JORDAN ON DARFUR: JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, BUT HOW?

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002187 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, AF/SPG E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2018 TAGS: PREL SU JO SUBJECT: JORDAN ON DARFUR: JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, BUT HOW? REF: CAIRO 1541 Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Daniel Rubinstein for reasons 1.4(b) a nd (d) ¶1. (C) In a July 20 meeting with Charge, Foreign Minister Bashir - just returned from the July 19 Arab League (AL) Ministerial in Cairo - stressed that the AL had found the "unbalanced" position of International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Ocampo vis-a-vis Sudan to be "unacceptable" (reftel). The FM described a "strong sentiment" among the AL members that an indictment of Sudanese President Bashir would hamper political reconciliation. Nonetheless, he asserted, the governments at the ministerial were urging Sudan to work "within the system" and avoid anything that would set it, or the AL, on a collision course with the ICC. To this end, AL Secretary General Moussa would offer a deal to the Government of Sudan, involving GOS commitments to move forward energetically on reconciliation. ¶2. (C) Pointing out that Jordan is a member of the ICC, the Foreign Minister emphasized that, while rejecting the request for an arrest warrant, the AL did not reject the ICC's jurisdiction. He averred that a common theme from African interlocutors is the question of whether an indictment of President Bashir would help or hurt, with a clear implication that it could undermine international efforts to stabilize Darfur. "Justice must be served," he said, "but how?" FM Bashir called for a stepped-up high-level political process and greater attention to UNAMID's equipment and resource needs. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Rubinstein