S/E NATSIOS MEETS WITH SOUTH DARFUR'S WARRING ARAB

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 001548 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF/SPG, AND AF/SE NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO UN AU SU SUBJECT: S/E NATSIOS MEETS WITH SOUTH DARFUR'S WARRING ARAB TRIBES KHARTOUM 00001548 001.2 OF 003 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) In a visit to South Darfur, S/E Natsios met with representatives of two warring Arab tribes, the Turjum and the Rizeigat, to explore the antecedents to their internal-tribal conflict, discuss the prospects of reconciliation, and encourage a cessation of hostilities and support for the deployment of the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The Turjum-Rizeigat conflict has resulted in the highest death toll from inter-Arab fighting in Darfur, according to the UN. Over 500 people have died in this fighting in 2007, the worse violence in Darfur this year. The Rizeigat attributed the violence to a competition over resources and said that only development programs and the provision of basic services to the neglected Arab tribes could stabilize the troubled region. The Turjum, by contrast, blamed the Rizeigat for mounting an "ethnic cleansing" campaign against them and the Fur, with direct support from the Sudanese military and intelligence services. While the Turjum were more equivocal in their support for UNAMID than the Rizeigat, representatives of both groups pledged their support for a cease-fire if the other tribes respected it. End summary. -------------- -------------- Rizeigat: Murders Spark Violence Over Scarce Resources -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Meeting with S/E Natsios in Nyala, South Darfur, on September 29, Northern Rizeigat leaders, representing the region's largest Arab group, explained that fighting had erupted with the rival Turjum tribe in 2005, after the Turjum murdered six Rizeigat they accused of robbery. The Sudanese Government had intervened to negotiate the payment of "dia" (blood money) to the Rizeigat. The Turjum had yet to pay despite a subsequent written agreement that the Rizeigat alleged had not been distributed at the "grassroots" level to prevent the nomads from continuing the fighting. Representatives of the two tribes had met again in mid-September and now planned to hold a reconciliation conference after the end of Ramadan, according to the Rizeigat. ¶3. (SBU) The Rizeigat admitted that they had begun to settle �0A;new lands in order to secure access to basic services, like education. "We have a 99 percent illiteracy rate," said one Rizeigat representative. They attributed the conflict with the Turjum to tensions over limited resources and a break-down in traditional conflict resolution methods, acknowledging that past violence had occurred only between the Rizeigat and the Fur or the Zaghawa. "We're not proud of that," said the group's spokesman, "but it is true that as Rizeigat we have come into conflict with other tribes the most." The Rizeigat noted that their dispute with the Turjum was just one of many ongoing conflicts between them and the Habaniya, Salamat, and Falata tribes. A representative of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) who facilitated the meeting explained, however, that the highest death toll from inter-Arab fighting resulted from the Turjum-Rizeigat conflict. Northern Rizeigat have traditionally had no land of their own, a grievance that encouraged their entry into the ranks of the Janjaweed. At the same time, they are both poor and proud, describing themselves as the "second largest Sudanese tribe after the Dinka." -------------- Development Requires Security -------------- ¶4. (SBU) S/E Natsios emphasized that development could only occur within the context of security and asked if the Rizeigat would support a cessation of hostilities as part of the UN/AU-led Darfur peace process. The tribe's representatives were unanimous in their support for an end to the violence. "Immediately we will stop fighting and implement any resolutions that will bring peace," said the group's spokesman, adding that tribal leaders had agreed "last night" that continued fighting was "shameful." He also explained that the Rizeigat were working to compose a delegation to participate in UN/AU-brokered negotiations, and, unlike the fractured African tribes, they would be able KHARTOUM 00001548 002.2 OF 003 to elect representatives to attend the Libya talks scheduled to begin at the end of October. ¶5. (SBU) Echoing the calls of Darfur's African tribes--many of whom see the USG as the guarantor of any peace agreement--the Rizeigat representatives asked for direct U.S. assistance to resolve the conflict. They welcomed the opportunity for dialogue with the U.S., complaining that the international community was "biased" and had ignored the grievances of Darfur's Arab tribes. "The