(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."

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Government Attempts to Fill Darfur Posts
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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.

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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.)

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Insecurity in Geraida
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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