Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KHARTOUM2919
2006-12-28 10:29:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Khartoum
Cable title:  

SUDAN - INCREASING DISCONTENT AMONG THE MISSERIYA

Tags:  EAID KDEM PGOV PHUM PREF SOCI SU KHDP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5377
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2919/01 3621029
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 281029Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5676
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 002919 

SIPDIS

AIDAC
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
NAIROBI FOR SFO
NSC FOR PMARCHAM, MMAGAN, AND TSHORTLEY
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
USUN FOR TMALY
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2026
TAGS: EAID KDEM PGOV PHUM PREF SOCI SU KHDP
SUBJECT: SUDAN - INCREASING DISCONTENT AMONG THE MISSERIYA
GROUP IN ABYEI

KHARTOUM 00002919 001.2 OF 003


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 03 KHARTOUM 002919

SIPDIS

AIDAC
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
NAIROBI FOR SFO
NSC FOR PMARCHAM, MMAGAN, AND TSHORTLEY
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
USUN FOR TMALY
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2026
TAGS: EAID KDEM PGOV PHUM PREF SOCI SU KHDP
SUBJECT: SUDAN - INCREASING DISCONTENT AMONG THE MISSERIYA
GROUP IN ABYEI

KHARTOUM 00002919 001.2 OF 003


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


1. (C) Summary: On November 16, a crowd of 700 demonstrated
in the Misseriya town of Al Fula, Southern Kordofan State, to
protest the Government of National Unity,s (GNU) failure to
provide the Misseriya people with their share of oil
revenues. In a subsequent meeting on November 18, the
Misseriya Paramount Chief told a USAID representative that
his people sacrificed for Sudan,s peace and that they are
not seeing the expected benefits from their efforts. The
Paramount Chief believes that the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) did not resolve the major issues between the
Misseriya and Dinka around Abyei and feels that this lack of
resolution, together with the findings of the Abyei
Boundaries Commission (ABC),is likely to cause increased
tensions and conflict as the census, elections, and
referendum unfold. End summary.

-------------- --------------
Demonstrations in Al Fula against the Central Government
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) According to the local newspaper Ray Al Shaab,
approximately 700 people and 20 speakers gathered at Al Fula
on November 16 to protest the GNU,s failure to implement CPA
provisions that allocate portions of oil revenue from the
area to the Misseriya people. (Note: With the signing of
the CPA, Western Kordofan State * an area populated
primarily by the Misseriya ethnic group * was split and
integrated into Northern and Southern Kordofan states. The
CPA allocated 1 percent of oil revenues coming from Southern
Kordofan to the area that was formerly Western Kordofan. In

addition, 2 percent of revenues from the oil-rich Abyei area
was allocated to the Misseriya, and another 2 percent split
equally between former Western Kordofan and Southern
Kordofan. End note.)


3. (C) The protesters demanded their share of the region,s
oil profits, comparing the lack of development in Misseriya
towns to the prosperity of El Jaili, a town north of Khartoum
that receives a portion of the profits from the oil refinery
operating there. The protesters gave the GNU one month to
respond to these demands. According to the former Three
Areas researcher for the CPA,s Assessment and Evaluation
Commission (AEC),a local security officer in Muglad
confirmed that the protest took place, but noted that he did
not believe the Misseriya are currently unified enough to be
capable of collectively taking up arms against the GNU.

-------------- -
Misseriya Unification on Wealth-Sharing Issues
-------------- -


4. (SBU) The former researcher also stated that the protests
may have been organized by members of the Al Shamam (People
of the Misseriya) organization. Al Shamam was founded in a
conference held in Khartoum between May 15 and 17, 2006, with
a mission of bringing together the Misseriya people to ensure
that they receive their share of the country,s wealth. The
director of Al Shamam is former Labor Union leader Suliman
Debelo.

-------------- --------------
Discontent with Progress of the Western Kordofan Fund
-------------- --------------


5. (C) During a meeting with a USAID representative, the
Misseriya Paramount Chief, Emir Mukhtar Babu Nimir, stated
that the Misseriya made important concessions during peace
negotiations by agreeing to integrate Western Kordofan into
Southern Kordofan for the sake of peace; however, many
Misseriya remain unhappy with the outcome. To appease the
Misseriya, an appendix was added to the CPA establishing the
Western Kordofan Fund (WKF),to which the GNU is to transfer
funds for development in Misseriya areas. According to the
Paramount Chief, the GNU has allocated approximately USD 1
million to this fund. However, the Paramount Chief stated
that the Misseriya people have not seen benefits from the WKF
and believe that the individuals running the fund, including
Director General Ahmed Sahli Saloha, are sympathetic to the

KHARTOUM 00002919 002.2 OF 003


GNU and corrupt. Both the Paramount Chief and the former AEC
researcher indicated that local community leaders have
claimed that those managing the fund are using the money as
bribes to gain political support in future elections.


