Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KHARTOUM2464
2006-10-06 09:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Khartoum
Cable title:  

DARFUR: SOUTHERN SUDAN VP WARNS THAT DARFUR

Tags:  PREL MARR SU UG CG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1953
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2464 2790939
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 060939Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4881
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 002464 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR A/S FRAZER, NSC FOR COURVILLE AND SHORTLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2026
TAGS: PREL MARR SU UG CG
SUBJECT: DARFUR: SOUTHERN SUDAN VP WARNS THAT DARFUR
ENDANGERS COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT

REF: A. A.) KHARTOUM 2426

B. B.) KHARTOUM 2443

C. C.) KHARTOUM 2425

Classified By: CDA R. Powers, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 002464

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR A/S FRAZER, NSC FOR COURVILLE AND SHORTLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2026
TAGS: PREL MARR SU UG CG
SUBJECT: DARFUR: SOUTHERN SUDAN VP WARNS THAT DARFUR
ENDANGERS COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT

REF: A. A.) KHARTOUM 2426

B. B.) KHARTOUM 2443

C. C.) KHARTOUM 2425

Classified By: CDA R. Powers, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) In a wide-ranging discussion September 29, Government
of Southern Sudan (GoSS) Vice President Riek Machar warned
flatly that "Darfur can destroy the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA)." Machar spoke to Sudan Programs Group
(AF/SPG) Director Lauren Landis, who was visiting Juba.
Sudan President Omar el-Bashir's angry rejection of UN
deployment in Darfur is echoed in a growing belligerence
toward his CPA partners in the South, Machar said. Landis
heard a similar message from GoSS President Salva Kiir (Ref.
A).


2. (C) The Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) was
forced to take a public stand in favor of the deployment of
UN forces in Darfur, Machar explained, after Bashir's heated
public statements that deployment threatened Sudanese
sovereignty. Machar complained that Bashir at no time
consulted with SPLM members of the Government of National
Unity (GNU). (Separately, GoSS Minister of Regional
Cooperation Barnaba Marial Benjamin told CG James that Bashir
simply announced the policy at the end of a Council of
Ministers meeting, which he attended, without allowing SPLM
representatives or others a chance to discuss.)


3. (C) Machar complained that "the national cake which should
be used for development is being spent on a war in Darfur."
Half of "southern" oil revenue is remitted to the north, he
said, "and that money funds the war." The GoSS is also
worried about the potential movement of displaced persons
from Darfur into southern Sudan (Ref. B),which would pose an
immediate humanitarian burden, exacerbate ethnic tensions,
and complicate voter registration and balloting in elections
expected in 2008. American sanctions are already exacting an
economic toll on southern Sudan, Machar continued. Should
Sudan's war in Darfur lead to additional sanctions by the
international community, he said, the south would suffer more
than the north.


4. (C) The Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) "has not brought
peace," Machar noted. He urged a resumption of contacts
between the GNU in Khartoum and other armed groups (OAGs),
particularly on the issue of "compensation." (Note: Machar
told CG earlier that the compensation envisioned was not
individual but rather area development. End Note). The GoSS
could help facilitate such contacts, he added, but the GNU
has shown little interest. Nor has the GoSS made much
progress toward bringing together the non-signatories to the
DPA, although it is committed in principle to doing so,
Machar said. Machar recommended that the DPA be "reviewed"
but not replaced.


5. (C) Even without Darfur, Machar said, there are growing
problems with CPA implementation. Bashir's refusal to accept
or act on the recommendations of the Abyei Border Commission
is worrisome, according to Machar, because Abyei could bring
neighboring states "into war." Bashir's approach to Abyei is
also indicative of his government's commitment to the rest of
the CPA. The North-South ad hoc Border Committee is being
starved of funds by the national government, Machar claimed,
and failure to resolve border issues will have a direct and
negative impact on troop re-deployment, census-taking, and
voter registration. In other areas, such as formation of the
Joint Integrated Units (JIUs),Machar said there has been
adequate progress. But the overall record is not good, the
Vice President concluded, and the prospects for successful
implementation of the CPA are growing more and more uncertain.


6. (U) SPG Director Landis was not able to review this cable
prior to departing Sudan October 1. Her discussion with
Machar on GoSS-brokered peace talks with the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) is reported separately (Ref. C).
HUME