LRA NEGOTIATORS IN TOWN; UGANDANS YET TO COME

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001396

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINS PHUM UG SU
SUBJECT: LRA NEGOTIATORS IN TOWN; UGANDANS YET TO COME

REF: KHARTOUM 01322

KHARTOUM 00001396 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: CG Juba R. Whitehead, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: On June 7, CG met with David Pulkol,
Chairman of the Africa Leadership Institute in Kampala and
the former GOU Director of External Intelligence. Pulkol
explained that he had come to Juba on behalf of President
Museveni for two reasons ) to encourage the GoSS to stick
with CPA implementation and to advance a GOU delegation that
would establish contact with the Lord,s Resistance Army
(LRA),through proffered GoSS mediation. He expressed
skepticism about LRA sincerity, noting recent military
movement, and stressed that GOU openness to talks was not
open-ended. He said that the composition of the Ugandan
delegation was still under study, and that a LRA delegation
was already in Juba. No initial contact had taken place.
Pulkol was scheduled to meet with GoSS President Kiir and
offered to debrief on the session. End summary.

--------------
GOU Approaches Talks Cautiously
--------------


2. (C) Pulchol explained that President Museveni had
advanced him to Juba ahead of a GOU delegation that would
engage in still unspecified contacts with the Lord,s
Resistance Army (LRA). He said that the GOU had been
surprised that Riek Machar had met secretly with the LRA
without first informing Kampala. The GOU questioned the
value of this initiative, given LRA leader Joseph Kony,s
record and Machar,s former ties to Khartoum, but Museveni
felt bound by the historically close ties between the SPLM
and GOU to agree to talks. Pulchol added that this offer was
not open ended; if there was no progress towards a meaningful
solution, he expected the GOU to withdraw sometime in July.


3. (C) Pulchol said that there was skepticism in Kampala
that the GoSS initiative would fly. The LRA had already
acted in bad faith; 200 to 250 LRA fighters led by Dominique
Angwen had withdrawn from northern Uganda and moved northward
East of the Nile toward Torit, probably en route to rejoin
the main LRA force in Congo. The units of the UPDF stationed
in Southern Sudan remained in static positions, so the GOU
was uncertain exactly what the LRA movements signified. The
GOU had heard, however, that the LRA had attacked a truck on
the Juba-Torit Road on June 5. On May 18 and 29, other LRA
fighters had abducted eight Sudanese women from villages near
Yambio. Pulchol said that these attacks were more criminal
than political in nature, like most LRA actions. The
Khartoum Monitor of June 1 also reported that the LRA had
attacked the village of Khor Angerib on the Juba-Torit road,
looting and killing one civilian and wounding another.


4. (C) Pulchol said that there were no negotiation
modalities in place and no set schedule for talks, and he
expected none until after the return of GoSS Vice President
Riek Machar. Pulchol briefly reviewed the status of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment against five
senior LRA leaders, and noted that the GoSS donation of money
and food to the LRA has not been well received in many
quarters. Pulchol discussed possible ICC options and said
that he was uncertain what the ICC would do if Uganda reached
an arrangement with the LRA. He stressed that any agreement
would not necessarily be binding on anyone involved and cited
the case of Charles Taylor. It was also feasible that former
victims of Kony and the LRA would take individual legal
action against LRA leaders, which would not implicate any
government involved.

--------------
The GOU and LRA Line Ups
--------------


5. (C) Pulchol said that a final decision on the larger
Ugandan delegation had been under discussion when he had left
for Juba, but he understood that the likely head would be
either Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, Minister for Internal Affairs,
or Minister of Defense Mbabazi, who had just taken over as
Minister of Security. He could not say when the delegation
would travel to Juba.


6. (C) Pulchol said that an LRA delegation of twelve was
presently in Juba at the RAI Camp. There were five LRA
leaders, including Vincent Otti and Odianah. Kony was not
present. The other seven from this group were mostly from
the Ugandan diaspora in Europe and included a Dr. Nyeko and
two other women, including one known as Josephine, all based
in London. He could not say if all were Acholi, but said
that he thought that the group considered itself in

KHARTOUM 00001396 002.2 OF 002


opposition to the GOU. Pulchol believed that Simon Simon
(reftel) was also present in Juba, as was a Dr. Favio from
Sant'Egidio. Pulchol said that he had been in contact with a
Dr. Otek, a Sudanese Acholi from the now defunct Equatoria
Defense Force who had been close to Kony when the LRA and EDF
had cooperated as the proxies of Khartoum against the SPLA.

--------------
Conclusion
--------------


7. (C) If Pulkol's remarks are any indication, the Ugandans
do not expect great things from the talks. Pulkol admitted
that he had few concrete details at this point, but offered
to brief CG on any new developments after his next meeting
with Kiir. If he is correct, it would seem that the GoSS has
put a gloss on the new-found passivity of the LRA. We wll
attempt to find the names of others in the LRA delegation.
HUME