SPLA AND FORCES LOYAL TO FORMER MILITIA LEADER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000613 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER AND AF/SE NATSIOS, NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM SU SUBJECT: SPLA AND FORCES LOYAL TO FORMER MILITIA LEADER SQUARE OFF IN JUBA REF: A. KHARTOUM 470 ¶B. KHARTOUM 461 Classified By: DCM R. Powers, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On April 17, Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) military police had a standoff over food rations at SPLA Headquarters (HQ) with forces under the control of the current Deputy Commander in Chief (also the former Southern Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) leader, Lt. Gen. Paulino Matip). Note: The terminally ill Matip is currently not in Juba. End note. The brief, but potentially volatile, dispute resulted in restricted UN travel and a precautionary lockdown at ConGen Juba throughout the night. SPLA Chief of Staff (COS) Oyai Deng Ajak defused the situation along with one of Matip's men. Calm has returned to Juba, but tensions between these forces remain. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On the evening of April 17, ConGen received a report that soldiers were gathering outside the SPLA HQ, located directly across from the UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and about four blocks from the ConGen. The soldiers were a mixture of forces loyal to former SSDF leader Matip and others from the greater SPLA, mainly military police, directed by COS Deng. The two camps of armed men were engaged in a shoving match, with guns drawn, following the arrest of a Matip supporter, Col John Maluk, at the SPLA HQ. Earlier that day Maluk had forcibly taken possession of an SPLA shipment which he intended to deliver only to Matip's forces. Shipping agents reportedly refused the food to Maluk, on instructions from SPLA HQ, and Maluk's forces reportedly roughed up shipping agents and other civilians before seizing the shipment. COS Deng summoned Maluk to the SPLA HQ and had him put under arrest. Maluk's supporters called in reinforcements from the Matip camp, located across town, who arrived at SPLA HQ and demanded Maluk's release. After guns were drawn, COS Deng and Maluk both acted to calm the situation. Deng permitted Maluk to leave and to take possession of the food and Maluk ordered his men to depart the SPLA HQ and return to their compound. ¶3. (U) ConGen staff were put under a 12-hour precautionary lock down upon learning of the incident at SPLA HQ. That restriction was lifted the next morning following a security assessment which revealed no lingering threat. Staff have been directed to be vigilant and follow all standard precautions when moving around town. ¶4. (C) Food and other rations, as well as rank and salaries for the former SSDF members who are now part of the regular SPLA, have long been a source of conflict among these two camps. The tenuous marriage of convenience between these forces followed the signing of the 2006 Juba Declaration which brought over 40,000 of Matip's forces into the SPLA. The Declaration imposes a heavy tax on the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) and SPLA, however, as they are required to provide for the care and feeding of Matip's men in Juba and other cities. This recent incident comes amid charges that the former SSDF are consuming an excessive share of the SPLA budget, and complaints from the former SSDF that they are not being paid on time, or given the ranks they expected within the SPLA. ¶5. (C) A further source of tension among these camps is the arrest and removal last month of the SPLA Deputy Chief of Staff for Moral and Political Orientation, Maj. Gen. Isaac Mamur (reftels). Mamur was tasked with taking care of Matip's forces and reportedly had ordered the food that arrived at the Juba Port April 17, which Maluk tried to confiscate. Mamur remains under arrest at SPLA barracks outside of Juba, pending an investigation into the charges against him. ¶6. (C) Matip is reportedly terminally ill in a South African hospital and Maluk was apparently placed in at least temporary command of Matip's forces in Juba. The carefully brokered unifying Juba Declaration is now on shaky ground. Interlocutors have told ConGen staff that GOSS President Salva Kiir was briefed about the standoff and is concerned about its potential implications. Kiir nevertheless reportedly authorized Maluk's release in order to defuse the standoff at SPLA HQ. ¶7. (C) Although Matip brought the bulk of SSDF forces into the SPLA in January 2006, Kiir has reportedly charged that Khartoum continues to provide support to Matip and other SSDF leaders in the South as part of a destabilization campaign. Though Matip's forces have shown loyalty to the SPLA, KHARTOUM 00000613 002 OF 002 particularly during fighting between SPLA and Sudan Armed Forces in Malakal last November, many senior SPLA commanders still doubt Matip's loyalty. Some also suggest that Matip has been receiving rations from both the SPLA and Khartoum, further angering the SPLA forces. HUME