INTER-ETHNIC FIGHTING IN CHAD & POSSIBLE SUDAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L NDJAMENA 001321 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF CD SU SUBJECT: INTER-ETHNIC FIGHTING IN CHAD & POSSIBLE SUDAN CONNECTION REF: A. NDJAMENA 517 ¶B. NDJAMENA 906 ¶C. NDJAMENA 1255 Classified By: PolOff John O'Leary. Reason 1.4 (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Ethnic violence has broken out along the southeast Chad-Sudan border south of Goz-Beida in the Salamat region. According to our contacts, more than 100 individuals have been killed in fighting between Arabs and non-Arabs; and senior Chadian officials are linking the violence to the Sudanese government-backed Janjaweed. End summary. ¶2. (C) In a conversation today (11/09),former Minister of Plan Mahamat Ali Hassan, who is from the Salamat region, told the Ambassador that inter-ethnic conflict in that region is normal between Nomads (Arabs) and sedentary Dadjos ("Africans"). There is competition for natural resources (water and grassland) that periodically erupts into violence with dead numbering into the teens. Traditional leaders have previously been able to mediate and quell the conflicts before they escalated out of hand. The scale of recent violence, however, is unprecedented with marauders moving freely back and forth across the frontier. (See reftels for descriptions of previous conflicts in the area within the past seven months.) Hassan stated that the residents of the area requested protection from the Chadian National Army, but the army has basically ignored them. When asked about the possibility of Sudanese backing for the raiders, Hassan said that he could not confirm it but certainly would not discount it. ¶3. (C) The Sultan of Goz-Beida told the Ambassador in a phone conversation this afternoon that he was headed to Dar Silla in the Salamat region with the Minister for Territorial Administration to try to reconcile the battling parties--a task for which he expressed little hope of success. According to his sources in the area, approximately 150 "Janjaweed" on foot, horse, and Toyota pick-ups moved into the Am Timan area on November 4. In the ensuing rampage, they destroyed one village 45 Km from Goz-Beida and attacked six others, leaving in their wake 125 dead and 121 wounded. ¶4. (C) The Sultan went on to accuse the government of Sudan of inciting conflict among communities that had coexisted peacefully and intermarried for years. He went on to note that the Janjaweed had arrived from Sudan well armed with weapons, vehicles, and ammunition. He believed that the attackers had teamed up with Chadian rebels and that the long-term Sudanese objective was to destabilize the border. ¶5. (C) Like former Minister Hassan, the Sultan noted that the Chadian military had failed to protect the area, concentrating instead on the eastern areas affiliated with President Deby,s Zaghawa and allied ethnic groups. The Sultan stated that he had been in N,Djamena for six weeks seeking an appointment with Deby to solicit his protection for the area, but Deby had not received him. Now, the Dadjos, the main ethnic group in the area, have lost confidence in the Deby regime, he asserted, and may be forming their own protective militias. ¶6. (C) A retired Minister from the Dadjo group characterized the conflict as a Sudanese government-backed "pan-Arabic" land-grab at the expense of the "African" Dadjos. He indicated that the Goz-Beida hospital was overflowing with wounded and that temporary shelters had to be erected on the hospital grounds to accommodate the spillover. ¶7. (C) Comment. While we cannot verify the actual casualties or the extent of the fighting, it seems certain that a serious inter-ethnic conflict did occurr--and may still be in progress. Whether the Sudanese government is behind this or not, the fact that so many Chadians believe that it is will only serveQ increase tensions along the border. End comment. ¶8. (U) Tripoli minimize considered. WALL