Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KHARTOUM2564
2006-10-29 05:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Khartoum
Cable title:  

GOSS VICE PRESIDENT TELLS SPECIAL ENVOY THAT

Tags:  PREL PGOV MOPS UG SU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3186
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2564/01 3020531
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 290531Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5042
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002564 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/SE AND AF/SPG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS UG SU
SUBJECT: GOSS VICE PRESIDENT TELLS SPECIAL ENVOY THAT
"DISTRUST" PERVADES LRA PEACE TALKS

REF: KHARTOUM 2527

Classified By: P/E Officer Michael Honigstein, Reason: Section 1.4 (b)
and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002564

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/SE AND AF/SPG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS UG SU
SUBJECT: GOSS VICE PRESIDENT TELLS SPECIAL ENVOY THAT
"DISTRUST" PERVADES LRA PEACE TALKS

REF: KHARTOUM 2527

Classified By: P/E Officer Michael Honigstein, Reason: Section 1.4 (b)
and (d).


1. GOSS-mediated peace talks between the Ugandan government
and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army were difficult and
protracted even before the latest upsurge in LRA-related
violence, GOSS Vice President Riek Machar told visiting
Presidential Special Envoy Andrew Natsios October 17. Their
discussion came a day before LRA forces attacked several
civilian vehicles on major roads east and south of Juba,
killing approximately 17 people (reftel). Machar sought U.S.
support for the talks. Machar, like many of his colleagues
in the GOSS, also asserted that Khartoum continues to supply
non-governmental militia in the south. End Summary.

--------------
LRA Talks
--------------


2. Talks have been underway since July 15, Machar recounted,
but there is still a pronounced lack of trust between the two
parties. LRA negotiators question the GOU's motives at every
turn, and force protracted debate on even trivial matters
like the use of the word "combatant." The GOU " stigmatizes"
and "castigates" the LRA, Machar said, and some members of
the GOU negotiating team believe the LRA can only be dealt
with through military means.


3. "Museveni has been telling me that since 2001," Natsios
replied. "Every time I would see him he would say the war
would be over in six months." Asked how the U.S. might
assist, Machar said "convince Museveni that there is no
military solution." Machar also pressed for U.S. financial
support for the peace talks, which he said were very
expensive for the cash-strapped GOSS. Natsios made no
commitments.


4. The parties had made reasonable progress toward a
protocol on a comprehensive approach to the social and
political roots of the LRA insurgency, Machar said. He and
his team were devoting at least eight hours a day to the
peace talks. It was possible that a protocol could be signed
"this week" setting the stage for additional agreements on

LRA assembly, disarmament and reintegration,
along with processes for justice, reconciliation and
accountability. The parties had agreed in principle on the
concept of "alternative justice," incorporating traditional
reconciliation mechanisms from northern Uganda, Machar said.
But there remained the vexing problem of "how to handle the
International Criminal Court (ICC)." Four of the LRA's top
commanders, including its leader Joseph Kony, are under ICC
indictment.


5. Natsios' meeting with Machar followed a spate of
LRA-related incidents in southern Sudan, including a clash
with cattle herders north of Juba, a clash between the LRA
and the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) east of Juba,
and an incident in which the LRA killed a UPDF captain south
of Juba. The day after Natsios and Machar met, the LRA
carried out two attacks on civilian vehicles on roads south
and east of Juba, killing approximately 17 people (reftel).
Both LRA and GOU delegations suspended
participation in the talks until the situation could be
clarified.

--------------
Machar: Khartoum Backs Southern Militia
--------------


6. Natsios asked Machar about continuing reports that the
government in Khartoum is supplying militia in the south.
These reports are true, Machar asserted unequivocally. The
SPLM had reconciled with most southern militia and associated
political factions formerly backed by Khartoum, Machar said.
The difficult process of integrating former Khartoum-backed
militia into the SPLA and other security forces was underway.
Nevertheless, Machar claimed, Director of Sudan Military
Services and Intelligence Salah
Gosh and others are supplying potential dissidents to prevent
the consolidation of GOSS control over southern Sudan. While
at the moment these militia are "not fighting," Machar said,
they pose a significant security threat. Machar also
asserted that the Khartoum-backed Popular Defense Forces
sometimes cross the north-south border.

--------------
Sanctions, the CPA and Oil

KHARTOUM 00002564 002 OF 002


--------------


7. "We miss American companies here," Machar said, referring
to U.S. sanctions on Sudan. Natsios replied that the U.S.
has just rescinded most sanctions affecting southern Sudan,
and that more U.S. companies will now be free to do business
in the south pursuant to the Darfur Peace and Accountability
Act of 2006 and the implementing Executive Order signed 13
October. However, Natsios noted, significant sanctions
remained in place for the petroleum sector. Machar said that
while the GOSS understands the
rationale for sanctions, it worries that southerners will be
most affected. The fledgling GOSS operates almost
exclusively on oil revenue and donor funds, Machar noted.
Delays in demarcating the north-south border, implementing
the decisions of the Abyei Border Commission, and
"operationalizing the National Petroleum Commission" were
very worrisome. Each of these factors, Machar said,
affects the viability of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA). Natsios said the United States is aware of these
concerns and is prepared to back a meeting of the IGAD
guarantors of the CPA to review the status of implementation
of the agreement. Machar said he would welcome such a
meeting, and asserted that the lack of an "enforcement
mechanism" is a major weakness in the agreement.
EWHITAKER