APREZI RETURNS, SLM REP MELTS DOWN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000930

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY

SENSITIVE, SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO AU CD SU

SUBJECT: APREZI RETURNS, SLM REP MELTS DOWN


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Summary
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1. (SBU) African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) FORCE Commander Lt.
Gen. Luke Aprezi returned to AMIS FORCE Headquarters on June 11. He
expressed doubts that Gen. Martin Luther Agwai was a good selection
to replace him as AMIS FORCE commander, though admitted Agwai would
be well-positioned to lead the UN/AU hybrid operation. Within hours
of Aprezi's return to El Fasher, a Sudan Liberation Movement
(SLM)/Minawi sector observer waged a standoff at FORCE Headquarters
to protest "underpayment" of his monthly subsistence allowance.
AMIS soldiers later disarmed him. End Summary.

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Aprezi on Aqwai
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2. (SBU) AMIS FORCE Commander Aprezi returned to AMIS FORCE
Headquarters on June 11. Speaking with Poloff following a First
Chamber Ceasefire Commission meeting, Aprezi said that he expected
incoming AMIS FORCE commander Martin Luther Agwai to arrive within
two weeks.


3. (SBU) Aprezi confided that he did not believe that Agwai was the
right man for the job as AMIS FORCE Commander. He had worked for
Agwai for over four years as his chief of operations in the Nigerian
military. Agwai then became Chief of the Nigerian Defense Staff
where he had "300 generals working for him." Aprezi said that it
was a mistake to send a senior military officer to El Fasher, who
would quickly lose patience with the inexperienced "little boys" who
make up the bulk of AMIS soldiers. Aprezi confirmed that Agwai
would be good for the Hybrid force, however.


4. (SBU) As if to underscore his point, several of Aprezi's staff
entered his office and reported that there was an armed SLM/Minawi
soldier on the compound threatening the chief of staff. Aprezi
complained that the soldiers should not have bothered to ask him
before acting on their standing orders. He said they had only
"informed" him of the event so they could blame any violence that
ensued on him.


5. (SBU) Aprezi complained that he had tried to work closely with
U.S. field representatives in the past. However, his warnings of
certain trends, "such as the need to prop up Minawi to ensure the
SLM would not implode," had yielded no guidance and or support.
"I'm tired of being a scapegoat - that's why I'm retiring," he
said.

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Gunwielding Minawi Rep Demands Past MSA
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5. (SBU) At around 11:30 a.m., the SLM Minawi rep from al-Daein,
LTC Ali Hamid Noor Shogar (Sector 8) entered the AMIS FORCE
Headquarters compound to demand a return to the original Monthly
Subsistence Allowance (MSA) of 2,700 dollars before international
donors lowered the MSA to 500 dollars in March. He first held
SLM/Minawi Ceasefire Commission representatives in their office at
gunpoint. A CFC Secretariat soldier, passing by the office to
obtain a signature, was pulled inside by the gunman and kicked. He
reported that the SLA representatives shielded him from the gunmen
with their own bodies, and it appeared at one point that Shogar
would shoot SLM rep Musa Mohamed Dabo. After speaking with them for
about 15 minutes, Shogar attempted to lock the three SLA
representatives and one AMIS soldier in the office and left.


6. (SBU) Shogar went to the office of AMIS Chief of Staff Col.
Partington, who talked to him for about half an hour and explained
that the decision to reduce the MSA was made with the concurrence of
the international community. Partington said Shogar had called the
CFC SLA representatives "liars and criminals" for misleading him
about the MSA. Partington advised Shogar to collect his higher
February MSA and wait to collect his March payment pending a review
of the issue. As Shogar exited Partington's office into the CFC
conference room, AMIS soldiers surrounded him. He fired a warning
shot into the AIR but was then disarmed. (Note: Payment of MSAs
have been pending since February as the U.K. and Netherlands conduct
an accounting review. End note.)


7. (SBU) Soon after he was detained, several SLM/Minawi members
arrived to ask for Shogar's release, and he was released into their
custody. AMIS did not contact the Sudanese police.


8. (SBU) Comment. Signs continue to point to the growing rifts
with the SLM and between the SLM and AMIS. SLA Minawi CFC
representatives have told S/CRS Poloff that they understand how

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events such as this have sullied SLA Minawi's reputation, weakened
AMIS' peacekeeping role and undermined the Darfur Peace Agreement
(DPA). However, they rationalize the behavior of SLM soldiers as a
difference in "culture." End Comment.

FERNANDEZ