LITTLE PROGRESS WITH REMAINING OTHER ARMED

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001418 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV MOPS PHUM PINS SU SUBJECT: LITTLE PROGRESS WITH REMAINING OTHER ARMED GROUPS IN SOUTH SUDAN ¶1. (SBU) Summary: GoSS Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Gabriel Changeson reported that there has been little progress in dealing with the remaining other armed groups (OAGs) in Southern Sudan, with no definitive breakthrough to date. Two of three warlords have visited Juba, and Vice President Machar spoke with a third in Khartoum. Southerners in the Khartoum Government of National Unity (GoNU) reportedly have sought to stop further rapprochement between the GoSS/SPLM and the OAGs. End summary. -------------- GoSS Coaxing OAGS to Join the Fold -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Gabriel Changeson, a Nuer with close ties to former SSDF and current Deputy SPLA Commander Paolino Matiep, told CG that the GoSS continues to try to convince remaining OAGs to comply with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). There has been some progress; Changeson said that he had met with Colonel Gordon Kong of Pangjak in Juba, as did Machar. Kong was chosen fairly by the people of Pangjak as their commissioner, Changeson said. Also, Changeson told Major General Gabriel Tong Chan that while it is not GoSS policy that all militias must affiliate with the SPLM, it was important that Tong sever his ties with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Khartoum. Tong has not yet revealed his intentions. ¶3. (SBU) Changeson was dismissive of Gordon Kong, who he said was afraid to leave Khartoum and return to his former base in Nasir. Machar also met with Kong in Khartoum during the first week of June, but had not succeeded in convincing Machar's former ally to make his peace with the GoSS. Changeson said that this would be a desirable outcome, but Kong's lack of popular support did not make this imperative. -------------- -------------- Changeson Warns Murle Not to be Integrated into SAF -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Changeson said that Ishmael Konyi and his Pibor (Murle) militia posed a greater threat. Konyi had visited Juba, but had not agreed to sever his ties to the North and had recently said he would affiliate with the SAF rather than the SPLA. Changeson said that this was acceptable, but Konyi had refused to honor the CPA provision that required his militia to withdraw from the South with the SAF as it withdrew. Changeson said that he had warned Konyi that Khartoum would never integrate his Murle forces into the SAF - he was useful only as a disruptive proxy force operating in the South, with Khartoum able to deny that it was responsible. -------------- -- GNU Officials Working to Nix SSDF-SPLA Link-Ups -------------- -- ¶5. (SBU) Changeson said that two Southerners in the GoNU had done their utmost to prevent the remaining OAGs from coming to terms with the GoSS. Dr. Riek Gai, the Political Advisor for President Bashir, and Brigadier Gatluak Deng, Minister of Animal Resources and Fisheries, remained the most significant impediments to resolving the OAG problem. HUME