SUDAN: Update on U.S. Government Support for

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 001359

SIPDIS

AIDAC

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE PASS USAID/W
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/OTI
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, SFO
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
NSC FOR JBRAUSE, NSC/AFRICA FOR SHORTLEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EAID PREF PREL PHUM SOCI SU MOPS KPKO AU
SUBJECT: SUDAN: Update on U.S. Government Support for
Darfur Peace Agreement Implementation

REF: KHARTOUM 1282

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Summary and Comment
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1. (SBU) As described in previous cable traffic, U.S.
Government priorities for Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA)
implementation are three-fold: (1) quickly disseminate
information about the content of the DPA to counter
confusion and anger among Sudanese due to misinformation
or lack of information; (2) support the DPA
implementation process to the greatest extent possible
through the African Union (AU),in order to shore up the
African Union Mission in Sudan's (AMIS) credibility; and
(3) immediately increase the capacity of the SLM-Minawi
(SLM-M) faction to fulfill its obligations under the DPA.


2. (SBU) Immediate efforts by AMIS, UNMIS, and government
donors to ensure widespread dissemination of information
about the DPA are underway. Support for DPA
implementation through AMIS proceeds, albeit slowly.


3. (SBU) Preliminary results of a USAID-funded assessment
of opportunities for peace-building and reconciliation
reveal that continued lack of security and distrust on
the part of displaced populations regarding Government
intentions necessitate an extremely careful approach to
community-level engagement in the near term. End summary
and comment.

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Immediate Outreach Efforts Underway
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4. (U) Post is pursuing multiple avenues for increasing
access to information about the DPA among key
stakeholders in Darfur and Khartoum. Post has provided
the AU factsheet to USAID-funded Sudan Radio Service
(SRS) for broadcast on shortwave radio into Darfur.
Through funding from USAID's Office of Transition
Initiatives (USAID/OTI),academic experts have translated
the AU factsheet on the DPA into simple Arabic and will
shortly translate it into the major tribal languages
spoken in Darfur (Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit, Dajo, Tama,
Midoob, Berti) for broadcast on SRS and state radio
stations as possible, and distribution on cassette. USAID
Director will meet with the head of Government-controlled
TV and radio outlets to discuss freeing up air time for
"neutral" programming on the DPA.


5. (U) Additionally, State/PRM and USAID-funded partner
Internews is broadcasting material about the DPA provided
by Embassy N'Djamena on Radio Absoun, which reaches
Darfurian refugees in IDP camps on the Chadian border.


6. (SBU) In addition to radio broadcast, USAID/OTI has
identified several Khartoum-based NGOs with offices in
Darfur that are willing to conduct community-level DPA
outreach efforts. These groups are developing their
dissemination strategy, which will include distribution
of the DPA full text, AU summary, and UNMIS "DPA Made
Easy" brochure. Several NGO representatives are on the
ground in Darfur presently discussing outreach efforts
with local groups. One organization has already received
funding for distribution of 600 copies of the full text
in Arabic and English in Khartoum and El Fasher. (Note:
Due to the still controversial nature of the DPA, only
the most courageous groups are currently willing to
conduct dissemination and outreach activities. End
note.)


7. (U) USAID/OTI is also exploring with interested
academics and NGOs a plan to organize discussion seminars
in Khartoum and at the three major universities in El
Fasher, Nyala, and Geneina.

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AU As A Partner Is Amenable But Weak
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8. (SBU) Embassy and USAID officials have met with AMIS

KHARTOUM 00001359 002 OF 004


in Khartoum and El Fasher to discuss support to the AU
and the signatories for DPA implementation. AMIS
officials indicate that they are eager for assistance and
support, but follow-through from their side is slow.


9. (U) As reported in reftel, on several occasions Post
has discussed with AMIS officials the establishment of
office facilities for DPA signatories and AU DPA
Implementation Teams in El Fasher and Khartoum.
USAID/OTI will provide an in-kind grant to the AU in El
Fasher. USAID/OTI has already identified an appropriate
facility and is now securing the lease and beginning
renovations. Assistance with Commerce licenses will be
needed in order to provide computer and communications
equipment.


10. (U) Per reftel, Post has also discussed with AMIS
officials the establishment of an office in Khartoum.
AMIS would like a facility that could house up to 50
people including the DPA implementation team, DDDC
preparatory committee staff, signatories, and UK-seconded
media/outreach staff. Support for this office will be
provided through an existing Department contract with
Dyncorp, and implementation awaits the arrival of Dyncorp
staff from Washington. AMIS officials identified this as
their most urgent need at present and are extremely eager
for progress on this facility. Again, assistance with
Commerce licenses will be needed in order to provide
computer and communications equipment.


11. (SBU) The SLM-M and AMIS have also requested that
advisors already expert on Darfur and familiar to the SLM-
M be deployed as soon as possible to assist with wealth
and power-sharing issues; several individuals have
already been identified by SLM-M and AMIS and
arrangements are currently underway. USAID/OTI is also
prepared to second technical support through the AU to
SLM-M in the form of Arabic-speaking strategic
communications advisors. These individuals are prepared
to deploy and Post has provided some CVs to MS.
Communications support will be coordinated with three-
person team seconded to AMIS from UK. (Note: SLM-M is
also keenly interested in arrival of USG security expert
to provide assistance in this area. End note.)

