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Viewing cable 08STATE22378, SOMALIA-- TALKING POINTS FOR MARCH 5 BRIEFING

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08STATE22378 2008-03-05 00:37 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Secretary of State
VZCZCXYZ1287
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #2378 0650041
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 050037Z MAR 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS STATE 022378 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNSC PREL PHUM SO XA XW
SUBJECT: SOMALIA-- TALKING POINTS FOR MARCH 5 BRIEFING 
 
ΒΆ1.  USUN is instructed to draw from the following points for 
the March 5 briefing on Somalia and Kenya: 
 
Begin points: 
 
------- 
Somalia 
------- 
 
-- We would like to thank the Secretariat for their briefing 
today on the situation in Somalia and Kenya. 
 
-- The United States is deeply concerned about the continued 
violence occurring in Somalia. Over the past several months, 
attacks by violent extremists on the TFG and Ethiopian 
forces, as well as TFG security operations, have resulted in 
a significant outflow of internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
from the city of Mogadishu.  Some NGOs estimate only 60% of 
city's population remains. 
 
-- The United States reiterates its call for all parties to 
engage in a non-violent process with a goal of reaching a 
lasting solution.  The people of Somalia have suffered for 
too long.  We commend the efforts of political, religious, 
business, and clan leaders, including the efforts under the 
new TFG administration of Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan 
Hussein in coordination with SRSG Ould-Abdallah, to put aside 
their differences and work toward a solution for the good of 
the Somali people. 
 
-- We stress the need for all Somali stakeholders to not 
allow the efforts of extremist elements or the setback of 
recent clashes around Bakara Market to deter from the 
overriding objective of achieving lasting peace and stability 
in Somalia. 
 
-- We are encouraged by the recent efforts of Prime Minister 
Hussein, in coordination with SRSG Ould-Abdallah, to resume 
the dialogue process with key Somali stakeholders, as well as 
resume the transitional process outlined by the Transitional 
Federal Charter. We encourage all members of the Security 
Council and UN member-states to support efforts towards 
national elections in 2009. 
 
-- Once again, we commend the brave and noble work of AMISOM, 
especially the 1800 Ugandans and 850 Burundian peacekeepers 
already on the ground.  We thank the Government of Uganda and 
President Museveni for his public commitment of an additional 
1600 peacekeepers to bolster the mission.  We urge all AU 
members who have made public commitments to the mission to 
fulfill their pledge and deploy as soon as possible.  We 
encourage all AU members to consider contributing to this 
important African mission.  Likewise, we urge all UN members 
to provide financial resources, personnel, equipment and 
logistical support for this critical mission and enable the 
rapid deployment of additional troop contributions. 
 
-- The United States looks forward to the Secretary General's 
report on Somalia due to be released on March 10.  We are 
especially anxious to see in the report the development of 
contingency plans for a possible deployment of a UN 
peacekeeping operations to succeed AMISOM, including the 
report of the Technical Assessment Mission DPKO recently 
dispatched to Somalia. 
 
-- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
(OCHA) states that 1.8 million Somalis are in need of 
humanitarian assistance, but that currently only 60,000 can 
be assisted by the humanitarian community.  The United States 
calls on all parties in Somalia to abide by their obligations 
under international humanitarian law and ensure unhindered 
access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. 
 
-- We note the commitment of Prime Minister Hussein to 
establish a single point of contact within the TFG 
administration, as well as a liaison officer at the Somali 
Embassy in Nairobi, to help strengthen coordination with the 
donor and NGO community and improve humanitarian access 
inside Somalia.  We urge Prime Minister Hussein to implement 
this arrangement at the earliest possible opportunity. 
 
(If raised, points on March 2 missile strike on Somalia) 
 
-- On March 2, 2008 the United States conducted a military 
action against a known al-Qaeda terrorist in southern Somalia. 
 
-- We share common goals with our regional partners with 
respect to fighting terrorism.  The TFG has requested U.S. 
assistance to combat terrorists in Somalia. 
 
-- We will continue to cooperate with the TFG and the Somali 
people to counter the terrorist threat, promote 
reconciliation with legitimate political opposition, address 
humanitarian needs, and develop effective institutions of 
governance.  All these efforts are needed to achieve peace 
and long-term stability in Somalia 
 
-- We will continue to seek out, identify, capture, and if 
necessary, kill terrorists where they plan their activities, 
carry out their operations or seek safe harbor. 
 
(If raised, points for Somali piracy) 
 
-- The United States remains deeply concerned about acts of 
piracy occurring in territorial and international waters off 
the Somali coast.  Incidents of piracy have increased 
dramatically over the last few years.  No commercial vessel 
operating near the Somali Coast is safe from these acts. 
 
-- Waters off the coasts of Somali are some of the most 
heavily trafficked seas in the world.  The pirates pose an 
increasing threat to international trade and navigation. 
 
-- The TFG does not have the capacity to protect naval 
vessels in its territorial waters and on February 27 asked 
the UNSC for assistance in combating the pirates.  We believe 
the Security Council must respond to this request and look 
forward to working with the Council to address this problem. 
 
----- 
Kenya 
----- 
 
-- The United States again congratulates the people of Kenya 
and their leaders on the political agreement signed by 
President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga on 
February 28.  The agreement demonstrated courage by both 
leaders to make compromises to find a solution for the good 
of the Kenyan people. 
 
-- Likewise we commend the efforts of the Panel of Eminent 
African Personalities, led by former Secretary General Kofi 
Annan, for their tremendous efforts in mediating an agreement 
between the parties.  We expect both sides to live up to 
their commitments made in the agreement and implement it as 
soon as possible. 
 
-- We also recognize the ongoing negotiations on agenda item 
four under the auspices of former Nigerian foreign minister 
Oluyemi Adeniji. This agenda item encompasses a number of 
critical institutional reforms and underlying causes of the 
recent crisis. We urge the teams to address these important 
issues in a constructive spirit of compromise. 
 
-- Although a political agreement has been reached and 
violence has subsided in recent weeks, we continue to remain 
concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Kenya and 
especially about the hundreds of thousands of IDPs waiting to 
return to their communities.  We applaud the international 
community's response to this humanitarian crisis and urge 
them to continue efforts to support these vulnerable 
populations. 
 
-- We condemn the recent violence in the Mount Elgon area and 
in Rift Valley province, and reiterate the urgent need to 
address land tenure and use laws and regulations, which are a 
major underlying cause of insecurity and interethnic violence 
in these areas. 
 
-- We recognize Kenya's legitimate national security concerns 
and its need to regulate its borders. We also note with 
appreciation Kenya's long-time hosting of refugees from 
Somalia and elsewhere in the region and the burden that the 
refugee population places on Kenyan resources. However, we 
remind the government of Kenya of its international treaty 
obligations and the need to provide appropriate access and 
screening of asylum seekers. 
RICE