DARFUR: CAIRO-BASED REBELS ON NATIONAL CENSUS

UNCLAS CAIRO 000607 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/SPG, NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV SOCI UNSC KDEM EG SU SUBJECT: DARFUR: CAIRO-BASED REBELS ON NATIONAL CENSUS REF: A. SECSTATE 30003 ¶B. 2007 CAIRO 2867 Sensitive but unclassified, not for Internet distribution. ¶1. (SBU) In a March 26 meeting, we asked Alaa El Din Ibrahim and Abdallah Ali, Political and Media Secretaries of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) Abdulwahid Nur faction, respectively, to encourage Nur supporters in Darfur, and particularly in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, to refrain from violence in the upcoming Sudanese census per ref A demarche. Ibrahim and Ali noted that the SLM/A Nur faction is opposed to the census, as it is a "tool" that the GOS will use to cement its control over Darfur. However, they said that SLM/A Nur has placed a moratorium on violence since the Darfur Peace Agreement negotiations in Abuja in 2006, in the hopes of fostering a better understanding between the rebel factions and international powers, particularly the U.S. They were not planning to break this moratorium due to the census, they said. ¶2. (SBU) On March 27 we delivered the same message to Siddique Ander and Osama Mohamed El Hassan, President and Secretary General, respectively, of the Democratic Popular SIPDIS Front (DPF). They responded that, although the DPF supports the census in principle, in practice it will be flawed and lack transparency. The DPF has learned to expect an attack any time the GOS enters areas held by the DPF, they said, and thus they could not rule out violent resistance to any GOS attempts to carry out the census in those areas. However, the DPF and its supports might not resist if the census is carried out by an international third party, such as the UN, they continued. ¶3. (SBU) Ander and Hassan repeated their previous entreaties for the USG to recognize the DPF as an "important player" in Darfur (ref B). Ander and Hassan boasted that the DPF is stronger even than the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and "can easily control Khalil." They requested contact between the Department in Washington and the DPF's representative in Philadelphia Mr. Jalal Adeela (phone numbers: 2-016-257-9785, 267939731). When asked, they responded that Adeela had not attempted to contact the Department himself. ¶4. (SBU) Note: We have so far been unable to contact JEM's Cairo representatives, but will continue to try to do so. RICCIARDONE