(CORRECTED COPY MRN: KHARTOUM 00080): MINAWI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000099 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS, AND AF/SPG NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL AU SU CD UN SUBJECT: (CORRECTED COPY MRN: KHARTOUM 00080): MINAWI DISCUSSES DPA NON-SIGNATORIES REF: A. KHARTOUM 00068 ¶B. 06 KHARTOUM 02874 ¶C. 06 KHARTOUM 02894 Classified By: DCM Roberto Powers, Reason: Sections 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: In spite of his efforts to reserve government positions for Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) non-signatories as an incentive to support the agreement, Senior Assistant to the President and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader Minni Minawi is frustrated with the Sudanese government's "divide and conquer" policies. He also warned that the conference for non-signatory commanders, scheduled to be held in North Darfur within the next few days, could be hijacked by some political leaders and result in "negative" unification under the umbrella of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). End summary. ¶2. (C) In a January 17 meeting with AID Mission Director and Poloff, Minawi expressed his frustration at the Sudanese government's "divide and conquer" policies regarding the DPA non-signatories and its efforts to limit the number of governmental positions available to Darfurian leaders. Despite Minawi's attempts to reserve positions within the government for the non-signatories in order to entice them to join the agreement, the government has begun to promise several positions to individual leaders who have signed "separate peaces." -------------- Government Attempts to Fill Darfur Posts -------------- ¶3. (C) These leaders include Abdulgassem Imam, a commander formerly allied with the SLM faction headed by Ahmed Abdul Shafi, who met with President Bashir on January 17. Minawi views this as an attempt by Presidential Advisor Maghzoub al-Khalifa to fill all the government positions as soon as possible and freeze out the other non-signatories. Typifying the fractious politics of Darfur, Minawi received a letter during the meeting from the supporters of Abdulrahman Musa, one of the signatories of the May 2006 Declaration of Commitment. Fearing that Abdulrahman Musa would soon be appointed by the government as a senior advisor to the president, his "supporters" pre-empted him by calling on the government not to move forward with appointments until more non-signatories could be brought to a peace agreement. According to Minawi, the Sudanese government now views the two deputy governor positions reserved for Darfurian leaders under the agreement as ministerial posts, which Minawi believes contravenes the DPA. AID Mission Director urged Minawi to raise these concerns with AU Envoy Salim Ahmed Salim, who could address them with the Sudanese government. -------------- Non-Signatories United Under JEM? -------------- ¶4. (C) Minawi also warned that JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim was attempting to bring many non-signatory leaders under the umbrella of JEM, which supplied the majority of the resources for the now-defunct National Redemption Front (NRF). Minawi corroborated previous reporting (Ref A) that Adam Bakhit and Khamis Abdullah met in recent days with Ibrahim near Abeche, Chad, in an attempt to form an alliance. He also noted that former SLM Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Suleiman Jamoos may try to unite the non-signatory factions scheduled to meet in North Darfur in the coming days and then bring them to a union with JEM. Jamous remains at the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) hospital facility in South Kordofan, because the Sudanese government will not allow him to leave the compound (Ref B). (Note: Jamous is an outspoken critic of Minawi and the DPA. Previous to joining the SLM in 2003, Jamous had sided with Hassan al Turabi in 1999 after he split with President Bashir. In a separate meeting with Poloff on January 17, the political secretary of al Turabi's Popular Congress Party (PCP),which has links to JEM, requested the release of Jamoos, who he stated could help re-unify the SLM. Jamoos' family also held a press conference on January 17 calling for his release. End note.) -------------- Insecurity in Geraida -------------- ¶5. (C) Minawi concluded the meeting by saying that he had a team investigating the alleged rape of an expatriate KHARTOUM 00000099 002 OF 002 humanitarian worker in Geraida in late December (Ref C). AID Mission Director underscored that the incident had damaged the operation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the area, several of which would not return until they could assess the security situation more accurately. HUME