FURTHER INFORMATION ON MURDER OF CHINESE OIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001625 SIPDIS DEPT FOR A/S FRAZER, S/E WILLIAMSON, AF/SPG, EAP/CM NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2013 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL PHUM KPKO UNSC AU SU CH SUBJECT: FURTHER INFORMATION ON MURDER OF CHINESE OIL WORKERS, NEW SECURITY MEASURES Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: According to the head of Sudan's Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID),the murder of five Chinese oil workers in western Kordofan was apparently triggered when the kidnappers spotted a GOS helicopter tracking their movements and panicked. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ibrahim Mahmud announced new security measures in and around oil producing areas in response to the killings. President Bashir is to visit Kordofan on November 11 to inaugurate a new road, but it remains to be seen whether he will address the incident. End Summary. 2.(C) Gen. Abdeen, Head of Sudan's CID (roughly equivalent to the U.S. FBI) told A/RSO that Sudanese security forces were tracking the kidnappers via helicopter, and at some point the latter became aware of the aircraft. According to Abdeen, they (falsely) believed that the helicopter was going to drop a nerve gas agent to paralyze them, and as a result, they panicked. They lined up and shot the nine hostages, killing five. A sixth survived by playing dead, and a seventh escaped. The remaining two hostages were spared by the kidnappers and eventually rescued by Sudanese security forces. Gen. Abdeen reported that the feet of the four survivors were badly bruised due to hostages being forced to walk an 80 km "death march" from the point of abduction. (Note: Ibrahim Mahmud, Minister of Interior, stated publicly that the kidnapping took place between Difra and Al Agad oil fields, where the Chinese oil workers were maintaining the pipeline that links the two sites. End Note.) According to Gen. Abdeen, the Chinese Embassy demanded the bodies before autopsies could be performed. The Sudanese acquiesced, thinking that autopsies would be carried out in China, but the Chinese promptly took the bodies to Omdurman for cremation, thus destroying any forensic evidence. Chinese poloff told poloff that the surviving hostages flew back to China on November 4. ¶3. (C) Rumors have been circulating in the press that the kidnappers were disaffected Misseriya Arab tribesmen. In an address to the Council of States on November 3, Minister of Interior Mahmud singled out the local Shihama movement, which he described as an armed group of approximately 35 members led by Ammar Ahmed Adam, who Mahmud, a regime hardliner, said recently returned to Kordofan from Israel. Mahmud stated that the movement demands creation of a new state in western Kordofan, development assistance to the area, and the allocation of oil industry jobs to local inhabitants. Mahmud also mentioned another armed faction affiliated with JEM, but JEM has steadfastly disavowed any connection to the kidnappers. In a meeting with poloff on October 29, JEM spokesman Ahmed Hussein told poloff that "this particular incident has absolutely nothing to do with JEM," adding that while JEM does have a presence in Kordofan, "it is very structured, and no one can do or say anything without permission from senior leadership." ¶4. (C) As a result of the incident, Interior Minister Mahmud announced new security provisions to be enacted in and around Sudan's oilfields, including requiring oil companies to notify security forces of any planned travel outside of their camps. Such travel would be permitted only under armed escort, he said. He also announced a redeployment of Central Reserve Police forces in Kordofan, and the forming of special units to patrol areas in which groups threatening oil production are present. He also stressed that security forces would begin working with native administration in the affected areas to ensure maximum cooperation and coordination in the protection of oil fields. SPLA Chief of Staff Oyai Deng Ajak told CDA Fernandez earlier in the week that these moves, ostensibly to provide greater security to oil production, are making the SPLA concerned that Khartoum is using the Chinese incident as part of a "power grab" to strengthen a Northern presence in the oil region straddling the ill-defined North-South border, "they never really left the oil fields, and now they are coming back." This is a fear echoed by many GOSS leaders to A/S Frazer in Juba during a recent visit. ¶5. (C) President Omar Al Bashir reportedly will visit El-Nhoud in Western Kordofan state on November 11 to inaugurate both the opening of the El Obeid-El Nhoud road and the start of work on the road from El-Nhoud to Kutum in Darfur. (Note: the latter is part of "Western Salvation Road" being built between Darfur and Kordofan which would KHARTOUM 00001625 002 OF 002 connect El Geneina in West Darfur state to Khartoum for the first time . End Note). Bashir has previously visited the region and listened to the demands of disaffected tribesman, but it remains to be seen whether he will meet with them again or discuss oilfield security issues. ¶5. (C) Comment: Although oil workers have been kidnapped before, no incident has resulted in such bloodshed and loss of life. The deployment of the notorious Central Reserve Police to Kordofan and statements about security forces ensuring maximum cooperation from the local population could have ominous implications. If caught, the perpetrators' punishment will by harsh, but this may not deter future attacks on oil workers or installations, as disaffected local residents have few other outlets to air their grievances. Heavy-handed measures by Khartoum authorities will not only alienate local people but have already heightened Southern fears of a creeping SAF/Interior Ministry escalation in already volatile Southern Kordofan and Abyei (Difra is actually within the boundaries of the Abyei Interim Borders where only the Abyei JIU should be present). FERNANDEZ