DARFUR REBEL LEADER PROLONGS EUROPEAN TOUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 000091 SIPDIS SIPDIS BEIJING FOR SE NATSIOS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2012 TAGS: PREL PHUM PINR SU FR SUBJECT: DARFUR REBEL LEADER PROLONGS EUROPEAN TOUR REF: PARIS 7523 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt. Reas ons 1.4b,d ¶1. (SBU) Abdulwahid El-Nur, SLM/A leader and Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) rejectionist, met January 6 with Africa Watcher at El-Nur's request. Nur, who has been traveling in Western Europe, including the Netherlands, explained that he had returned temporarily to Paris in order to extend his Schengen visa for another three months. In Paris he met with French NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders. Nur claims to be engaged in a campaign of NGO and media outreach across Europe. He stated he wants to visit the USA and the UK, provided he can first obtain visas. It is unclear when he will return to Darfur. ¶2. (C) Nur called for a new peace process brokered by a "neutral" party. The African Union (AU) was not impartial, he held, but structurally biased in favor of Khartoum. Nur allowed that the AU should continue its involvement in a subordinate role, as a kind of junior partner to some other international body. Nur furthermore conditioned a return to peace talks on Khartoum's ceasing its aggressive actions, commencing Janjaweed disarmament, and facilitating refugee protection and refugee returns. Despite his rejection of the DPA, Nur claimed his negotiating position continued to strengthen. ¶3. (C) Nur was joined by Denmark-based SLM/A representative Daw S. Yahia as well as Canadian-Sudanese adviser Ahmed M. Abdalla. Abdalla, a Canadian trained academic, planned to travel circa January 10 to Washington and New York for a two week stay and anticipated meeting with Special Envoy Natsios on January 19. ¶4. (C) Comment: Abdulwahid El-Nur seemed to lack a coherent strategy. He hedged about an eventual return to the Darfur region and made vague comments about continuing his travels in Europe. El-Nur and Abdalla, who suggested they need to improve their outreach to key African governments, disclosed they lacked a channel to South Africa in particular. El-Nur and Abdalla also admitted they had no reliable line of communication to UN leadership; they claimed to have left messages, so far unanswered, with the secretary of UN Envoy Jan Eliasson in Sweden. Abdalla, who appears an earnest and well-spoken interlocutor, sought guidance on whom to meet in Washington and at UN headquarters in New York. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON