Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KHARTOUM2650
2006-11-09 16:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Khartoum
Cable title:  

SUDAN/UGANDA/CONGO: LRA PEACE TALKS RECESS,

Tags:  PREL MARR CG UG SU 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHKH #2650/01 3131614
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O 091614Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5180
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002650 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR CG UG SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN/UGANDA/CONGO: LRA PEACE TALKS RECESS,
COMBATANTS FAIL TO RETURN TO ASSEMBLY AREAS

REF: KHARTOUM 02609

Classified By: P/E Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002650

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR CG UG SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN/UGANDA/CONGO: LRA PEACE TALKS RECESS,
COMBATANTS FAIL TO RETURN TO ASSEMBLY AREAS

REF: KHARTOUM 02609

Classified By: P/E Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Peace talks between the Government of Uganda
(GOU) and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) recessed
November 8 after the parties failed to reach agreement on a
lengthy protocol addressing "root causes" of the 20-year LRA
insurgency. LRA combatants missed a November 8 deadline for
assembly on the Sudan/Uganda border, but the Uganda People's
Defense Forces (UPDF) also failed to withdraw from areas near
the designated assembly point. UN Under Secretary General
Jan Egeland is apparently ready to meet LRA chief Joseph Kony
at the Sudan-DRC border if the LRA agrees to release a number
of women and children to his custody. The Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA) is attempting to quell LRA-style
attacks south and east of Juba, and believes the Ugandan
rebel group is not responsible for the most recent incidents.
End Summary.

--------------
Talks Recess
--------------


2. (C) Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) Vice President
Riek Machar, mediating the GOU-LRA talks, has been pushing
hard for an agreement on ways to address the "root causes" of
the LRA conflict since the renewal of the Cessation of
Hostilities Agreement on November 1. LRA delegates,
according to several sources at the talks, balked at reaching
a final accord on "root causes," and sought time to consult
with Joseph Kony and other LRA leaders at Ri-Kwangba on the
Sudan-DRC border. GOU negotiators, who had firmly rebuffed
the LRA delegation's request to consult in northern Uganda,
acquiesced in the proposal for a recess that would allow the
LRA negotiators to meet with Kony. The GOU delegation
departed Juba on November 8, and LRA delegates prepared to
travel to Ri-Kwangba and meet with their leadership. The GOU
delegation has expressed growing frustration with the talks
and the LRA delegation's apparent lack of authority or
willingness to resolve key issues. It is not clear when
talks will resume.


3. (C) GoSS and GOU negotiators presented a draft to the LRA

earlier this week that attempted to limit the areas open for
further discussion during this phase of the peace talks. A
UN official attached to the mediation team told us the
remaining areas of dispute are: (1) transitional security
arrangements; (2) the establishment of a ministry for
northern Uganda; (3) the introduction of some form of
federalism to Uganda; and (4) a request for compensation by
the GOU for cattle stolen from ethnic Acholi in northern
Uganda in 1986. The official said a recess is good idea in
principle, but warned that there is a significant danger that
the LRA will seek to introduce new issues when talks resume.

--------------
No Withdrawal, No Assembly
--------------


4. (C) SPLA Maj. Gen. Wilson Deng, who commands the forces
providing security and food to the LRA at the Owiny-Kibul
assembly point, told ConGen staff on November 9 that the LRA
had not yet assembled there. LRA forces east of the Nile
were required to gather at Owiny-Kibul, on the Sudan-Uganda
border, by November 8 under the renewed Cessation of
Hostilities Agreement. However, Deng said, Ugandan forces
had also not yet withdrawn from locations near Owiny-Kibul,
as required under the agreement. He said he expected the
UPDF to withdraw "soon." In any case, Deng said, the UPDF
only has a "platoon plus" at Palataka and a "platoon" at
Tabika.


5. (C) During negotiations to renew the Cessation of
Hostilities Agreement, GoSS VP Machar had pressed for a
complete Ugandan withdrawal from points east of the
Juba-Nimule road, which runs north and south along the east
bank of the Nile. In the end negotiators agreed less
precisely that "the GoSS shall ensure security in the general
area east of Nimule)Juba road to the satisfaction of the
parties."


