SLM ON CHAD BORDER CLASH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 001232

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF, D, DRL, PRM, INR; LONDON AND PARIS FOR
AFRICAWATCHERS; GENEVA FOR CAMPBELL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL MOPS CD SU
SUBJECT: SLM ON CHAD BORDER CLASH

REF: KHARTOUM 2469

NDJAMENA 00001232 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Poloff John O'Leary, Reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary. Adam Shogar, the Sudanese Liberation
Movement,s N,Djamena representative, told Poloff in a 10/12
meeting that the SLM had beaten Sudanese government forces in
Darfur in a battle on 10/07 near the Chadian border,
inflicting heavy casualties and capturing many soldiers and a
great deal of materiel. Shogar had no hope that the Darfur
peace process would terminate the fighting in the province
because Bashir was not serious about finding a lasting peace.
The SLM would welcome UN troops to Darfur. He said that his
group does not recruit in the refugee camps, though other
groups might. Shogar himself is still under Chadian
government orders to leave Chad, pursuant to the Chad/Sudan
border agreement. End Comment.


2. (SBU) Poloff met with Adam Shogar, spokesman for the
Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM),on October 12 at
Shogar,s residence in N,Djamena. Topics discussed included
the October 7 fighting in Darfur near the Chad border, the
state of the SLM, and SLM,s view of prospects for the Darfur
peace process.


3. (SBU) According to Shogar, the fighting on Saturday
10/07 took place near the village of Kariyari, 15 KM east of
a dam on Wadi Hawar near the Chad border in territory
controlled by the SLM. At no time, according to him, did the
fighting spill over into Chad, although Sudanese government
soldiers did flee across the border.


4. (C) Shogar stated that approximately 4,000 soldiers of
the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) moved into an SLM area
"liberated" since 2004 and set up camp approximately 5 KM
east of the dam. On the morning of 10/07, he said, elements
of the SAF began moving east. SLM intelligence was aware of
the movement, and SLM and Justice and Equity Movement (JEM)
fighters prepared accordingly. Approximately 10 KM east of
the SAF camp, the SLM/JEM attacked. According to Shogar, the
combined rebel units "crushed" the advancing SAF forces,
killing about 375 and capturing more than 400 including a
brigadier general, a colonel, and three captains. The
captured remain in SLM custody but will be turned over to the
ICRC in the near future. The SLM/JEM also captured
approximately 70 Toyota Land Cruisers and 40 "big trucks",
including mounted automatic weapons, according to Shogar; and
another 150 SAF vehicles probably were destroyed. He said
more than 100 SAF soldiers fled into Chad and surrendered to
Chadian authorities. Surviving SAF forces have since
abandoned their camp near the dam and left the SLM-controlled
area.


5. (C) The SLM/JEM, according to Shogar, suffered 13 dead
and 40 wounded; no SLM/JEM were captured. He said the SLM
motivation for engaging the SAF was simply to defend their
territory against an invading force that was preparing to
attack them.


6. (C) Shogar stated that morale was "very high" among
SLM fighters. They have been able to capture their weapons,
ammunition, and vehicles from Sudanese government forces.
Local villagers of extended family on both sides of the
Chad/Sudan border, he said, have been sharing food received
from NGO,s with them. Lately, however, food has become a
problem; and fuel, vehicle spare parts, uniforms, and boots
are in short supply. Shogar stated that the SLM also needs
medicines to treat malaria and diarrhea. The SLM,s own
medical teams are able to dress wounds at the front, and the
group takes its more severely wounded to an ICRC medical team
for operations.


7. (SBU) According to Shogar, the SLM does not and never
has received supplies from the Chadian government. The
Chad/Sudan border agreement, which prohibits either country
from allowing supplies to reach the other,s rebels, is
making it more difficult to operate.


8. (C) The SLM does not recruit in refugee camps, Shogar
said, though he could not vouch for other rebel groups. SLM
fighters do go to the camps to visit relatives, but he
stressed that they always return to the ranks. He himself
has visited the camps, often at the behest of refugee
officials, to mediate conflicts between the camp residents
and the local population. He noted that the refugees had no
complaints about shortages of food, water, or fuel and that
health services seemed to be adequate. He did not believe
that the camps with which he was familiar (Touloum and Iriba)

NDJAMENA 00001232 002.2 OF 002


faced any serious threat from the Sudan side of the border.


9. (C) According to Shogar, the SLM is a member of the
National Redemption Front (NRF) along with the JEM and the
Federal Democratic Alliance. The NRF is open to any faction
opposed to Sudanese President Bashir and his current
government. The Front has one of two aims, he said: either
make an agreement with the Government of Sudan which
guarantees the rights of the people of Darfur, e.g., power
and wealth sharing; or, remove Bashir from power. Shogar
confided that he himself would like to rule Sudan. Absent
that, he would like to participate in a coalition that would
rule in peace, benevolence, and justice.


10. (C) The NRF is trying to unify the Darfur rebel
factions into a single, cohesive military and political
organization, Shogar said. A meeting scheduled for August 25
among the various groups to promote this idea, however, had
to be postponed in the face of the Chad/Sudan border
agreement. The NRF is trying to reschedule.


11. (C) Shogar did not see any hope for the Darfur peace
process as represented by the Darfur Peace Agreement signed
between the GOS and the Minni Minawi faction. Bashir,s fall
offensive in Darfur amounts to a declaration of war, he said,
and the members of the NRF are now willing to attack
government troops wherever they may be in Darfur. Shogar
insisted that the SLM had no current contact with the
Khartoum government, though he could not speak for his NRF
partners. He also stated that his group had no official
contact with the late John Garang,s Sudan People,s
Liberation Army but acknowledged that unofficial contacts may
be occurring.


12. (C) According to Shogar, Bashir and his government
simply are "not interested", "not serious". If Bashir truly
wanted peace, he would not have sent his army on the attack
in Darfur these past few weeks, Shogar continued. To
progress in the peace process, talks would have to begin
again, virtually from scratch; Bashir would have to
demonstrate that he was serious about negotiating with the
rebels; imbalances in power and wealth sharing would have to
be redressed; and the talks would have to take place in a
neutral venue. (Comment. Shogar did not elaborate on how
Bashir could establish his bona fides. End comment.)


13. (C) Shogar expressed contempt for Minni Minawi,
calling him "Janjaweed II". According to him, Minni has lost
both his credibility and his territory in Darfur. Five
times, Shogar said, Minni,s forces attacked the SLM since
the Peace Agreement; and each time the SLM has "crushed"
Minni. Seventy percent of Minni,s fighters have now joined
the SLM, Shogar continued, demonstrating their disdain for
Minni,s alliance with Bashir.


14. (C) The SLM would welcome a United Nations peace
keeping force that brought stability and protection to
Darfur, according to Shogar, but not one which sought to
&impose the May 58 peace agreement on the remaining rebel
factions.


15. (C) Shogar concluded by noting that he was still under
government order to leave Chad. He had been able to delay
his departure due to an illness requiring medical attention
in N,Djamena, but time was running out. His car is packed,
and he is ready to leave within the week. The Chadian
government is giving him a pass to the Darfur border. He
bemoaned the fact, however, that six fellow SLM members
currently outside Chad and Sudan who had planned to join him
in N,Djamena for the return to Darfur were not being allowed
into Chad due to the Chad/Sudan border agreement.


16. (SBU) Comment. Although it does appear that the
SLM/JEM prevailed in Saturday,s fighting, some of Shogar,s
claims pertaining to numbers of troops, casualties, and
captured materiel may be exaggerated. End comment.


17. (U) Tripoli minimize considered.
TAMLYN