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Quick Impact Projects and Humanitarian/Recovery
Programming
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12. (U) In anticipation of the pending supplemental,
which includes $66.7 million for non-food humanitarian
assistance in Darfur, USAID's Darfur Field Office is
urging its partners to submit proposals that integrate
activities supporting the potential return of internally-
displaced persons and that maintain flexibility to
responds to DPA-related humanitarian needs as they
develop on the ground. USAID is also identifying
possibilities for quick-impact projects that will more
immediately demonstrate a tangible impact of the DPA,
where security will allow.


13. (U) USAID is also intensely engaged with preparations
for the Darfur Joint Assessment Mission (JAM). The JAM
will undertake an assessment of recovery and
reconstruction/development needs to present to donors at
a pledging conference hosted by the Netherlands in early
October. Organization of the Core Coordinating Group
(CCG),chaired by the Netherlands and comprised of the
parties to the DPA, the UN and World Bank, and key
donors, is well underway. USAID will provide funding and
technical experts to the JAM, as well as serve on the CCG
which will provide overall guidance to the JAM.

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Other Donor Support
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14. (SBU) Other donors are also planning early support
for DPA implementation and quick impact projects. UK
will provide a three-person communications team to the AU
to strengthen capacity to design and implement

KHARTOUM 00001359 003 OF 004


dissemination and outreach strategies. USAID is prepared
to provide complementary media support to DPA signatories
as well as administrative platform for UK team, through
facilities in El Fasher and Khartoum. UK is also
preparing to provide English language training for 100
SLM-Minawi. The Netherlands and Norway both have funding
for quick impact projects, looking to UNMIS to take lead
on identifying and coordinating these activities. Norway
is prepared to fund logistics for local-level meetings in
support of the DPA, as well as a DPA
Signatories/Implementation Team office in Nyala similar
to what USG has offered for Khartoum and El Fasher.


15. (SBU) Efforts between AMIS and UNMIS to coordinate
DPA implementation support are not off to a great start,
though meetings between the two have been held. UNMIS
has produced a matrix of actions to take place, many of
which fall into AMIS' area of responsibility. AMIS is
receiving offers of assistance from a variety of
bilateral donors, and is expected to provide a
consolidated set of priorities for donors to coordinate
and organize around.

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On the Ground, Peacebuilding Remains Sensitive Topic
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16. (SBU) USAID fielded a two-person consultant team
including Sudan expert Victor Tanner and a local Darfur
expert linked to El Fasher University to conduct an
assessment of short- and medium-term opportunities for
peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts in Darfur. The
team is still in the field, having already traveled to
Nyala, Abu Ajura, Tulus, Katila, Idd-al-Fursan, and Kass,
and is scheduled to travel to Geneina, Mornei, Zallingei,
Saraf Omra, Birkat Saira, and Kabkabia.


17. (SBU) More complete findings of the assessment will
be forthcoming at the end of fieldwork o/a June 15, but
preliminary results suggest that the situation on the
ground at present requires an extremely sensitive
approach to community-level reconciliation efforts. Key
informants among displaced communities report that they
view the conflict as primarily between communities and
the GoS, rather than between tribes, and they view inter-
tribal reconciliation as secondary to the need for
addressing government violence.


17. (SBU) The GoS has supported a number of tribal
reconciliation efforts, but these are viewed by many key
stakeholders as an attempt by the government to decrease
their own responsibility for the conflict, thereby
rendering tribal reconciliation efforts suspect in the
eyes of many.


18. (SBU) The team reports that the topic of the DPA is
still very sensitive, and most community representatives
do not even want to discuss it, although this will likely
change if additional Fur leaders sign. Many Darfurian
elites in the major cities have reportedly not yet seen
or read the DPA, therefore a phased dissemination
strategy beginning in urban centers and proceeding to
rural areas and IDP camps may be most appropriate.

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Support for SLM Leadership Tenuous
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19. (SBU) Feedback from the USAID-funded travel to North
and South Darfur of a Sudanese NGO director to interview
various communities on the DPA suggests that support
within the SLM for either Abdul Wahid or Minni Minawi
remains extremely tenuous, with different dynamics
operating in each case. The Fur and other SLM-AW
constituencies are reportedly frustrated with Wahid and
may seek outside support to convene a conference to
discuss leadership issues.


20. (SBU) This organization further reports that support
for Minawi within the Zaghawa tribe is increasingly
tenuous and more and more localized to his sub-tribe and
clan base. Incidents of the past week around Birmaza in

KHARTOUM 00001359 004 OF 004


North Darfur cited to support this. While these reports
may reflect one perspective on Minawi's hold on
leadership, the ICRC sub-delegation head in El Fasher
told a USG delegation on June 1 that SLM-M is
"crumbling".

STEINFELD