IRISH RESIDENT IS JEM OFFICIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 000531 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/SPG ETARIOT E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2016 TAGS: PREL CVIS PINS SOCI SU PINR EI SUBJECT: IRISH RESIDENT IS JEM OFFICIAL REF: SECSTATE 74589 Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Mary E. Daly, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On May 11, emboff delivered reftel points to Irish Department of Foreign Affairs Sub-Saharan Africa Section Director Pauline Conway. Conway said that the GOI through an EU statement has called on the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to reach a peace agreement with the GOS. She expressed surprise that the USG would take steps to restrict the issuance of visas to members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and informed emboff that Irish resident Dr. Abdullahi El Tom (reftel para 6) was currently in Abuja negotiating on behalf of JEM. She added that El Tom is a prominent lecturer in Ireland and in November 2005 was appointed as a member of the Advisory Board for Irish Aid (Irish counterpart to USAID) by the Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights. This board is charged with the general oversight of the GOI's official aid program and advises the Minister and the management team on the strategic direction of the program and implementation of policy. ¶2. (C) Per para 4 reftel instructions, below are the known details of El Tom: a) Name: Abdullahi Eltom, JEM Secretary of Training and Strategic Planning. b) Aliases: Abdullahi El-Tom, Abdullahi Osman El Tom c) DOB: Unknown d) Distinguishing facts: El Tom is a lecturer (currently on long-term absence) in the Department of Anthropology at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Maynooth. His research interests are the anthropology of development, poverty, debt and food security, and minorities. He has published three books and numerous articles and commentaries. He is a board member of Skillshare International (Ireland),an NGO that works to reduce poverty, injustice and inequality and to further economic and social development throughout the world. In November 2005, he was appointed as a member of the Advisory Board for Irish Aid by the Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights. He has degrees from the following universities: BSc-Khartoum, MA-Queen's University Belfast, PhD-University of St. Andrew's. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit Dublin's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/dublin/index. cfm Kenny