CHAD/SUDAN: FRENCH AGREEABLE TO P5+1 DEMARCHE BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 000513 SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO USMISSION USAU ADDIS ABABA SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV CH UK LY RS CD SU KPKO FR SUBJECT: CHAD/SUDAN: FRENCH AGREEABLE TO P5+1 DEMARCHE BUT DOUBT CHINA'S WILLINGNESS REF: A. STATE 26477 ¶B. BEIJING 977 ¶C. PARIS 461 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 1.4 (b/d ). ¶1. (C) MFA DAS-equivalent for East Africa Helene Le Gal informed us on March 14 that France was agreeable to the two-step P5 1 demarche sequence set forth in Ref A involving Chad and Sudan in order to persuade both to cease supporting the other's rebel factions. However, she said that she doubted that China would agree to participate in such an effort, in view of China's repeated reluctance to lean on the Khartoum regime. She said that a joint demarche would have to take into account the "peace accord" Chad and Sudan signed in Dakar on March 13. She commented in passing that this new agreement was a welcome development but doubted that it would do more than previous such agreements to end Chad-Sudan hostilities. ¶2. (C) Following receipt of Ref B on March 17, we contacted Le Gal and her MFA colleagues and informed them of China's negative response. We invited their comments, which we will report should they provide any, and said that we would keep them informed of any actions the USG, following the PRC's refusal, might want to take relative to Chad and Sudan. ¶3. (C) Le Gal on March 14 said that France was working on its own to discourage Chad and Sudan from supporting rebel groups in their territories. For further French thinking on this and related topics, see the analysis provided by AF-advisor Romain Serman at the French presidency, which is reported Ref C. ¶4. (U) Minimize considered. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON