Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KHARTOUM1484
2006-06-25 14:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Khartoum
Cable title:  

SOUTH SUDAN VP MACHAR OUTLINES TALKS WITH LORD'S

Tags:  PREL PGOV PTER PINS PHUM SU 
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VZCZCXRO9822
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1484 1761440
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 251440Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3391
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 0032
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN CITY PRIORITY 0011
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001484 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER AND AF/SPG
NSC FOR COURVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINS PHUM SU
SUBJECT: SOUTH SUDAN VP MACHAR OUTLINES TALKS WITH LORD'S
RESISTANCE ARMY

REF: KHARTOUM 1396

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES CAMERON HUME REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001484

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER AND AF/SPG
NSC FOR COURVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINS PHUM SU
SUBJECT: SOUTH SUDAN VP MACHAR OUTLINES TALKS WITH LORD'S
RESISTANCE ARMY

REF: KHARTOUM 1396

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES CAMERON HUME REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary: Fifteen Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
negotiators in Juba are still awaiting the arrival of a
Ugandan delegation for peace talks, Southern Sudan Vice
President Riek Machar told the Assessment and Evaluation
Commission (AEC) on June 23. The group -- which does not
include any of the five people indicted by the International
Criminal Court -- is currently at work on their position
papers. But the Ugandan Government is reluctant to begin
talks, Machar said, and refused to accept any delegation not
constituted by LRA leader Joseph Kony. However, Machar had
met twice with Kony, and had assured the Ugandans that Kony
backed the delegation. Machar also defended the Government
of Southern Sudan's willingness to mediate, noting that Kony
was "a serious man," and that direct talks were "an African
solution to an African problem." End Summary.


2. (C) Fifteen LRA negotiators are currently in residence at
the RA International Camp in Juba, Southern Sudan, for peace
talks with Government of Uganda, according to Southern Sudan
Vice President Riek Machar. Twelve arrived before June 7
(reftel); at least one has already departed. According to
the Ugandan Consulate in Juba, the entire delegation includes
sixteen individuals:
--Martin Ojul
--Rock Okidi
--Peter Ongom
--Otim Okullo
--Krispus Ayena Odong
--Obonyo Olwent
--Justin Lebeja
--Joshua Otukene
--Okwonga Yusuf Adek
--Wilson Owiny
--Ray Achama
--Denis Okirot
--Sunay Ocaya
--Lt. Col. Santo Alit
--Col. Leonard Bwone Lubwa
--Dr. Lensio Onek


3. (C) Machar assured the AEC that the delegation does not
include the five LRA members indicted by the ICC. However,
Machar added, it does include several military officials,
lawyers, and teachers, including some currently living in the
United States, the United Kingdom, and Uganda. Ugandan
consulate officials be all of the above to be Acholi,
including the delegation's chairman, Dr. Onek -- who is
Sudanese in origin. The officials also note that only Alit
and Lubwa are believed to be active members of the LRA.


4. (C) Machar said he had written the Government of Uganda on
June 13, inviting them to send a delegation. The Ugandan
Ambassador had arrived on June 18 from Khartoum, but a
delegation had still not arrived from Kampala. Machar
believes that Uganda is reluctant to begin talks, and has
told the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) that it will not
deal with any LRA delegation not personally approved by LRA
leader Joseph Kony. Machar revealed that he had met twice
with Kony near the Sudan-Democratic Republic of Congo
border-- once on May 3, and once on June 11 -- and believed
that Kony was a "serious man." However, Machar added, "He's
concerned that people think he is a terrorist."


5. (C) Responding to a question from the British Ambassador,
Machar defended the GoSS' decision to mediate. The LRA was
not a "criminal organization" but a "real political
movement," he said, because a criminal organization could not
have survived for so long without political aims. Moreover,
Machar believed that negotiating with Kony had real benefits:
first, it lured him out of hiding, and second, it helped to
moderate the LRA. "There were no incidents for two weeks
after I met with Kony on May 3," he said.


6. (C) Moreover, Machar continued, the first goal of the GoSS
was to protect its people, and the fight between the LRA and
Uganda had harmed the people of Southern Sudan. The ICC had
indicted five LRA members, but that had done nothing to stop
the violence. "I won't say the ICC was wrong, but it has no
capacity to implement. The ICC is a European solution to an
African problem, but what we're doing is an African solution
to an African problem."
HUME