6. (SBU) The Paramount Chief also noted that Misseriya
leaders and communities had come together and identified
development priorities for Misseriya areas, but that this
document had not been considered by the fund,s manager.

-------------- --------------
Paramount Chief: Abyei Situation Moving Towards Conflict
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) The Paramount Chief said that the Misseriya reject
the ABC,s findings. The Chief stated that the
&international experts and educated Dinka (of the ABC)8
ceded Misseriya land to the Dinka that the Dinka had not
previously claimed. (Note: Following the publishing of the
ABC,s findings, the Misseriya publicly claimed that Meiram,
Nama, Heglig, and Kaylak are towns that were given to the
Dinka that the Dinka had not claimed. End note.) The Chief
noted that traditional leaders from both ethnic groups were
capable of coming to a peaceful, more reasonable, and widely
accepted resolution than the ABC,s &academic8 solution,
which he feels did not consider the current realities of
people on the ground.


8. (C) (Note: In late September 2006, the Dinka Director of
the Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission
(SSRRC)/GNU Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in Abyei, Bol
Dan Deng, told a USAID representative that Meiram was a
Misseriya town hosting a majority population of Dinka
internally displaced persons (IDPs). Deng warned that
tensions were rising due to the strain IDPs were putting on
the town,s resources. Following this discussion, USAID
planned to conduct a trip to Meiram to assess the situation
and determine appropriate support. On November 9, fighting
broke out between militia allied to the Sudan People,s
Liberation Army (SPLA) and remnants of the pro-Sudanese Armed
Forces (SAF) militia in the area, forcing the planned USAID
trip to be cancelled. The fighting caused approximately
4,000 Dinka IDPs to flee to Majok Yeithou, a town 120 km
south of Meiram in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. End note.)


9. (SBU) The Paramount Chief told the USAID representative
that in January 2002, the Misseriya and Dinka had worked out
a peace agreement, which determined that Meiram, Nama,
Heglig, and Kaylak belong to the Misseriya. He specifically
expressed disappointment in Francis Deng, a prominent Dinka
leader who had lived in the house of the Misseriya Paramount
Chief,s father for some years while studying. According to
the Paramount Chief, Francis Deng became &educated8 and has
supported the ABC,s findings over traditional agreements.


10. (SBU) The Paramount Chief explained that he believed that
the lack of clarity in the CPA about what defines the
&people of Abyei8 and Abyei,s unresolved boundaries issue
has created a situation that could result in conflict. He
noted that the CPA did not specify if Misseriya living in
Abyei are considered &people of Abyei,8 since the Abyei
region was defined as the area of the nine Dinka chiefdoms,
which can be interpreted to exclude Misseriya living there.
The Chief stated that if the census were conducted based on
the geographical boundaries determined by the ABC,s
findings, and Abyei voted in the referendum not to remain
part of Northern Sudan, then the primarily Misseriya areas
inside Abyei region would not accept the decision. The
Paramount Chief commented that moving ahead with the census,
elections, and referendum without the traditional leaders of
the Dinka and Misseriya coming to an agreement on these
issues would lead to increasing conflict between the two
ethnic groups.

--------------
Development Could Reduce Conflict Potential
--------------


11. (SBU) Conflict between Misseriya herders and Dinka
farmers is common. To mitigate potential immediate conflict

KHARTOUM 00002919 003.2 OF 003


between the two groups, the Paramount Chief noted that water
captures (containment structures) are needed along the
uncontested Misseriya northern portions of three main
migration routes leading from Misseriya areas in the north
through Dinka areas in the south. Misseriya herders migrate
south each year during the dry season and continue moving
further south as water supplies dry up. These water captures
would slow the pace and extent of Misseriya migration,
enabling some Misseriya to settle near these water sources
and others to arrive in Dinka areas later in the dry season,
when they pose less of a threat to farmers, crops. USAID is
considering providing support to increase the number of water
captures in uncontested Misseriya areas along these key
routes. (Comment: Widespread fighting between the Misseriya
and Dinka would threaten to unravel the CPA. Misseriya and
Dinka leaders agree that providing more resources to
encourage Misseriya settlement in uncontested Misseriya areas
would reduce conflict between the two groups. End comment.)
HUME