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)

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Summary
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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.

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Minawi Asks for U.S. to Preview Trip
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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.

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SPLM Lacking Credibility in Darfur
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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


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Western Officer for Security Advisory Team
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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.

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Action request
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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