SUDAN: EASTERN FRONT - GNU NEGOTIATION PREPARATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001209 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL ER SU SUBJECT: SUDAN: EASTERN FRONT - GNU NEGOTIATION PREPARATIONS REF: KHARTOUM 1043 Classified By: Charge D'Affairs C. Hume, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d ) ¶1. (C) In a May 21 meeting with Charge Hume, Yassir Arman said that he and Director of the National Security and Intelligence Services (NISS),Salah Gosh, planned to travel to Asmara on May 24 to discuss preparations for GNU-Eastern Front negotiations. Arman estimated that the negotiations would begin about two to three weeks after his meeting in Asmara. He invited Charge Hume to observe the talks and added that Norway, the European Union and the United Nations expressed interest in observing. Arman said that Asmara also invited Vice President Taha to attend the talks. ¶2. (C) In a separate meeting on May 22 with USAID Mission Director, Kate Almquist, Arman stated that he and SPLM S ecretary-General Pagan Amum were traveling to Asmara and he was unsure whether Salah Gosh would be accompanying them. He added that although the Eritreans invited Taha to the peace talks, President Bashir wanted Nafi Ali Nafi to attend. Arman told Almquist that he would not travel with Nafi to Asmara. ¶3. (C) Poloff spoke with Norwegian representative Elisabeth Schwabe-Hansen, who indicated that Norway had offered to facilitate or observe the negotiations if all the parties agreed. She said that the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM),the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Eritreans have requested Norwegian participation in the negotiations. Hansen expected that the Charge d'Affairs in Asmara may represent Norway in the talks because he was heavily involved in Eastern Sudan. Another possibility is the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has been closely following the situation in the East. However, she added that they were waiting for a formal invitation before determining their representatives for the negotiations. According to European Commission representative, Umberto Tavollato, the European Union would either send their special representative for Sudan or his political advisor based in Brussels to represent the E.U in the talks. Poloff also spoke with UN Political Officer, Judith Goetz, who said that the UN had not discussed sending representatives to Asmara because they had not received any signals that they would be welcomed there. HUME