SUDAN - INCREASING DISCONTENT AMONG THE MISSERIYA

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