PRESIDENT DEBY TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL: STOP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NDJAMENA 000831 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2010 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL CD SU SUBJECT: PRESIDENT DEBY TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL: STOP SUDANESE ATTACKS ON CHAD REF: KHARTOUM 1362 NDJAMENA 00000831 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Ambassador Marc Wall for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: President Deby made an impassioned plea for UN intervention in Darfur and along Chad's border in a meeting with members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) June 10. He accused Sudan of aggression against Chad and warned that Chad's collapse would spread chaos in the region. He denied reports of Chadian support for groups obstructing implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). He called for pressure to encourage groups in Darfur who had not signed the DPA to do so. He made thinly veiled references to China's support for Sudanese attacks on Chad. He said Chad would file a formal complaint against Sudan before the UNSC. Earlier in the day the UNSC members also made a whirlwind tour of the Djabal camp for Sudanese refugees and a settlement of displaced Chadians in eastern Chad. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) The members of the UN Security Council met President Deby for nearly two hours June 10 during their visit to Chad June 9-10. On the Chadian side, Prime Minister Yoadimnadji, Foreign Minister Allam-mi, Minister of Territorial Administration Mahamat Ali, President Deby's older half-brother Daoussa Deby, and other ministers and advisors joined the meeting. -------------- Sudan as the Aggressor; Chad as the Victim -------------- ¶3. (C) In a lengthy and sometimes repetitious opening statement, Deby charged Sudan with seeking to destabilize Chad. He asserted that by exporting its war in Darfur into Chad, it also risked destabilizing the region. Sudan is sending its mercenaries into Chad, Deby argued. It is arming and equipping terrorists, jandjaweed forces, and popular defense militias to burn villages, rape Chadian women, and steal cattle. 70,000 Chadians had been victimized, he claimed. The arms used to attack Chad were made in Sudan and in a major Asian country. This is happening despite Chad's efforts to help Sudan find a solution to its crisis in Darfur. Chad had welcomed 300,000 Sudanese refugees. But Sudan does not want the refugees to return. It has supported genocide, and now it seeks to extend that genocide beyond its border. Chad is the victim, he stressed. It does not deserve this. ¶4. (C) Deby stated that Chad had long tried to warn the international community of the risk of the destabilization of Chad and the region. The African Union has done little to address the problem, he asserted. It has not even condemned Sudan's aggression against Chad. It is incapable of taking effective action. Similarly, he continued, the accord in Tripoli meant to secure the border was signed four months ago, but it has not been implemented at all. The only solution, he argued, was UN intervention. The international community must confront Sudan and impose a peace-keeping force. It must act to restore order and allow the refugees and displaced peoples to return to their homes. He announced that Chad will lodge a formal complaint against Sudan before the Security Council. ¶5. (C) On the DPA, Deby said Chad wants the Darfur crisis resolved now. Its only interest is peace. He had met SLM leader Minni Minawi as well as others who had not signed the agreement. He had urged JEM leader Khalil to sign it. He was concerned about the attacks on the humanitarian relief workers in eastern Chad and said the Chadian army had retrieved some of their stolen vehicles. He stated that Chad could no longer protect the refugee camps. It could not even protect itself. That is why, he explained, Chad had appealed for help to provide security for the camps and the humanitarian workers. -------------- Chadian Support for DPA Obstructionists? -------------- ¶6. (C) Speaking first in response, French UN Ambassador De La Sabliere acknowledged the links between the conflict in Darfur and instability in Chad. He stated that the international community is committed to help implement the DPA. He urged the Darfur representatives who had not signed to do so. He expressed concern over reports of Chadian support for those seeking to obstruct its implementation. He told Deby the international community was seeking to help assure security for the refugee camps. NDJAMENA 00000831 002.2 OF 003 ¶7. (C) Deby responded first to the issue of alleged Chadian support for groups in Darfur attacking supporters of the DPA. Chad is a poor country, he answered. It does not have the means to provide vehicles or other support to those obstructing the DPA's implementation. He denied the presence of Sudanese rebel forces in Chad. If Chad allows their representatives to transit through Chad, it is only because the international community has made that request. Chad has provided refuge to the Sudanese victims in Darfur since 2003. Some of the camps are too close to the border. He admitted that some of the DPA's opponents are involved in recruiting in the camps. He had ordered the gendarmes to police the camps, but they do not have the means to do so. The international community must put pressure on all Darfur rebel groups to sign the DPA, he maintained. ¶8. (C) UK Ambassador Jones Parry reaffirmed the UNSC's commitment to the DPA and to introducing a peace-keeping force in Darfur. He said that the UNSC and the AU are paying close attention to anyone impeding the DPA. He asked Deby for an estimate of the number of troops needed to establish security on the border. ROC Ambassador Ikouebe expressed concern over the risk of Chad's destabilization and said the AU understands the impact of the conflict in Darfur on Chad. ¶9. (C) Deby cautioned against excluding groups who had not signed the DPA. He urged putting pressure on them to encourage them to join. He accused Khartoum of bad faith in the way it is seeking to extend the inter-ethnic war in Darfur into Chad. He charged that Khartoum is also complicit in the theft of vehicles used by humanitarian workers. He estimated that it would take some 500 vehicles to assure security for the camps and to prevent raids by jandjaweed and mercenaries. A UN force must secure the border areas using any means necessary, he argued. -------------- Why Deby Didn't Go to Tripoli -------------- ¶10. (C) Tanzanian Ambassador Mahiga stressed the need to assure the "humanitarian character" of the camps and prevent recruitment by Darfur rebel groups in them. He asked Deby why he had not attended the recent summit meeting of leaders of North African and Sahelian countries. He said President Bashir had expected to meet Deby there and had used Deby's absence as an excuse for not implementing the Tripoli Agreement. Why is everyone speaking so much about refugees anyway, Deby asked in response. What about Sudanese aggression against Chad? He said he had gone to Tripoli to sign the Agreement, but the agenda for the most recent summit meeting included nothing on Sudanese attacks on Chad. In fact, he pointed out, at the same time as that meeting was underway, Bashir was supporting rebel incursions into Chad (i.e., the assault by forces affiliated with Timon Erdimi on Tine on June 3). ¶11. (C) In closing, Deby reiterated that the UNSC must understand the threat posed by Sudan against Chad. Sudan's internal crisis is driving it to destabilize Chad and the region. Chad is a bridge into the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. If it falls, the consequences will be extremely grave for the region. Sudan endangers the refugees and the Chadian displaced peoples, and the AU cannot do the job. The UN must act. -------------- -------------- A Quick Visit to the Refugees and Displaced Chadians -------------- -------------- ¶12. (U) The UNSC delegation and its press entourage had a chance to see the situation on the ground during a rushed visit to eastern Chad earlier in the day. Deftly herded by UNHCR's logistics team, the group traveled in a French Transall aircraft to Abeche, then in three small aircraft and two helicopters to the border town of Goz Beida to the south. There one contingent toured the Djabal refugee camp with nearly 15,000 residents, mainly from the Massalite ethnic group. Another contingent stopped in the nearby settlement for approximately 12,000 Chadians (mainly Dadjo) displaced by jandjaweed attacks in the last few months. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶13. (C) This harangue was vintage Deby -- hard-hitting, accusatory, desperate. For him, Chadian rebels do not exist. NDJAMENA 00000831 003.2 OF 003 His failure to reconcile his political opposition has nothing to do with the problems he faces. Sudan is completely to blame. We had heard this before. What we had not heard from him before was his reference to the support of what he termed a major Asian country for Sudan's actions against Chad. PRC Ambassador Wang Guangya remained silent throughout the exchange. ¶14. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. WALL