SOUTH AFRICA SAYS NO TO LRA REQUEST TO MEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRETORIA 000828 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E B. YODER, AF/S E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2017 TAGS: PREL UG SF SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA SAYS NO TO LRA REQUEST TO MEDIATE REF: A. FITZGIBBON-TRENKLE EMAIL OF 02/10/2007 ¶B. 06 PRETORIA 3965 Classified By: Political Counselor Raymond Brown. Reasons 1.4(b) and ( d). ¶1. (C) South Africa fully supports the mediation of the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) peace talks, according to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Deputy Director Rasheeda Adam. Adam told PolCounselor March 5 that South Africa will not facilitate or host the peace talks, despite LRA appeals. (NOTE: The LRA wrote a letter to President Mbeki February 4 to request that the South African Government mediate the conflict with the Government of Uganda (Ref A). END NOTE.) South Africa sent a letter to the LRA on March 5, stating that it was "flattered" by the LRA request, but remains fully behind the GOSS mediation. South Africa is prepared to serve as a "friend of the mediation" to help resolve particular issues or disputes, as requested by the GOSS. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: Post appreciates the timely information from Embassy Kampala on the LRA request to South Africa to mediate. We were able to engage Adam and other senior DFA officials over the past month, explaining the USG position on the LRA mediation. We believe these arguments played a role in persuading the SAG to resist the request to host the talks. END COMMENT. BOST