Cablegate: Unsc Reform: Pga Kerim Plans to Launch

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DE RUCNDT #0654/01 2042337
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 222337Z JUL 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4663
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN IMMEDIATE 0947
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA IMMEDIATE 0965
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 1973
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 2255
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO IMMEDIATE 8507

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000654

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KUNR UNSC GM JA IN PK BR
SUBJECT: UNSC REFORM: PGA KERIM PLANS TO LAUNCH
NEGOTIATIONS ON ALL OPTIONS

REF: A. USUN NEW YORK 545
B. USUN NEW YORK 343

Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

1. (U) Please see the action request in paragraph 4.

2. (C) President of the General Assembly (PGA) Srgan Kerim
told the Ambassador in a July 21 meeting that he planned to
submit a report to the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG)
recommending that the General Assembly adopt a resolution
that the OEWG should continue its work in the 63rd session
and that inter-government negotiations on Security Council
reform should be launched on the basis of all options
proposed to date by member states and using the PGA's own
Seven Principles as a basis for further discussions. The aim
of the inter-governmental negotiations, Kerim said, would be
to seek a solution that garnered the widest possible
agreement from the member states.

3. (C) The PGA stressed that he would counter any attempts
to challenge this way forward, i.e. such as the introduction
of a resolution proposing a single way forward as India has
threatened to table. (Note: Kerim believes India will not
move forward with its resolution. End note.) Kerim noted
that he might convene an OEWG meeting in September for states
to discuss how they see the negotiation process moving
forward, to satisfy the concerns of the Uniting for Consensus
(UFC) bloc which has been seeking a negotiating process
within an agreed framework.

4. (C) Kerim said that, while he would listen to the views
of the major stakeholders at a lunch hosted July 23 by San
Marino, he was seeking their support for his approach on
moving a recommendation to the General Assembly. The
Ambassador responded that he would brief Washington on
Kerim's plans and seek to be helpful in his own remarks at
the luncheon by emphasizing the points we have made before
(reftels). Action Request: Unless Mission hears otherwise
from Washington by OOB on July 23, Ambassador plans to
express support for the PGA's way forward and to restate our
key points on Security Council reform. End Action Request.

5. (C) Kerim said that he does not believe
inter-governmental negotiations will result in actual reform,
given the many competing demands from the various groups.
Instead, he believes negotiations will demonstrate the need
for an interim solution for 12-16 years, followed by a
comprehensive system-wide reform effort led by "big
personalities" rather than member states.

6. (SBU) Kerim provided the Ambassador with a copy of his
proposed draft General Assembly resolution copied below.
Kerim noted that the language in paragraph (g) describing
whether inter-governmental negotiations would "commence" or
"launch" is still in play and could be "softened," depending
upon the reaction he hears from the July 23 lunch.

Begin text of draft resolution:

General Assembly,
(a) Took note of the report of the Working Group on the
Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the
Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related
to the Security Council on its work during the sixty-second
session of the General Assembly;

(b) Noted with appreciation the Chairperson's initiative and
efforts in the process of a comprehensive reform of the
Security Council;

(c) Noted with appreciation the work done by the Open-Ended
Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on
and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and
Other Matters related to the Security Council and its
Vice-Chairpersons;

(d) Decided that the Working Group should continue to exert
efforts during the sixty- third session of the General
Assembly aimed at achieving progress in the consideration of
all issues relevant to the question of equitable
representation on and increase in the membership of the
Security Council and other matters related to the Security
Council, taking into account the progress achieved from the
forty-eighth to sixty -second sessions of the General
Assembly;

(e) Further decided that the Working Group should submit a
report to the General Assembly before the end of its
sixty-third session,

(f) Decided also that:

1) The positions and proposals of member states: African
Union, G-4, League of Arab States, Organization of Islamic
Conference, Overarching Group proposal, P5 perspectives,
Small Five States, Uniting for Consensus,

2) The five key issues: categories of membership, the
question of veto, regional representation, size of an
enlarged Council, working methods of the Security Council and
the relationship between the Council and the General Assembly;

3) The followinq documents: Report of the Open-ended Working
Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and
Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other
Matters related to the Security Council (A/61/47); General
Assembly decision (61/561); "Report of the Vice--Chairpersons
to the President of the GA on the Question of Equitable
Representation on and Increase in the Membership of Security
Council" of June 9, 2008, (Report of the Open-ended Working
Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and
Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other
Matters related to the Security Council during 62 Session),
and

4) The Seven Principles proposed by the President of the
General Assembly (A/62/PV47-51), may form a basis for the
intergovernmental negotiations;

(g) Decided also to commence (launch) intergovernmental
negotiations on the question of equitable representation on
and increase in the membership of the Security Council and
other matters related to the Security Council, in an open,
inclusive and transparent manner, with the objective to seek
a solution which can garner the widest possible agreement
among Member States;

(e) Decided to continue intergovernmental negotiations on the
question of equitable representation on and increase in the
membership of the Security Council and other matters related
to the Security Council, during the sixty-third session of
the General Assembly.

End text.
Khalilzad

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