U.S. can solve any problem," said one man. "As the superpower, it must be fair in its treatment of all groups." ¶6. (SBU) The U.S. could not solve Sudan's problems, which were the responsibility of the Sudanese people, said S/E Natsios. The U.S. could, however, support the peace process and would be generous with reconstruction and development programs only after a sustainable peace agreement was achieved. CDA Fernandez stated that all of Darfur's tribes were marginalized and that the U.S. wanted a "prosperous future" for all of the region's people. He said that this meeting was the beginning of dialogue with the Arabs, which he hoped to continue. He urged them to work toward a return to harmony with the Fur so that the Rizeigat "did not become the scapegoat" for the Sudanese Government. -------------- Turjum: Rizeigat "Cleansing" To Seize Land -------------- ¶7. (SBU) In a separate meeting, Turjum representatives characterized their conflict with the Rizeigat as a defensive struggle to maintain control of their traditional lands, which the Sudanese Government was attempting to give to the Rizeigat as compensation for their attacks on the Fur since ¶2003. The Rizeigat had begun attacking the Turjum in early 2007 with the explicit support of the Government. The Turjum claimed that they had found Government-issued documents on Rizeigat fighters identifying them as part of the Sudanese military and border intelligence units. One Turjum man explained that the Rizeigat had launched the attacks in January "in many Turjum areas, at the same time, on the same day." Other representatives said that the Rizeigat wanted to "ethnically cleanse" the region of the Fur and the Turjum, while the Turjum had protected the Fur. One man asserted that there had been only a single attack against the Fur in a Turjum area, which members of the Mahamid tribe had perpetrated. (Note: This statement seems to indicate a case of collective amnesia by the Turjum. End note.) S/E Natsios pressed the Turjum to provide direct evidence of the Rizeigat's collusion with the Sudanese Government, which they were unable to do. -------------- Government Favors Turjum Over Rizeigat -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Responding to a question from CDA Fernandez, the Turjum acknowledged that they had supported the Sudanese Government in its campaign against the African-dominated rebel forces in Darfur but claimed that the "Rizeigat were more favored by the Government." When then-South Darfur Governor Al Hajj Attal Manaan had met with representatives of the two tribes in January, he had said nothing while Rizeigat leaders asserted ownership of the Fur lands they had seized and told the Turjum to leave. In late February, Manaan had brokered a deal for the Rizeigat to leave Turjum lands for two years, at which point the Government would re-examine the situation. The Rizeigat, however, attacked the Turjum the following day, and the Government then pledged to separate the tribes with a military force. Instead, it rehabilitated three Rizeigat villages in a Turjum-controlled area. The Turjum have continued to run afoul of the Government, and the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) arrested their Nazir (traditional leader) in recent weeks, a Nazir who the Government had appointed and who had been loyal to the National Congress Party (NCP). One Turjum representative reported that the police had 500 open cases on Rizeigat tribesmen who had committed crimes against the Turjum but that they were not pursuing these cases. -------------- Support for UNAMID Mixed KHARTOUM 00001548 003.2 OF 003 -------------- ¶9. (SBU) A Turjum woman said that the humanitarian situation had declined in recent months, with the women and children assembling in the towns and the men preparing to fight. The Turjum noted that they had received emergency help from Fur IDPs who had shared what little they had had. The woman asserted that UNAMID has "a role in protecting us" and that the Turjum would welcome its deployment. When S/E Natsios asked if the men of the tribe supported UNAMID as well, the other representatives were equivocal. However, they were unanimous in their support for a cessation of hostilities, which they said could begin "before tomorrow" if the other tribes also respected it. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Both the Abballa (camel herding) Rizeigat and the Turjum participated in violent campaigns orchestrated by Khartoum in 2003-2005 against "disloyal" African tribes in Darfur like the Fur. Now both are alienated by the regime's broken promises, with the far less numerous Turjum feeling particularly threatened by Darfur's shifting ethnic politics and Khartoum's murderous policy of divide and rule. In Darfur today, even former Janjaweed are betrayed by the regime. End comment. ¶11. (U) S/E Natsios cleared this message. ¶12. (U) Tripoli minimize considered. FERNANDEZ