GOSS VP MACAHR CONTINUED OBJECT OF SUSPICION BY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001297

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2013
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: GOSS VP MACAHR CONTINUED OBJECT OF SUSPICION BY
MANY IN THE SPLM

Classified By: A/CDA Mark Asquino for reasons 1.4 (b) and (c)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) Vice
President Riek Machar is the object of continued reports by
SPLA intelligence sources accusing him of conspiracies to
undermine GOSS President Salva Kiir and assume leadership of
Southern Sudan. This deep level of distrust of one of the
principle leaders of the SPLM portends troubling tensions
within the GOSS presidency. End summary.


2. (SBU) According to a recent report passed to ConGen Juba
by Sudan People,s Liberation Army (SPLA) Military
Intelligence, GOSS Vice President Riek Machar and Ex-Foreign
Minister of Sudan Dr. Lam Akol held a clandestine meeting
with Second Vice President of Sudan Ali Osman and other
unidentified high-ranking members of the National Congress
Party (NCP) in Khartoum on August 7, 2008. The report
maintains that a number of topics were discussed, but that
the primary reason for this meeting was to reconcile Akol
with Machar, as their relationship had supposedly become
strained. It was also supposedly agreed at this meeting that
Machar would assume the presidency of Southern Sudan if Salva
Kiir was assassinated.


3. (SBU)) The use of students as political tools was also
reportedly discussed, and it was allegedly agreed that
certain secondary and university students in Juba, Malakal,
and Wau would be utilized to propagandize, distribute
materials, and stage protests to criticize the Government of
Southern Sudan.


4. (SBU) The funding of militias was also allegedly a topic
of discussion. According to the report, there are militias
in the Greater Equatoria region, Upper Nile and Unity states
that have received financial support from the NCP in the
past. Allegedly, these militias would be granted additional
financial support in the near future to ensure their
continued loyalty. Another earlier SPLA intelligence report
accused Machar of meeting on August 5 with Akol, Former GNU
State Minister for Justice Alieu Alieu, and former GNU
presidential advisor Telar Deng to discuss the distribution
of NCP funds. It was reported that in that meeting funds
were allocated to co-opt select SPLA generals. (NOTE: Deng
and Alieu became the first-ever SPLM members stripped of
their party affiliation in October 2007 following their
removal from the party on grounds of insubordination. Akol
narrowly escaped the same fate when he apologized directly to
Kiir in a Juba-based meeting. END NOTE.)


5. (SBU) An August 7 SPLA intelligence report alleged Machar
devoted most of his discussion with his interlocutors to the
topic of re-establishing a Council of Chiefs office in Juba.
The Council of Chiefs is described as an organization of
leaders of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) that re-located
to the North. In the past this council has supposedly
received funds from the NCP to resettle their people in the
South. This Council of Chiefs office is reportedly intended
to be a political organization controlled by the NCP but
operating within the South. The reported motivation for the
opening of this office is to have a political organization
that is not overtly allied with the NCP to lobby for a Border
Defense Force that will respond to National Government
taskings. The establishment of this office is to be
allegedly financed with 150 Million Sudanese Pounds.


6. (C) Comment: Although there may be good reason to remain
suspicious of Machar,s overall political intentions in the
South, this constant stream of reporting by SPLA military
intelligence against him cannot be verified. The rumors fuel
conspiracy theories that there are elaborate plots being
hatched against the GOSS with large amounts of NCP money
supposedly being funneled to Machar to carry them out.
Machar,s history of receiving funding from the North to
fight the SPLA during the 1990s (and the slaughter of Dinka
by his troops at the time) makes him for many in the South a
man who cannot be trusted. The presence of Nuer oil militias
paid for by Khartoum in Unity State adds to the perception
that some Nuer are working against the interests of the
South. While there may be little truth in the latest rumors,
it is significant that they are being presented in reports
from SPLA intelligence to Kiir. This, in turn, contributes
to the continued deep mistrust and bitterness that persist in
the SPLA and SPLM against Riek Machar. If the rumors in fact
have no basis, it would be in Machar,s interest to dispel
them, demonstrate he is a team player in the SPLM, and work
to repair his relationship with Kiir.
ASQUINO