CONTACT GROUP ADOPTS MILITARY PLAN FOR SUDAN AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 000837 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C. AF/W, NEA/MAG, AND IO/UNP E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2018 TAGS: PREL PBTS CD SU SG GB CF ER LY SUBJECT: CONTACT GROUP ADOPTS MILITARY PLAN FOR SUDAN AND CHAD; SUDAN TO REESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS REF: DAKAR 830 Classified By: CDA Jay T. Smith for reasons 1.5 B/D ¶1. (C) Summary: On July 17 at the fourth meeting of the Contact Group for the implementation of the Dakar Accord between Chad and Sudan, Foreign Ministers and representatives endorsed a draft military plan for the Peace and Security Force to monitor the border between Chad and Sudan. In addition, the Contact Group agreed to designate a special representative to act as liaison between the group and the force commander and adopted a budget $30.6 million to establish and fund the force for one year. They agreed to brief the AU Commission president and the UN secretary general as a group on their progress. Sudan announced its willingness to reestablish and normalize diplomatic relations with Chad. End summary. Foreign Ministers Adopt Military Plan -------------- ¶2. (U) On July 17 at the fourth meeting of the Contact group for the implementation of the Dakar Accord between Chad and Sudan, Foreign Ministers and representatives from Chad, Congo (Brazzaville),Gabon, Eritrea, Libya, Senegal, and Sudan welcomed and endorsed the draft operations plan produced by the group of military experts during their June 23-27 meeting (reftel). The plan calls for the establishment of 10 observation posts (five on each side of the border) to be manned by a Peace and Security Force comprised of two elements: 1) an African multinational force of observers made up of officers from the Contact Group member countries; and 2) a protection force made up 1,000 Chadian troops and 1,000 Sudanese troops. Foreign Ministers Agree to Designate Special Representative -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) At the Contact Group meeting, which was chaired by Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio and co-chaired by General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko of Congo and the Libyan ambassador to Senegal, Masssoud Mohamed Shalgam, members agreed to designate someone to act as a special representative to act as liaison between the Contact Group the future military commander of the to-be-established Peace and Security Force for Chad and Sudan. They requested that the military experts meet again for four days in the second half of August to continue their planning regarding logistical feasibility, the division of command responsibilities, and status of forces agreement. Foreign Ministers Adopt Budget of $30.6 million -------------- -- ¶4. (U) The Contact Group also adopted a budget of $30.6 million to establish and fund the operations of the Peace and Security Force called for in the accord for one year. Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh urged the members of the contact group to demonstrate that Africa could address its own problems by relying on its own financial and material resources to fund the mission. Foreign Minister Gadio concurred that the mission is an African one: conceived, developed, and to be implemented by Africans and, as such, the Contact Group members should draw first on their own resources to fund and outfit the force to the extent possible. However, Gadio emphasized that this effort is being undertaken under the auspices of the African Union and ultimately with the support of the United Nations and its Security Council. As such, he expressed the hope that the UN, the EU, and partner countries France, the United Kingdom, and the United States would be able to provide logistical and other support and perhaps some of the necessary equipment, such as helicopters. Contact Group Planning to Brief UN and EU -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Gabonese Foreign Minister Laure Olga Gondjout emphasized the importance of working with the United Nations, the African Union (AU),and the African regional organizations the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD) and the Central African Economic Community (CEAC) and proposed that the Contact Group meet with the heads of each of these organizations to inform them of the groups progress. DAKAR 00000837 002.2 OF 003 Gadio echoed her comments and the Contact Group agreed organize missions to each of these organizations in addition to the European Union (EU). The members of the Contact Group agreed that the foreign ministers of each of their countries would meet with the President of the AU commission and that they would seek an audience with UN Secrtary General Ban Ki-moon on the margins of the upcoming UN General Assembly. ¶6. (U) Congolese General Mokoko emphasized the importance of coordinating with the UN/AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur, UNAMID. Political Counselor intervened in support of this point. Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat went a step further and said his government would like to see UNAMID in Dafur and the EU peacekeeping force in Chad, EUFOR, involved in the implementation of the Dakar Accord. Gabonese Foreign Minister Gondjout and Senegalese Foreign Minister noted the difficulty of trying to modify the mandates of these peacekeeping missions. Nevertheless, the Contact Group agreed to keep the UN and EU informed about the progress of the group. Sudan to Reestablish Diplomatic Relations with Chad -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Minister Gadio declared during the meeting that Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade had called for Sudan and Chad to reestablish and normalize diplomatic relations. Sudanese Foreign Minister Alor announced his agreement in principle, a gesture that, at the urging of Libyan Ambassador Shalgam, Minister Gadio encouraged Chad to reciprocate. However, Chadian Foreign Minister Mahamat pointedly announced that he merely took note of the Sudanese declaration. When pressed further by Gadio, Mahamat said his country was focusing on facts and actions not words and took issue with Gadio,s tone. He noted that when a similar call for reestablishing diplomatic relations was made at a previous meeting of the Contact Group the Sudanese response had been no. Moreover, he emphasized that Sudan had unilaterally ended diplomatic relations with his country. ¶8. (SBU) Nevertheless, Sudanese Foreign Minister Alor reiterated his country,s commitment to reestablishing peace in Darfur. He asserted that his government had a plan for finally ending the conflict in Darfur and stressed that reestablishing and normalizing diplomatic relations with Chad was a key part of it. By the end of the meeting he was able to formally announce his government,s willingness to re-establish and normalize diplomatic relations with the government of Chad. President Wade Takes Issue with Draft Operations Plan -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) President Wade personally received the heads of delegations of Contact Group member countries and country and organization observers. Briefed on the progress made and the draft military plan, Wade expressed his support for the work of the Contact Group but said the pQposal struck him as completely inadequate and he urged the military planners request the amount of troops and observers necessary to complete the mission. However, Wade seemed confused about the roles of the various elements of the Peace and Security Force. He appeared to mistakenly believe that the 2,000 Chadian and Sudanese troops that are to comprise the bi-national protection force would be acting as observers. He opined that 2,000 observers and 10 observation posts was completely insufficient and said the number of both needed to be at least double. However, in fact, each observation post will have only seven observers (one from each country) with the exception of the observation posts established in El-Genina in Sudan and Abeche in Chad which will serve as secondary command posts and have double the number of observers (two from each country). Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) Senegal appears to have successfully outmaneuvered Libya and Sudan who had hoped to limit the Peace and Security Force,s association with the AU and the UN. This issue had been a cause of tension between Senegal and Libya for some time. Perhaps because Libya was represented by its local ambassador in lieu of the foreign minister, Gadio was able to successfully orchestrate, with the support of Gabon, a DAKAR 00000837 003 OF 003 communiqu and emphasizes the need to work closely with the observer countries and organizations including minister-level missions to the heads of the AU and EU to brief them on the contact groups activities. End Comment. ¶11. In addition to the foreign ministers and representatives of the seven Contact Group member countries, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC),which is a full member of the Contact Group, was represented by Ambassador Mohamed Habib. The United States, France, and the United Kingdom, along with the European Union (EU),the United Nations, the African Union (AU),and the African regional organizations the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD) and the Central African Economic Community (CEAC), as well as the UN, and UNDP participated in the meeting as observers. The United States was represented by Political Counselor. SMITH SMITH