GOSS CONTACTS WITH THE LORD,S RESISTANCE ARMY (LRA)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001116

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM UG SU CG
SUBJECT: GOSS CONTACTS WITH THE LORD,S RESISTANCE ARMY (LRA)

REF: A. KHARTOUM 00989


B. KHARTOUM 00900 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: CGJ Robert Whitehead, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: UNMIS, UNHCR, and Ugandan consulate
officials, among others, have confirmed at least two meetings
between GoSS Vice President Riek Machar and Vincent Otti of
the LRA. In April, Machar reportedly offered to mediate
peace talks with Kampala, an offer that Otti did not refuse.
A follow up meeting in early May yielded an LRA pledge to
talk and to cease attacks on civilians in Sudan if the GoSS
agreed to provide food to the LRA. GoSS President Kiir will
brief Museveni on these contacts during his May 12 visit to
Kampala for Museveni,s inauguration, and report back to the
LRA on Museveni,s response. The Ugandans claim that most
LRA forces have withdrawn and regrouped in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and that two unidentified Europeans
were present during the second Machar-Otti meeting. End
summary.


2. (C) Following conversations with UNMIS and UNHCR, CG
contacted the Ugandan Consulate to ask what they knew about
reports of meetings between VP Machar and the LRA,s Otti.
The consular officials stated that there had been two known
meetings. Machar first met Otti in Mabangu (coordinates
unknown) in Western Equatoria on April 11. According to the
GoSS readout, Machar had made the following points: a) the
LRA must be ready to talk peace; b) if it will not, the LRA
must leave Sudan and return to Uganda; and c) if the LRA
continues attacks on Sudanese soil, the SPLA will force it
out. Otti reportedly replied that the LRA is ready to talk
but that he did not believe the GOU would agree.


3. (C) On May 5, a larger meeting occurred five kilometers
from the site of the earlier meeting. This included LRA
Chief Joseph Kony, Otti, and a brigadier on the LRA; and
Machar, Interior Minister Daniel Awet, SPLA General Mathok,
and two unidentified Europeans ) believed to be British or
American ) for the GoSS. The Ugandans said that the LRA had
named a negotiating team to meet with the GoSS (thus far they
have usually failed to show for meetings) and said they were
ready to negotiate with the GOU in either Nairobi or Juba,
but not inside Uganda. The LRA said that they had mounted
attacks against Sudanese civilians because of hunger. The
Ugandans said that the GoSS had agreed to supply the LRA with
three truckloads of food near Maridi, ostensibly the quid pro
quo for ceasing attacks on Sudanese civilians.


4. (C) The next step will reportedly be Kiir,s debrief of
Museveni in Kampala on May 12. The Ugandan diplomats said
that they were as yet unaware of what the GOU reaction might
be, but that Kiir would relay this response to the LRA. In
the meantime, some of the Ugandan Popular Defense Force
troops deployed in Sudan have moved nearer the Congolese
border. The Ugandans claimed that Kony fled his refuge in
Lafon some months past, possibly with SAF complicity, and
moved to Mangalla, on the Nile River, and then across the
river and southward to DRC. Kampala believes that only
remnants of the LRA remain east of the river, although there
is a confirmed force of less than 100 men led by a Commander
Odiambo, also under indictment in The Hague, that two days
ago crossed the main road to Yei approximately 34 miles west
of Juba. The destination of this force is unknown. The
Ugandans have no firm figure for present LRA strength in DRC.


5. (C) Comment: Machar has agreed to meet CG on May 12, if
this schedule holds, and we will try to get more details on
where things stand. We will impress upon Machar the delicacy
of dealing with the LRA, including the reported provision of
food aid, given the LRA,s official designation as a
terrorist organization and the indictment of its senior
leadership by the International Criminal Court. To date,
this message has not had a marked impact on the GoSS.


6. (C) Comment continued: The identity of the two purported
English/American participants in the Machar meetings remains
unclear. We note for the record that two former UK Special
Forces Officers who now work for the independent security
consulting firm Halliday Finch sought out the CG in mid-April
and informed CG that LRA representatives had passed the
previous weekend in the RA International Camp in Juba.
HUME