SUDAN/UGANDA/CONGO: PLANS FOR LRA MOVEMENTS NOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000749

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF/SE NATSIOS AND AF/SPG, NSC
FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PHUM KPKO SU UG CG
SUBJECT: SUDAN/UGANDA/CONGO: PLANS FOR LRA MOVEMENTS NOT
FINALIZED

REF: KHARTOUM 671

Classified By: Pol/Econ Nathan Holt: Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d


1. (C) Summary: Proposed corridors for the movement of the
Ugandan rebel group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to a single
assembly point on the Sudan/Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) border have not yet been accepted by LRA leadership,
according to sources in ongoing peace talks between the LRA
and the Government of Uganda (GOU). The Government of
Southern Sudan (GOSS) has been mediating the peace talks
since 2006. GOSS and GOU military representatives issued a
joint communique May 7 announcing routes LRA combatants could
follow from northern Uganda and the Eastern Equatoria region
of southern Sudan en route to the DRC border. Sources at the
peace talks said they expected an LRA response to the
proposal soon. Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA)
officials said they would provide food and other assistance
to LRA groups within the corridors. However, the SPLA also
acknowledges carrying out anti-LRA operations in Eastern
Equatoria during the last month, both independently and in
conjunction with the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF).
Talks could resume this week, and take up the issue of
justice and accountability for LRA leadership, including
those indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
End Summary.

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Proposed Corridors
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2. (C) The issuance in Uganda of a joint UPDF-SPLA communique
May 7 caught some officials on the GOSS mediation team by
surprise. In any case, officials said, the proposed
corridors have not yet been accepted by the LRA. The routes
have been communicated to LRA chief Joseph Kony at his base
in DRC's Garamba National Park, according to a member of the
mediation team, and a response is expected soon.


3. (C) A senior SPLA official said the army would provide
food to LRA groups en route to the Congo border. The SPLA,
and third parties supporting the mediation team, had also
offered to transport the LRA fighters from Eastern Equatoria
and across the Nile to the designated Ri-Kwangba assembly
point. The LRA had declined transportation assistance,
sources said, and has sent several small groups east from the
Sudan/DRC border area to guide fellow fighters back to either
the assembly point or Kony's nearby base in DRC.


4. (C) In an April 13 meeting at the Sudan/DRC border, a
mediation team led by former Mozambique President Joaquim
Chissano and GOSS Vice President Riek Machar persuaded the
parties to renew the lapsed Cessation of Hostilities
Agreement. The parties also agreed that the LRA could
assemble at Ri-Kwangba, but delayed for several weeks of
intensive, behind-the-scenes consultations on how this
movement would be accomplished.

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Anti-LRA Operations in Eastern Equatoria
--------------


5. (C) Meanwhile, the SPLA has carried out several
small-scale anti-LRA operations in Eastern Equatoria,
according to senior army officers. These operations have
been conducted both independently and in conjunction with the
UPDF, according to the officers. The operations have
concentrated on Magwe County, dominated by the Acholi ethnic
group. Residents report that the LRA, also predominantly
Acholi, have carried out devastating raids of foodstuffs and
other material from local villages. The SPLA operations came
in response to increasing political pressure to provide
better protection to threatened civilians in the area.


6. (C) The SPLA-UPDF communique announcing the proposed
corridors from Eastern Equatoria also includes tough language
and sets a seven-day deadline for the LRA to move out of the
region. GOSS President Salva Kiir has also expressed
increasing impatience with continuing LRA attacks and the
slow pace of the peace process. SPLA officials complained
privately that they cannot continue indefinitely providing
assistance to the LRA at assembly points while attacking them

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outside the assembly areas.


7. (C) Earlier in the peace talks, the LRA had agreed to
assemble at Owiny-Kibul, near the Sudan/Uganda border in
Eastern Equatoria. Citing threats from the UPDF, however,
LRA forces never assembled at Owiny-Kibul and refused
GOSS-provided food rations there. The LRA has accepted GOSS
food at the Ri-Kwangba assembly point.

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Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring
Teams Dispatched
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8. (C) Members of the beefed-up Cessation of Hostilities
Monitoring Team (CHMT) were dispatched to Eastern Equatoria
May 8 to assess the situation and monitor potential LRA
movements. The CHMT is comprised of military representatives
from the UPDF, the SPLA, the LRA and has been supplemented by
representatives of various African states now participating
in the peace talks as observers.

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Not Clear When Talks Will Resume
--------------


9. (C) With the focus on potential LRA movements, it is not
certain when peace talks will resume. GOSS mediators were
surprised when the LRA delegation relented on demands for
written assurances of good faith from the other parties and
moved quickly to sign an interim agreement on "comprehensive
solutions" May 2. The agreement is intended to address "root
causes" of the conflict, one of several building blocks to a
hoped-for comprehensive peace agreement. The protocol on
"comprehensive solutions" grants none of the LRA's more
extravagant political demands, according to members of the
mediation team, and differs very little from the draft the
mediators placed before the parties last December.
Negotiations were adjourned after the signing of the
"comprehensive solutions" agreement. Next on the agenda is a
discussion of justice and accountability, including the issue
of whether ICC indictments of LRA leadership can be withdrawn
or otherwise circumvented. Depending on whether LRA forces
move peacefully to the designated assembly area, sources
said, talks could resume as early as this week.
POWERS