
Classified by Ambassador Ricciardone for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
-------- 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
1.  (C) During a December 10 meeting with Egyptian Foreign 
Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, followed by a more detailed 
discussion with senior MFA multilateral affairs staff, Senior 
Advisor to the Secretary for UN Reform Ambassador Shirin 
Tahir-Kheli drew out Egyptian concerns on UN reform efforts 
and explained USG views and positions.  Stressing the urgency 
of reaching prompt agreement on key UN reform agenda items, 
Tahir-Kheli described growing frustration over perceived 
Egyptian trouble-making during recent UN negotiations.  Aboul 
Gheit appeared willing to narrow the gap on key differences 
with the U.S., offered a general desire for a revitalized UN 
system, but stressed Egypt,s "obligation" to represent wider 
regional interests on issues like Palestine and development. 
At the conclusion of the discussion, Aboul Gheit stated that 
"we can help each other," and committed to giving "deep 
review over the next few days" to USG positions.  A read-out 
of a separate meeting with Arab League Secretary General 
Moussa is provided at paragraphs eight and nine.  End summary. 
 
---------------- 
General Overview 
---------------- 
 
2.  (C) During a December 8-11 visit to Egypt, Ambassador 
Shirin Tahir-Kheli, accompanied by the Ambassador, met with 
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and senior MFA staff to 
review USG reform priorities at the United Nations and seek 
greater Egyptian cooperation.  Tahir-Kheli described in some 
detail a growing impression among US officials that Egypt was 
playing a particularly obstructive role during UN reform 
debates.  Whether dealing with UN management reform, human 
rights issues, or creation of a peace-building commission, 
Egypt has stood in the way of making progress.  Her visit to 
Cairo (part of a 7-nation tour) was intended to explain USG 
UN reform priorities, to highlight the urgency of these 
issues to the Secretary, to elicit GOE positions, and to work 
toward finding common ground with Egypt to make further 
progress.  Tahir-Kheli stressed the urgency of reaching 
agreement by December 23 on at least parts of the UN reform 
agenda. 
 
----------------- 
Management Reform 
----------------- 
 
3.  (C) Tahir-Kheli described the importance to the US of 
reforming the UN system in order to achieve accountability, 
transparency, and efficiency.  Tahir-Kheli offered a detailed 
description of USG priorities, including creation of an 
independent oversight committee, an ethics office, 
strengthening the Office of Independent Oversight Services, 
and the need for review of all mandates more than five years 
old.  Aboul Gheit appeared relatively uninformed on the 
latest USG positions, and questioned the need for new 
oversight functions which he believed were redundant. 
Tahir-Kheli strongly argued the need for independent 
oversight of UN activities, along with a new regimen of 
ethics and management training.  Aboul Gheit and staff 
expressed interest in additional details on USG positions, 
while noting some trepidation over creation of new 
bureaucracy.  MFA staff expressed doubts over what benefits a 
new ethics office would bring and how it would be structured. 
 
4.  (C) Responding to U.S. arguments, Aboul Gheit insisted 
that Egypt did not oppose mandate review, but had detailed 
questions on implementation and on Washington,s sense of 
urgency.  He and his staff also suggested that U.S. officials 
in New York were claiming that the primary USG objective for 
mandate review was to eliminate Palestinian-related mandates. 
 Elimination of Palestinian-related mandates, Aboul Gheit 
declared, was out of the question.  Tahir-Kheli understood 
that some states would seek to protect certain mandates, but 
that a review process was needed to identify agreement on the 
elimination of what is likely to be a large number of 
outdated mandates. 
 
-------------------- 
Human Rights Council 
-------------------- 
 
5.  (C) During discussion of the creation of a new Human 
Rights Council, Aboul Gheit expressed his position that all 
Member States should have an equal chance to participate in 
the Council.  Egypt, he explained, was against having 
requirements for membership, against a requirement for a 
two-thirds majority, against a reduction in membership size, 
and against elections in ECOSOC.  Tahir-Kheli stated the USG 
position that membership elections should be opened to the 
General Assembly.  She said that the ECOSOC base was 
essentially severed for membership selection.  Further, 
Tahir-Kheli explained that capacity building was part of the 
new Human Right Council,s work, something that the GOE 
sought. 
 
6.  (C) Assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs, Naella 
Gabr, told Tahir-Kheli in a follow-on session that the Swiss 
Government had proposed eliminating clean regional slates for 
elections to the HR Council ) a proposal she believed would 
be acceptable to Egypt.  Tahir-Kheli responded that she 
thought it was an interesting proposal. 
 
------------------------- 
Peace Building Commission 
------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) During talks on creating a Peace-Building Commission, 
the Egyptian delegation repeated concerns over potential 
Security Council domination of the new body, and the 
perceived lack of input from all Member States.  The Egyptian 
side suggested they saw flexibility from Western countries on 
the size of the commission, but expressed concern that 
subsidiary bodies (with limited membership) would become the 
source of real power within the Commission.  This same 
concern extended to the Human Rights Council.  Tahir-Kheli 
underscored the mandate of the Security Council on peace and 
security issues, as described in the UN Charter.  The Council 
must maintain ultimate oversight over peace-building issues, 
she noted, with active input and coordination from the 
General Assembly, ECOSOC, and regional organizations. 
Tahir-Kheli further detailed the practical need for strong 
UNSC oversight.  The discussion at the MFA ended with an 
agreement to stay in touch and an offer by the GOE to seek 
ways "to partner" with the U.S. on areas of agreement. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Arab League Secretary General Moussa 
------------------------------------ 
 
8.  (C) In a separate meeting with Arab League Secretary 
General Amre Moussa December 8, Moussa said he believed Egypt 
is speaking for many developing countries on UN reform. 
Moussa said the reform discussion bogged down quickly because 
of the initial emphasis on Security Council expansion.  He 
said that the Africa Group was divided and was not yet ready 
to make a decision on SC representation.  But it is clear, he 
stressed, that Europe is too heavily represented.  On the 
Human Rights Council, Moussa said that the composition and 
criteria for inclusion and exclusion would likely be 
sensitive for Egypt, but he believed Egypt would welcome 
greater focus on human rights capacity building. 
 
9.  (C) On the Comprehensive Convention Against International 
Terrorism (CCIT), Moussa suggested that Tahir-Kheli review 
language condemning terrorism that was adopted by Iraqi 
delegates at a recent Arab League-sponsored National Accord 
conference.  He predicted the GOE would agree to language 
stating that the killing of innocent civilians is always 
wrong.  Although there is no need to make an exception to 
terrorism for "legitimate resistance," there may need to be a 
reference in the preamble to the CCIT to the legitimate right 
of resistance to military occupation.  Tahir-Kheli stressed 
the Secretary,s statement that the killing of innocent 
civilians is always wrong, and there can be no exception. 
She expressed hope that her visit to Egypt would lead to some 
agreement on substantive UN reform issues before the critical 
December 23 budget vote. 
 
 
RICCIARDONE