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 The LRA had already acted in bad faith; 200 to 250 LRA fighters led by Dominique Angwen had withdrawn from northern Uganda and moved northward East of the Nile toward Torit, probably en route to rejoin the main LRA force in Congo.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