PRES. BASHIR,S JUBA VISIT: SECURITY, ABYEI, CPA,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002747 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/26/2016 TAGS: PGOV PINR EAID MOPS SOCI ASEC US SU SUBJECT: PRES. BASHIR,S JUBA VISIT: SECURITY, ABYEI, CPA, AND DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSED REF: KHARTOUM 02682 Classified By: P/E Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: President Bashir,s November 18 visit to Juba has done little to assure southern Sudanese of Khartoum,s sincerity in ending support for the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and militia groups widely believed to be responsible for recent violence in Juba and surrounding areas. Bashir pledged to remove most SAF by early 2007. The GNU President proposed to establish an NCP-SPLM committee to look at Abyei issues, but again rejected the Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC) findings. He reiterated promises to build roads between key cities. While the public atmospherics were cordial and welcoming, senior SPLM/A and GoSS officials dismiss Bashir,s visit as bringing nothing new and revealing the North,s complicity in plans to destabilize the South. End Summary. -------------- -------------- Bashir's Visit to Juba only the Second since CPA Signed -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) GNU President Omer Hassan al Bashir,s hastily laid-on November 18 trip to Juba was only the second since the CPA signing. The local SPLM chapter was ordered to bring out the public to welcome Bashir, and members of the diplomatic community were invited to receive him at the airport, including representatives from the consulates general of the U.S., Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, and Eritrea. The Norwegians, Dutch, and Joint Donor Office representatives were invited to Bashir,s later speech. The SPLM could, however, only muster up groups of trucked-in school children and a modest number of ululating women to greet Bashir, along with the obligatory local and GoSS officials. -------------- -------------- Bashir's Visit in Response to Violence in Juba Area -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) The visit was a response to the GoSS, demands for answers to what the GoSS believes is mounting evidence of SAF complicity in the over 100 deaths in Juba town and the surrounding areas since October 2006. (Note: The SPLA continues to hold 15 captured SAF troops in Juba (reftel) under the control of the Joint Integrated Unit (JIU),and at least one SAF soldier subsequently accused in a separate incident, who reportedly has described the SAF,s involvement in the killings. End note.) Bashir was accompanied by Director of National Intelligence and Security Service Salah Gosh and others. They held three reportedly contentious meetigs with the GoSS an` CPLA-icnuding i pve=bqeF ithQQGoSS Prusilet calv`K)ip int,k}y iNis|g2so0e.` q$wrn|"nQ-)hi{tEz bQeiff w)mwkes Militia, SAF, JIUs -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Bashir spoke extemporaneously, in a relaxed manner, even joking occasionally, and only in Arabic with no translation. He focused on the need to avoid a return to war, support the CPA, build roads to link southern and northern cities, and resettle refugees. He told the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly that there were about 10,000 militia left who would be absorbed into the SAF or other security forces within a month or so. Bashir also pledged to remove the majority of the SAF from Southern Sudan by the end of January 2007 and the remainder by July 2007. He said only the JIUs should remain in Blue Nile and Bentiu (Unity State) instead of the SAF, but that the SAF should continue in Malakal (Upper Nile State) to protect &the international community8 and their workers. -------------- -------------- Bashir: Abyei should be Addressed by NCP-SPLM Committee -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) The GNU President again rejected the ABC conclusions and reportedly called for a NCP-SPLM committee to address the issue. Bashir concluded that if the South chose separation at the end of the interim period, then the North would remain a good neighbor. -------------- -------------- GoSS President Kiir Raises U.S. Travel Limitation KHARTOUM 00002747 002 OF 002 -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) During his private meeting with President Bashir, Goss President Kiir reportedly pressed for a lifting of the 25-mile restriction on travel for Americans due to the adverse impact it was having on Southern development programs, according to Minister of Regional Cooperation Barnaba Mariel Benjamin. -------------- -------------- SPLA Chief of Staff: Bashir Fails to Deal with Issues -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) In a conversation with CG, SPLA Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Oyai Deng Ajak dismissed the visit as yielding little on the security front and criticized Kiir,s conciliatory remarks before Bashir,s address. Deng said that in the private meetings the GoSS had accused Khartoum of: 1) keeping large numbers of SAF forces in &the oilfields8 of Upper Nile State and not turning Malakal over to the JIU; 2) failing to integrate ex-militia still in Torit, Malakal, and Wau; 3) refusing to allow the UN or SPLA to have any presence in Abyei; 4) failing to pay JIUs for three months, and not deploying SAF units to JIUs in Khartoum, leaving the SPLA isolated and open to skirmishes with police; and 5) clandestinely distributing arms to the SAF in the south. -------------- -------------- Pagan: SPLA Deployed around Juba to Counter Violence -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Separately, SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum told CG that the SPLA was deploying over 1,000 men around Juba town to address the recent violence, which he also attributed to the SAF. Amun described Khartoum,s actions as an &act of war,8 and spoke of the increasing view that the North was attempting to destabilize the South. Senior SPLA officers have described the situation in similarly stark terms, and report that up to 1,500 troops have been deployed to protect Juba and areas north, east, and south of the Southern capital. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) The visit, while historic, fell flat in delivering any message on a strategy to address the South,s immediate security concerns, CPA implementation, or development needs. Bashir did, however, score some public relations points while sporting a cowboy hat during his public address that matched the one Kiir wore, and appearing as comfortable in the South as he is in the North. Bashir has been criticized in Southern-supported media for excluding Southern journalists from participating in the visit and offering nothing of substance. The GoSS, however, may be taking an equally hard hit for failing to inform the public of the agenda and substance of the discussions, and Kiir for appearing too hospitable to Bashir. End comment. HUME