VZCZCXRO5835
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0627 1141424
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231424Z APR 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0636
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0178
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000627
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KPKO PHUM SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: UNAMID LIQUIDATION TEAM ARRIVES IN DARFUR
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: UNAMID has assigned a team of liquidation
specialists to identify AMIS assets for disposal either to the UN or
to the AU. The team said it can transfer European-donated AMIS
assets by June but was not able to specify a similar date for USG
assets since they were inventoried and controlled by PAE. However,
at least $3.3 million in USG heavy equipment has already been
properly turned over to UNAMID and is in use. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) UNAMID liquidation specialist Peter Hornsby told poloff
April 22 that reconciliation of USG donated equipment provided
through PAE will require the UN to physically inventory equipment
and supplies prior to acceptance. As a result, he was unable to
provide a timeframe for completion of the liquidation process for
USG donations. Hornsby said that because PAE inventoried and
controlled the equipment separately, AMIS did not have its own
inventory that would facilitate transfer of ownership.
3. (SBU) Hornsby, who arrived in Sudan on April 10, said that there
is about $3.3 million in USG-provided heavy equipment that the UN
has already accepted that is now being used. He said that this
equipment is readily identifiable and still needs to be transferred
to UN ownership so it can be registered with Sudanese authorities
and insured.
4. (SBU) Hornsby was adamant that the UN must physically review the
equipment and assure itself that the submitted inventories are
accurate. He said that only after all the property is properly
identified will UNAMID decide what property it will accept. Any
equipment not accepted by UNAMID will be offered to the AU. For
example, Hornsby said that the UN will probably not accept
approximately 50 trucks from another donor that were not made by
either Toyota or Nissan as they do not meet UN standard
requirements. He said the AU might want to use the trucks for a
mission in Somalia.
5. (SBU) Hornsby said that a similar accounting of equipment and
supplies provided by Europeans should be ready for reconciliation
and transfer to either UNAMID or the AU by June 15. Hornsby said
that because AMIS took full control of equipment donated by the
Netherlands, the UK and the EU at the start of AMIS operations,
UNAMID was in a better position to more quickly reconcile its
inventory and decide on the disposition of the equipment.
6. (SBU) Comment: While it is positive that UNAMID is finally
addressing the inventory issues, it is patently ridiculous that
UNAMID can't manage to quickly inventory and put all formerly
PAE-controlled equipment donated by the US into use immediately.
This is UN bureaucracy at its best, looking a gift horse from its
primary donor in the mouth and not making the most of the assets
that it has at hand.
FERNANDEZ