DEPUTY SECRETARY'S VISIT TO EL FASHER, NORTH DARFUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000582 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF/SE NATSIOS AND IO SILVERBERG, NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2017 TAGS: OVIP NEGROPONTE JOHN PREL MOPS PINR KPKO UN AU-1, SU SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY'S VISIT TO EL FASHER, NORTH DARFUR KHARTOUM 00000582 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: CDA C. HUME, REASON: SECTION 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On April 14, Deputy Secretary Negroponte travelled to El Fasher, the capital of the state of North Darfur. During his day-long visit, the Deputy Secretary met with U.S. military observers, UN personnel, IDP camp representatives, an African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) Colonel, the AMIS force commander and the wali of North Darfur (septel). The Deputy Secretary's discussions centered on the humanitarian, POLITICAL and security situation in Darfur. -------------- MEETING WITH US MILOBS -------------- ¶2. (C) The Deputy Secretary met with two of the fourteen U.S. military observers currently assigned to AMIS camps in Darfur. The military observers described a generally succesful working relationsip with protection force patrols, evacuations, investigations and the ceasefire commissions. In response to the Deputy Secretary's request for a security assessment, the observers described the situation on the ground as volatile, with a serious lack of discipline among rebel movements. All sides are violating the DPA, they said, pointing to the recent incidents in Umm Baru and Sortoni as examples. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been sidelined during the past several months, in contrast to last year's more frequent clashes with rebel groups. -------------- UNMIS: ACCESS STILL LIMITED -------------- ¶3. (C) In a follow-on briefing with United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) officials, the Deputy Secretary asked for an update on progress implementing the recent humanitarian access communique. Annamaria Laurini, UNMIS Head of Office, El Fasher, said that while it was too soon to make a real judgement, North Darfur had seen some slight improvements in access issues, while South and West Darfur had not. In North Darfur there had been a significant decrease in the number of NGO staff who were experiencing problems, she said, but those who were still without permits were all from the same organization (IRC). The conflict with Chad and the Arab tribal fighting in the south have also limited access to many vulnerable areas, she added, as have rebel groups who have prevented Sudanese government troops from coming into hard-to-reach areas. The Deputy Secretary asked how the international community could press the rebel groups to cooperate on access issues with the Sudanese governent. Laurini said that the AU/UN mediation team must be given a chance to succeed, and that the rebels need strong leadership figures on the gound. -------------- IDPS: NEED SECURITY AS WELL AS FOOD -------------- ¶4. (C) In a visit to the El Salaam IDP camp, the Deputy Secretary met with the camp coordinator and a group of umdas SIPDIS (traditional village heads). The camp coordinator noted that the camp had almost doubled in size during the past eight months because of fighting in northern areas of the state. The Deputy Secretary then asked to hear from the umdas themselves. The head umda's secretary began by thanking the donor community for food contributions, but said that what was really needed was security. He specifically mentioned the need for UN peacekeeping forces to assist the AU troops, saying that those who rejected the UN were criminals. ¶5. (C) The deputy umda from the village of Jebel Si described in detail the Janjaweed attacks which destroyed his village last year, and said that the AU is not enough to resolve the problems in Darfur. The Deputy Secretary assured the group that the American people were aware of the tragic situation in Darfur, and said that the US government was committed to continuing humanitarian assitance for as long as necessary. The Deputy Secretary described the efforts underway to improve the security situation for Darfurians and to create a hybrid AU/UN peacekeeping force which would be comprised of mostly African forces operating under UN standards. The KHARTOUM 00000582 002.2 OF 003 Deputy Secretary highlighted the importance he personally attached to the issue, citing this as a reason for making his trip to Sudan a priority so early in his tenure. -------------- AMIS: MORE FORCES, EQUIPMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) At the Sector 1 AMIS battalion headquarters in Zam Zam, the Deputy Secretary met with Rwandan sector commander Colonel E.K. Gasana who briefed him on AMIS operations in the area. Colonel Gasana also underscored the precarious nature of the security situation in Darfur. He desribed the difficulty of his mandate, which is to patrol with one batallion an area of over nine thousand square kilometers. He cited numerous operational challenges, including the presence of four armed groups in the area, lack of proper observation towers in the camps, troops who had not received salaries in more than four months and lack of communication resources. When asked by the Deputy Secretary to describe what he needed to be more effective, the colonel listed more forces and equipment relevant to the operating environment. ¶7. (C) In a subsequent meeting with AMIS Force Commander Major General Luke Aprezi, the Deputy Secretary asked how the proposed heavy support package would be of use to the AU mission. Aprezi described the heavy support package as mostly logistics, while the hybrid force would be the phase that would actually empower AMIS since it would triple the number of batallions in each sector. Aprezi said that AMIS currently does not dominate the ground in the way it should, and so cannot see, and thus name, those who are committing ceasefire violations. Aprezi said that while AMIS presence on the ground has prevented people from carrying out "genocidal" acts, its current incarnation is insufficient. Aprezi also added that in the past month, he had lost nine men. (Note: Another AMIS civpol advisor was killed the evening of April 14 behind the El Fasher headquarters; the assailants' identity is unknown. End note.) ¶8. (C) The Deputy Secretary asked Aprezi whether there had been better identification of ceasefire violators since AMIS deployed to Darfur. Aprezi said that proving guilt is difficult, and raised an August 2006 incident in which AMIS vehicles were hijacked and because of the lack of checkpoints it was impossible to track the attackers. The Deputy Secretary asked Aprezi to comment on the Sudanese SIPDIS government's objection to including attack helicopters in the heavy support package. Aprezi said that the Sudanese government incorrectly believed that the helicopters would be used against them rather than in support of peacekeeping operations. ¶9. (C) In reference to the command arrangement for a hybrid force, the Deputy Secretary pointed out that the USG wouldn't adjust its own position to the point where the forces would lose their effectiveness. Aprezi agreed, but noted that that there are no facilities for the currently deployed UN troops. UN security standards exceeded those of the AU, he said, and there still was no agreement on security conditions for living quarters. When asked about the timeline for AMIS camp expansion in order to accomodate new troops once a hybrid force is deployed, Aprezi said it depended on PAE capacity's to build. When asked for an AU opinion on any command relationship with a hybrid force, Aprezi said that this hadn't been discussed. He said that while the Sudanese government's position was clear, the position of the AU/UN still is not. No new force commander will come in until both parties agree on what they want, he said. ¶10. (C) Participants: The Deputy Secretary Jendayi E. Frazer, A/S for African Affairs Cameron Hume, Charge d,Affairs Bobby Pittman, Senior Director for Africa, National Security Council Roberto Powers, Deputy Chief of Mission Colonel Dennis Giddens, DoD advisor Lt. Col. Joe Bovy, Defense Liaison Office Mike Holshey, Regional Affairs Office Bill Garvelink, USAID advisor Erna Kerst, USAID Mission Director KHARTOUM 00000582 003.2 OF 003 Gustavo Delgado, D staff Ted Wittenstein, D staff Nina Behrens, interpreter Ronda Capeles, Executive Secretariat Oumar M'bareck, USAID Jennifer Larson (notetaker) Other: Ken Jones, U.S. MilOb Cliff Kinnebrew, U.S. MilOb Annamaria Laurini, UNMIS Head of Office, El Fasher Willie Harrison, UNMIS Security Coordinator Paul Thomas, OCHA, El Fasher Jane Lewis, Camp Coordinator, El Salaam IDP camp Colonel E.K. Gasana, Sector Commander, Zam Zam (Rwanda) Major General Luke Aprezi, AMIS Force Commander (Nigeria) HUME