MINAWI PREVIEWS TRIP OF ARAB CAPITALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000951 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS, AF/SPG, AND NEA FOR PDAS JJEFFREY NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2012 TAGS: PGOV PREL AU UN SU EG SA KU QA TC SUBJECT: MINAWI PREVIEWS TRIP OF ARAB CAPITALS Classified By: CDA A. Fernandez, Reason: Sections 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Senior Assistant to the President and SLM leader Minni Minawi will travel to five Arab capitals next week to seek political and financial support for his movement in an effort to stabilize the situation in Darfur. He has asked for U.S. assistance in previewing his trip with these Arabs governments due to their strong bilateral ties with the U.S. Minawi also asked for U.S. support in establishing an effective Security Advisory Team. Minawi expressed concerns about the SPLM's credibility among Darfur rebel movements and warned that the first phase of the SPLM's proposed conference in Southern Sudan could backfire. Please see action request para. 7. End summary. -------------- Minawi Asks for U.S. to Preview Trip -------------- ¶2. (C) Senior Assistant to the President and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader Minni Minawi plans to travel to Arab capitals beginning June 19 to seek financial and political support for his movement. Meeting with Poloff on June 14, Minawi asked that the USG preview his trip with host governments in Cairo, Riyadh, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, and Doha and with the Arab League. He hopes to have one-on-one meetings with key Arab leaders to explain that the SLM is "not the enemy of the Arabs" and to "gain support for solving the crisis for all Darfur's people." Minawi will discuss ways that Arab capitals can play a "neutral role" with the Sudanese Government to promote stability in Darfur. In Cairo, Minawi also plans to meet with some representatives of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to discuss the Darfur political process. ¶3. (C) In addition to requesting political support, Minawi acknowledged that he would ask Arab governments to provide financial assistance to the SLM to stem defections from the movement and allow Minawi to demonstrate a peace dividend for the people of Darfur. Minawi said that he hoped to use the money to fund development projects in Darfur. Poloff explained that the ongoing instability made large scale development in Darfur untenable and suggested that the money could be more effective in providing basic food assistance and medical care to SLM members in the field, many of whom were resorting to banditry. Minawi agreed that the provision of non-military logistical support would be useful in maintaining his control over the SLM until the African Union was able to establish the Logistics Coordination Commission (LCC) as agreed during the last Joint Commission meeting. -------------- SPLM Lacking Credibility in Darfur -------------- ¶4. (C) Referring to the upcoming conference organized by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Southern Sudan, Minawi said that he had met with SPLM Darfur Taskforce member Edward Lino on June 13. Minawi said that he had told Lino that the SPLM had been unhelpful in Abuja and had "trivialized our demands" while chairing the power-sharing and wealth-sharing meetings. With some lingering resentment, he also recalled that SPLM luminaries Yassir Arman, Malik Agar, and Barnaba Maril Benjamin had exerted significant pressure on the parties to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). Minawi suggested that the SPLM would need to take the time to build its credibility with the people of Darfur before it could bring the non-signatories into the political process. ¶5. (C) Minawi noted that the initial phase of the conference--which will focus on traditional leaders, civil society, and some Arab tribes--could work against the SPLM. Minawi said that this was "not Salva's vision," which centered on preparing the non-signatories for negotiations, and that he would raise the matter with First Vice President Salva Kiir in the near future. He also said that he doubted that the SPLM had contacted many of the rebel leaders in the field, noting that he had been notified of the conference for the first time during his meeting with Lino. Minawi will dispatch SLM Legal Advisor Abdulaziz Sam to Southern Sudan on June 18 to observe the SPLM conference. KHARTOUM 00000951 002 OF 002 -------------- Western Officer for Security Advisory Team -------------- ¶6. (C) Following previous discussions about the establishment of the Security Advisory Team (SAT),Minawi noted the SLM's ongoing request for U.S. assistance in ensuring that appointments to the team are effective. The SLM views the SAT as a potential counterweight to the Security Assessment Commission chaired by National Congress Party (NCP) loyalist Ahmed Al Dabi. Poloff explained that, at the SLM's request, he had spoken to Norwegian officials in Khartoum about their government's willingness to appoint a Norwegian officer to chair the SAT. They had been receptive and were awaiting a response from Oslo. Minawi said that having a Western officer was preferable but that the NCP was pushing for either a Libyan or an Egyptian. He asked the U.S. work with the international community to maintain pressure on the NCP to establish an effective SAT in the near future. -------------- Action request -------------- ¶7. (C) Post recommends that the Department issue a demarche request to Embassies Cairo, Riyadh, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Doha to preview Minawi's upcoming trip. He will be traveling with the chairmen of the Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund, the Darfur Land Commission, and the Darfur Resettlement and Rehabilitation Commission, along with working-level officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency. He will arrive in Egypt on June 19 and in Saudi Arabia on June 21. The dates for the remainder of the trip are not yet confirmed. Post also recommends that the Department follow up with Oslo regarding the SLM's request for a Norwegian officer for the SAT. Post will report septel any additional information from the Norwegian Embassy in Khartoum. FERNANDEZ