PAULINO MATIEP ON SPLM POLITICS AND THE SPLA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000739 DEPT A/S FRAZER, S/E WILLIAMSON, AF/SPG, AF/C, AF/E ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS PHUM MARR MOPS SU SUBJECT: PAULINO MATIEP ON SPLM POLITICS AND THE SPLA ¶1. (SBU) Deputy Commander in Chief for the SPLA and ex-SSDF Commander Paulino Matiep claims that his involvement in the SPLM Unity State Congress fallout has been overstated. In a May 13 conversation with Acting CG, the aging Nuer military strategist was emphatic that rumors linking him with GOSS Vice President Riek Machar were false. "Politicians would be well-advised to consult with me," the tight-lipped Matiep said cryptically, "but I am neutral." As an example he said he has repeatedly given unheeded advice to Unity Governor Taban Deng Gai, and claimed that Gai is "overly stubborn" to listen but did not elaborate further. Should current GOSS Health Minister Joseph Monytiel Wiejang stand for gubernatorial election in 2009, Matiep plans to serve as an informal advisor to Weijang in his capacity as a Nuer elder. Pressed as to whether he has offered similar counsel to Machar, Matiep hesitated, and then explained that he views the GOSS Vice President as "one who operates at a different level." (NOTE: Matiep's translator then explained the remark, indicating that the General speaks to Machar on "national security issues." END NOTE.) ¶2. (SBU) Matiep's lengthy praise for the newly-elected SPLM state chairman, current GOSS Health Minister Joseph Monytiel Wiejang was in sharp contrast to his discussion of Gai. Unlike Gai, Wiejang was able to deliver services and salaries to the community when he was last governor. His performance as GOSS Health Minister, Matiep maintained, has been similarly impressive, citing upgrades in medical care and the overall facility at Juba Teaching Hospital - this despite its administrative and operational transfer from the ICRC to GOSS. Matiep offered little on the forthcoming SPLM National Convention, preferring not to pre-judge its outcome. He offered less on potential replacements for the late SPLA Affairs Minister, noting only that Kiir had not convened a meeting to discuss the matter. He did, however, complain about ongoing difficulties with the integration of members of his (former) Southern Sudan Defense Forces into the SPLA ¶3. (SBU) Matiep claimed to Acting CG that he had a 57,000-strong militia, not all of whom were brought into the SPLA immediately following the 2006 Juba Accord. Over the past month, two large factions of ex-SSDF arrived in Juba for integration, only to be rejected by the SPLA. This came on top of Kiir's directive to Matiep to disarm his estimated 1,500-strong militia force in Juba, an order the general refused. Matiep has been in "near constant" talks with the SPLA since April 7, pressing for an increase of ex-SSDF soldiers in the SPLA military ranks. Matiep allowed that the discussions have been decidedly negative, and had broken off as a result of the May 2 air crash which killed SPLA Affairs Minister Dominic Dim Deng. Matiep stressed he would not accept a continuous no answer from SPLA Chief of Staff Oyai Deng Ajak on further ex-SSDF integration, and would take the issue to Kiir "or others" as necessary. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Matiep, due to travel shortly to the U.S. for medical treatment, is a far shrewder operator than he shows on first greeting, and is clearly comfortable engaging in the cut-throat state-level politics of Unity State. Less-than-perfect harmony between Matiep and a still-distrustful SPLA, and Matiep's continued defiance of Kiir on militia disarmament, make Matiep a worrisome force amidst the fluid, heavily-tribal evolutions currently underway within the SPLM. Matiep's occasional gullibility - SPLM lore has it that the illiterate Matiep reportedly accepted hundreds of pounds of paper from Khartoum during the North/South civil war believing they were Sudanese dinar payouts - makes him an easy target for VP Machar's machinations. We continue to monitor him closely, as does the GOSS. FERNANDEZ