MESSAGE OF CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE PRESIDENT ELECT FROM

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001659 DEPT FOR S/ES-CR, S/ES-OS, AF A/S FRAZER, AF/SPG, SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SU SUBJECT: MESSAGE OF CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE PRESIDENT ELECT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL UMMA PARTY REF: STATE 118192 ¶1. Post has received a letter of congratulations (text in para. 2) for President-elect Obama from the President of National Umma Party of Sudan, former PM Al Sadig Al Mahdi. A copy of the original letter is being transmitted to the Department via pouch. ¶2. Begin Text: 5 November 2008 To: Senator Barack Obama President-Elect of the United States of America Washington DC, USA From: Imam Al Sadig Al Mahdi President of the National Umma Party of Re: Congratulatory Message My dear brother I write to congratulate you and all the forces which have suffered from the status quo, and have had the audacity to hope and act for change. I cannot find words strong enough to describe the exhilaration of the majority of peoples all over the world at your meteoric rise and election as the 44th president of the United Sates. At the same time, I cannot find words strong enough to describe the mess which the neo-cons have meted world wide. You have captured the spirit of time and made change your most effective motto. Our key message to you is a double yes for change. But before defining the terms of change, give the stakeholders, who have been the victims of the outgoing misguided policies, your ears and listen as you promised: ¶1. Your parental home, Africa, the cradle of Human Civilization, is, in cosmic terms, a Global black hole. It aspires to a qualified panel to decide what America can do to help it, pull itself out of it's present predicament, and to define what its own genuine representatives should do to help themselves. ¶2. In the Middle East all America's interests are with the Arabs, yet all America's positions are with expansionist Israeli policies. This anomaly cannot continue. America must realize that there is no peace without justice and work for a genuine, sustainable and just peace. ¶3. The free market economy achieved wonderful results in terms of enterprise, innovation, and productivity. But like all aspects of freedom, it presupposes a backbone of discipline. Discipline which Mr. Bush and his team undermined by an internal fiscal free fall, and an external military adventurism which overburdened the U.S economy. To add insult to injury, the brinkmanship over Iran fuelled the speculative rise in the price of oil. Not only the Americans, but the whole world has been inspired by your election, look up to you to restore discipline in the economy, to terminate brinkmanship and military adventurism and to develop the social welfare potential of the free market economy. ¶4. My own country, the Sudan, had suffered from the misgovernment of its own neo-conservative type leadership. In our context, change cannot come in the same way as in America. In response to various factors, the country's leadership has now accepted the necessity for change. What is now being considered is to convene a National Forum to undertake the following reforms: (a) To end the DARFUR crisis in terms which will endorse all the legitimate demands of the people of DARFUR. (b) A redoubled effort to develop the Peace Agreement, The NAIVASHA Agreement, to become a National Commitment, to enhance its implementation and to achieve its cherished targets of just peace, making unity attractive, and effecting Democratic Transformation. (c) To guarantee Human Rights, and basic freedoms. (d) To hold general, free and fair elections to resolve the power struggle democratically. (e) To pursue the duty of accountability for criminal conduct as specified by UN Security Council Resolution 1593 without surrendering the country to chaos, i.e. to reconcile retributive Justice with restorative Justice. To achieve the above stated, a National All Party Conference is planned to give the resolution of these issues consensual legitimacy. This is the outline of possible change in the Sudan. We look forward to your support for this endeavor. Finally, As the last legitimate elected Prime Minister of Sudan, a leader of a party (the National Umma Party) which continues to struggle for democracy and human rights, and as an African who sees the future of the continent in terms of its geo-political unity and not a damaging ethnic schism, and as a Muslim who believes that Islam preaches the accommodation of modern social change, accepts cultural and religious plurality and calls for peaceful International Relations; I pray to Allah to bless your efforts to effect the promised change, in the pursuit of which, we extend our hand for cooperation to effect the desired change in our respective countries, and support for your effort to pursue the Agenda of International Good Governance. Please accept my best wishes and heartiest condolences for the loss of your grandmother. I am, /s/ Elected Sudanese PM 1986-1989 Elected IMAM of AMSAR Dec. 2002 Elected President of UMMA Party 2003 FERNANDEZ