PRESIDENT DEBY ON INTERNATIONAL FORCE ON CHAD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 001378 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS LONDON AND PARIS OR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958 N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PREF CD SU SUBJECT: PRESIDENT DEBY ON INTERNATIONAL FORCE ON CHAD BORDER REF: A. SECSTATE 191795 ¶B. NDJAMNA 1368 ¶C. PARIS 7541 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Meeting with the Ambassador, President Deby stressed that he was not against an international force in eastern Chad, but needed to know the composition, mandate and authority before taking a decision. He reminded the Ambassador that Sudan would use any excuse to place a "pro-Arab" regime in N'djamena. The Government of Chad has proposed moving the Sudanese refugee camps further away from the border with Sudan in order to protect the refugees and to put an end to allegations that the camps were being used as bases by Sudanese rebels. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador met with President Deby November 29 for a forty-five minute discussion of security in Chad, including the situation of refugees in eastern Chad and Sudan's support for Chadian rebels. The Ambassador had requested the meeting. Foreign Minister Allam-mi, and three other presidential advisers were present. ¶3. (SBU) Referring to the recent visit of Foreign Minister Allam-mi to Washington, the Ambassador expressed his hope that there would be other high-level exchanges. President Deby responded that this was his hope as well, noting the importance of exchanging views given the current situation in Chad. The Ambassador shared with President Deby sections of the Department's most recent press guidance (reftel A) which states that the United States supports the established government of Chad, led by President Deby, condemns the use of violence to achieve political goals, and urges all Chadians to engage in dialogue to address political grievance. He then turned to border issues, and stressed that threats to Chadians, Sudanese refugees and humanitarian workers were of deep concern to the United States Government (USG). The Ambassador continued that it was important to put in place an effective security force and requested the President's views on such a force in light of the recent declaration of a "state of war" with Sudan. The Ambassador also queried the President as to whether it was possible to encourage a dialogue to resolve conflicts, including with the political opposition. THREAT FROM DARFUR -------------- ¶4. (SBU) President Deby commented that these were all timely questions. Concerning political dialogue, he noted that this issue had been discussed with Ambassador Yamamoto during his recent visits. President Deby thanked the Ambassador "from the bottom of his heart" for the information contained in the press guidance and reminded him that Chad had - since 2004 -- been trying to call to the attention of the international community the threat that it faced from Sudan. He noted that he had been the first African president to welcome a UN force in Darfur. He had also early on asked that the Darfur dossier be moved from the African Union (AU) to the UN in view of the AU's failure to resolve the situation (despite the AU's unhappiness with his position.) Nonetheless, the Darfur crisis was still not resolved and Sudan refused to allow UN forces into Darfur. Given that Sudan had refused, UN forces could go through Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR),but would that not be an invitation to Sudan to seek "regime change" in Chad and CAR? And, President Deby continued, would this not give the upper hand to the "wahabists" who were the origins of the war in Afghanistan and currently spilling blood in Iraq? Sudan, he claimed, sought to put in place a pro-Arab regime in Chad and then seek to resolve the Darfur crisis by force. SUDANESE AGGRESSION - NOT A CHADIAN REBELLION -------------- ¶5. (SBU) President Deby continued that he had little patience for discussion of Chadian rebels. During the April 13 attacks the "chiefs" were Chadian, but the soldiers were Sudanese or from other countries. How could one say that this was a Chadian rebellion, given the nationality of the soldiers, the origin of the weaponry and the uniforms? He was willing to speak with the "political class" -- if they were serious and had the best interests of the Chadian people at heart. He had never refused dialogue with the political opposition, but would not dialogue with mercenaries that Sudan was placing in the east. President Deby commented that Chad had experienced a similar situation in the eighties, when the international community failed to recognize that Chad was being occupied by Libya. He himself had traveled