JANJAWEED DOMINATE NORTH DARFUR PUNITIVE CAMPAIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001391 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR A/S FRAZER, S/E WILLIAMSON, AND AF/SPG NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2018 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL PREF KPKO UN AU SU SUBJECT: JANJAWEED DOMINATE NORTH DARFUR PUNITIVE CAMPAIGN REF: A. KHARTOUM 1376 ¶B. KHARTOUM 1371 Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d ) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Janjaweed and Arab militias have dominated the Birmaza and Deisa attacks in North Darfur, according to multiple contacts. One advisor to infamous janjaweed leader Musa Hilal told locally employed staff that SAF directed Arab militias to intentionally target Zaghawa strongholds in North Darfur. One SLM Field commander separately told poloff that janjaweed attacks and looting continues in and around Birmaza on September 12. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On September 10, Adam Abdul Rahman (protect),a close advisor to infamous janjaweed leader and now GNU official Musa Hilal, told a locally employed political assistant (LES) that SAF employed four brigades of janjaweed, almost exclusively from the Northern Rizeigat, in the attacks against Birmaza and the surrounding area. (Note: Rahman was not aware that this information would be conveyed to Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. End Note.) Rahman stated that many of the janjaweed leaders had been recently trained at SAF facilities in Eastern Sudan. He noted that the janjweed units were well paid and armed, and also incredibly motivated to take on Zaghawa fighters. According to this source, the GoS intends to eliminate all areas controlled by the Zaghawa, and this goal overlaps with the wishes of some Arab leaders in North Darfur. Rahman reportedly told embassy staff that Northern Rizeigat are less enthusiastic about attacking the more pacific Fur tribe, and that in some areas, janjaweed are actually protecting (or at the very least unwilling to cooperate with the SAF in joint attacks on) Abdul Wahid Al-Nur's positions. ¶3. (C) Fur civil society leaders and SLM/MM contacts also separately informed poloff of an increased presence of janjaweed and Arab militia in North Darfur (CDA Fernandez also noted four Mi-24 HIND gunships on the tarmac at El Fasher Airport on September 9, twice the usual complement). On September 8, North Darfur Legislative Council representative and El-Fasher representative Ahmed Bahr called poloff and reported an unusually high and "concerning" number of janjaweed in El-Fasher. On September 10, Head of DPA Implementation for SLM/MM Muhammad Tijani separately told poloff that the large presence of Arab militia and janjaweed in North Darfur continue a "tense" situation in north Darfur. "The Government is trying to create a decisive force to use against all movements, signatory or non-signatory, and they are deploying large numbers to North Darfur," stated Tijani. ¶4. (C) SLM/Field Commander Mustafa Jido Hammaro contacted poloff via satellite phone on September 12 and reported that fighting between the rebel movements and SAF/Arab militia/janjaweed force continues around Birmaza. Claiming to be located two kilometers outside of Birmaza at a camp shared by SLM/Unity and URF, Hammaro claimed that the janjaweed force killed seven men and three women in attacks on rebel positions and neighboring villages. Hammaro said that the janjaweed force of approximately 70 vehicles stole roughly 200 camels and 400 cows from the villagers. Hammaro claimed that over 7,000 people were displaced in the attacks and that the rebel movements are attempting to protect and provide limited assistance to them. "We request that the international community and the United States officially travel to the region to investigate what the GoS is doing" noted Hmmaro. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: While much of this information is secondhand and coming from unverified or even biased sources in the field, this is not the first time we have heard about the widespread use of janjaweed in the GoS's latest campaign in North Darfur. Although ill-disciplined, they tend to be more trustworthy than the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF),at least as long as they are paid. The claim that the GoS is specifically targeting the fierce Zaghawa is also not implausible, especially following JEM's successful May 10 Omdurman attack and Minnawi's withdrawal to the field. Darfur's Arab militias have a special hatred for the warlike Zaghawa who give as good as they get in raiding, killing and looting and the Northern (camel-herding) Rizeigat have often lost large herds to Zaghawa raiders. The ruling NCP also sees the Zaghawa as a bulwark of the Chadian regime of President Deby and backbone of Darfuri rebel movements. It is important that the USG continue to warn the Khartoum regime of KHARTOUM 00001391 002 OF 002 retaliation or targeting on the basis of ethnicity - even though this is Khartoum's SOP - so at the very least to caution the authorities not to pursue their vendettas too far. END COMMENT FERNANDEZ