NIGERIA: BRITISH WOES WITH DARFUR DEPLOYMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001396

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF AND PM/RSAT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2014
TAGS: PREL MOPS SU NI DARFUR
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: BRITISH WOES WITH DARFUR DEPLOYMENT

REF: ABUJA 1382

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN CAMPBELL FOR REASONS 1.5 b AND d.


1. (C) The British High Commission told us August 16 that
they are having considerable difficulty bringing the GON to
action on transporting the Nigerian force protection unit to
Darfur. Since the handoff to the UK (reftel),the British
High Commissioner has met with President Obasanjo, the
Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff and others, and they tell him
the GON is ready to work with the UK to get the Nigerians to
Darfur. The British DATT arranging the transport has met
with a variety of Nigerian MOD officials, but none of them
are trying to operationalize that transport, and at least
some occasionally tell the British DATT that the Nigerians
will use their own C-130s to get to Darfur.


2. (C) COMMENT: Neither the British nor we believe Nigeria's
C-130s can transport the company-size unit to Darfur, or even
provide full resupply of the unit once there. The British
believe the problem is getting the word from Obasanjo down to
Nigerian officials at a level where the transport can be
operationalized. We would add that the British DATT unit
here is only two Attaches, one of whom is not at post, and
they have not been through this with the Nigerians before as
we have in the Liberia deployment. We are providing all the
help we can in giving the British the information we had
gathered for moving the Nigerians to Darfur, and contacts
among the Nigerians to get the job done.


3. (U) Minimize considered.
CAMPBELL