AL-SAMANI: SUDAN READY FOR THE HYBRID

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001432

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS AND AF/SPG
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2012
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO AU UN SU
SUBJECT: AL-SAMANI: SUDAN READY FOR THE HYBRID


Classified By: CDA ALBERTO M. FERNANDEZ, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary: Reiterating Sudan's committment to the hybrid
force in a September 11 meeting with CDA Fernandez, State
Minister for Foreign Affairs Wasila al-Samani said the ball
was now squarely in the UN's court. Appealing to the
perceived close relationship between the US and the south,
al-Samani asked CDA to press the SPLM for more flexible
negotiations and greater patience on key CPA sticking points.
Al-Samani also spoke highly of his recent visit to Washington
and advocated for establishing a joint committee to encourage
further dialogue, suggesting that President al-Bashir was in
favor of such a mechanism as well. He had spent 90 minutes
the previous night briefing al-Bashir on the Washington
meetings. End summary.

--------------
SUDAN READY FOR THE HYBRID
--------------


2. (C) In the first meeting with CDA since returning from his
recent visit to Washington, al-Samani expressed thanks for
what he termed a good step forward in the bilateral
relationship. The meetings were excellent, he said, and there
had been "lots of agreement" on the hybrid force. Al-Samani
said that the hybrid force had been endorsed at all levels of
the Sudanese government (though it wouldn't permit the
addition of "a single dot" to the agreement),and what
remained was for the international community to tell Sudan
exactly what is needed. "The ball is in the UN's court," he
said. Al-Samani said that last night President Bashir had
personally called Ambassador Abdelhalim and instructed him to
cooperate with his US counterparts on all details of
implementation. Al-Samani also asserted that the land and
water issues had been sorted out -- "I got a report on it
today" from UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri.

--------------
CPA: HELP US WITH THE SPLM
--------------


3. (C) Turning to the CPA, al-Samani called for greater
consultations to push negotiations forward and specifically
asked CDA to intervene with the SPLM because "you can talk to
the south." The SPLM was wrongly accusing the NCP of trying
to push the borders south, he said. CDA warned him that
things were likely to explode in situations where there was a
lack of trust, citing last week's standoff in Muglad.
Al-Samani insisted that negative rhetoric around the CPA was
damaging, and public commentary on issues like the
redeployment of forces (on both sides) was not helpful. "We
want a lasting solution for the borders, but we need time. In
March next year -- we want to wait for the rains to stop and
the roads to open." Al-Samani said that the NCP was committed
to the CPA, noting that the Joint Commission gave it an 86
percent compliance rate to the SPLM's 6.9 percent on troop
withdrawal levels.


4. (C) CDA acknowledged that international pressure to
implement the CPA was tough, "but it helps to increase
trust," he told al-Samani. It was also true that the US had a
better relationship with the south than the north, but that
was because "we hear from the south." The SPLM was
distrustful of the NCP and saw itself as the weak partner,
CDA added, and felt that key issues like Abyei and final
borders were sacrificed to more peripheral concerns. (Note:
CDA also reiterated his desire to meet with NCP senior
officials like Nafie Ali Nafie and Salah Ghosh, and to
discuss concerns about USG support for the SPLA in
particular. End note.)

--------------
GOOD WILL, GOOD DISCUSSIONS
--------------


5. (C) Al-Samani said that discussions in Washington on
forming a US-Sudan joint committee to discuss bilateral
issues had been fruitful; CDA told him while there had been
no decision yet on such a committee ("though it would be good
for tension management"),D/S Negroponte would discuss it
with FM Lam Akol when they met during UNGA. (Note: Al-Samani
also proposed a return visit to Washington the third week of
October if conditions were right. End note.) Al-Samani also
positively characterized discussions on the issues of
removing Sudan from the state sponsors of terrorism list and
lifting sanctions once the hybrid force had been fully
deployed.

KHARTOUM 00001432 002 OF 002




6. (C) Another "nice gesture" that would serve both sides
would be to release all nine of the Sudanese detainees at
Guantanamo, al-Samani said. The Sudanese would be happy, and
the US and Sudan would be relieved of the pressure of
Al-Jazeera's constant coverage of journalist Sami al-Haj.
Al-Samani also suggested that resolving operational
difficulties for the Sudanese embassy in Washington would
"give us confidence to speak on behalf of the US" on issues
such as NEC containers. He also thanked CDA for the Embassy
statement condemning the recent attacks in Wad Banda, which
had been well received. CDA said that the Embassy would be
prepared to issue a similar statement once Suleiman Jamous
was permitted to leave Sudan.


7. (C) Saying that he had briefed President Bashir the
previous evening on his Washington visit, al-Samani quoted
him as saying: "We have nothing against the Americans. If
they really want to be partners, no problem." The president
was also in favor of establishing a joint committee, he said,
and asked the MFA to proceed if this was something the
Americans were willing to do.

--------------
SENSITIVE TIMES AHEAD
--------------


8. (C) CDA cautioned al-Samani that the weeks leading up to
the October 27 peace talks would be very sensitive; the
movements were still very fragmented despite UN/AU efforts,
and it would be difficult to ensure the participation of the
Fur community and IDPs without Abdul Wahid. "There will be
people who will want to blame the failure on you -- or on
(chief negotiator and NCP hardliner) Nafie," he noted. While
there was room over the next few months for positive movement
on several fronts and the international community had a
significant role to play in this, CDA added, the Sudanese
government would need to carefully manage the impressions it
sent out. Al-Samani said that the government of Sudan intends
to be low-key about the tentative steps towards rapprochement
between Sudan and the US.


9. (C) Comment: It is important that two weeks after his
visit to Washington, al-Samani finally briefed President
al-Bashir about it on September 10. Sudan has made progress
on UNSCR 1769 implementation, humanitarian access and (maybe
soon) on the release of Suleiman Jamous. They are also
sending the right noises about an improved bilateral
relationship and process to address outstanding issues. The
key step on our part will be, as a famous statesman noted
once, "trust but verify," and in the case of Sudan,
double-check the verification. End comment.
FERNANDEZ