6. (C) There remains considerable confusion over where
Ugandan forces are deployed east of the Nile, and which
forces will be withdrawn. Prior to their departure, sources
on the Ugandan delegation confirmed that their forces would
withdraw from Palataka and Tabika. One UPDF officer said
they were not required to withdraw from other locations east
of the Nile, citing specifically a UPDF detachment at
Parajok. Gen. Deng said there is no such detachment. The
UPDF, he claims, are deployed at Nisitu and Aru Junction --

KHARTOUM 00002650 002 OF 002


locations nearer to Juba -- and would remain there for the
time being.


7. (C) Deng had no direct comment on allegations in the media
that the SPLA had again supplied food to the LRA at locations
outside the agreed assembly points on November 3. Deng had
previously admitted providing food to the LRA outside the
assembly area during October. Deng also confirmed that a
small group of LRA arrived in Owiny-Kibul on November 8 and
requested food which they could take back with them to their
camp. Deng said he instructed the local commander to deny
the request, noting that removal of food from the assembly
area is a violation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.

--------------
Egeland to Meet Kony?
--------------


8. (C) Meanwhile, UN USG for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland
has informed the LRA that he is prepared to meet LRA chief
Joseph Kony at Ri-Kwangba on November 12, according to a UN
source in Juba. Accounts differ over whether the LRA or
Egeland first proposed the meeting. Egeland has asked that
the LRA release an unspecified number of women and children
to his custody during the meeting, according to the UN
official, and will not meet with Kony unless Kony accepts
this condition. LRA second-in-command Vincent Otti objected
strenuously to this request, according to a UN official who
spoke to him directly by telephone. According to the
official, Otti said "you want to separate us (from the women
and children) so the UN can bomb us." It is unclear whether
the meeting will take place. Despite this uncertainty,
Machar and the GOSS were making detailed plans to transport
Egeland, the mediation team, the LRA delegates, and several
observers to Ri-Kwangba.


9. (C) Included in the observer delegation is Jongomoyi
Okidi-Olal, a U.S. citizen of Ugandan origin. Okidi-Olal has
attended the last several sessions of the peace talks as an
observer, at Machar's invitation. Officials from both the
GOU and the GOSS have separately questioned ConGen staff
about Okidi-Olal's relationship with the U.S. Government.
Okidi-Olal has distributed several business cards to
participants in the negotiations labeled "U.S. Department of
the Army." The cards bear the seals of the United States and
the US Department of the Army, and include Okidi-Olal's U.S.
military address (jongomoyi.okidiolala@us.army.mil). ConGen
staff, who have not met Okidi-Olal, believe his activities
significantly compromise the credibility of both State
Department and DOD staff operating in Juba.

--------------
SPLA Moves Against Insecurity
--------------


10. (C) There has been a respite in the insecurity that has
gripped areas east and south of Juba since mid-October. The
LRA-style attacks have killed 70-100 people, according to
senior SPLA officers. The last known incident occurred
November 2-3 between Magari and Birinyang (aka Bilinyang) on
the road between Juba and Mongalla. Seven people reportedly
died in the incident, the latest of several attacks on public
transport buses. Though many of the attacks are consistent
with LRA tactics, SPLA officials increasingly believe that
the LRA are not responsible for most of the recent incidents.
Though they acknowledge that LRA elements have played some
role, they lay most blame on other armed groups -- notably
"remnants" of the Equatoria Defence Force militia -- and
alleged backers in the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). SPLA
General Deng told ConGen staff November 9 that the SPLA had
arrested the "commander" of the group that carried out the
latest attack, and that this person is "not LRA." Deng
claimed that a brigade of SPLA forces is now fully deployed
to secure transportation routes north, east and south of
Juba. The movement of people and goods along these routes
nevertheless remains severely restricted.
POWERS