UNOCHA OFFICIAL TO SE NATSIOS: DARFUR DETERIORATING

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 002879

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER AND AF/SPG
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL SU UN EC
SUBJECT: UNOCHA OFFICIAL TO SE NATSIOS: DARFUR DETERIORATING

Classified By: CDA Cameron Hume, Reason: Sections 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) During December 10 meeting with SE Natsios, Deputy
Director for Sudan of the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Michael McDonagh detailed the
deteriorating security situation in Darfur. He noted that
the UN had launched six evacuations of its staff in the
previous week and were preparing for further instability.
McDonagh said that December had been a troubled month in past
years, with Sudanese government-inspired attacks occurring in
both December 2004 and 2005. According to McDonagh,
humanitarian access in North Darfur had declined from a
100-percent in April 2006 to being the worst in the region
because the Janjaweed were targeting it as a Zaghawa
homeland. He warned that as the number of no-go areas
increased, so did the potential for mass malnutrition.
McDonagh said that Nyala remained the only safe airport in
the three Darfur states.


2. (C) McDonagh criticized Senior Assistant to the President
and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader Minni Minawi, the
African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS),and the European donor
community for not protecting civilians. He called Minawi a
"paper tiger," whose support among the population continued
to decline. He said that the National Redemption Front (NRF)
was taking control of some of Minawi's area near Al Daien and
Haskanita amid mounting criticism that Minawi could no longer
ensure security. McDonagh claimed that he had asked AMIS
commanders in El Fasher how they could sleep at night when
80,000 were threatened within two kilometers of their
headquarters. He also said that he had seen "no outrage"
among the European donors, with the exception of the UK and
Norway, about the worsening situation. "The Sudanese lies
are being accepted in Europe," said McDonagh. He said that
USG and UN criticism of the Sudanese government had yielded
no dividends, "not even after 600 delegations to Darfur."


3. (C) According to McDonagh, the Sudanese Armed Forces'
(SAF) offensive had been a "complete failure," so the
Sudanese government has armed Arab militias to "terrorize"
the civilian population. He considered this an implicit
admission by the Sudanese government that the SAF lacked the
capacity to prosecute the war. McDonagh added that this,
combined with a more highly politicized Darfurian population,
made the situation combustible. He quoted Deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General Manuel Da Silva as
saying that contrary to 2004, the Darfurian people would now
"stand, fight, and die politically, not retreat into the bush
and die privately."


4. (U) SE Natsios' staff cleared this message.
HUME