CHAD-SUDAN AGREEMENT: BORDER CONTROL OPERATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 000575 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C (BETHEA) KINSHASA FOR BRAZZAVILLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV CF CT CD SY SG FR SUBJECT: CHAD-SUDAN AGREEMENT: BORDER CONTROL OPERATION NECESSARY REF: STATE 31387 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 1.4 (b/d ). ¶1. (C) In response to reftel, MFA AF DAS-equivalent Christine Fages (responsible for Chad) said on March 27 that the most important step in ensuring the effectiveness of the Dakar Chad-Sudan Peace Agreement would be the formation and deployment of a border monitoring operation. She said that such an operation was mentioned in earlier peace agreements that were incorporated by reference into the Dakar Agreement. It was up to Contact Group members such as Senegal, who were charged with this task, to organize such a mechanism. With regret, Fages expressed doubt that this border monitoring function would be put into place quickly, if ever. "It's just too daunting for them; look at all the trouble we had setting up EUFOR." She nonetheless said that France would encourage all parties to the Chad-Sudan peace process to implement those portions of the Dakar Agreement for which they bore responsibility. ¶2. (C) Fages added that the continued deployment of EUFOR, MINURCAT, and UNAMID would, indirectly, contribute to improved border controls, but she noted that controlling the borders was not the primary mission of those entities and that a border control mechanism derived from the various Chad-Sudan agreements would still be necessary. ¶3. (C) Speaking more generally, Fages said that, while the Dakar Agreement was welcome and should be supported, it was at least the seventh such peace agreement between Chad and Sudan, which itself was a commentary on the effectiveness of the preceding six, on the commitment (or lack thereof) of Chad and Sudan to make peace, and on the prospect for success of the latest agreement. She noted that the two sides had already started sniping about alleged violations of the Dakar Agreement. "We would like this to succeed, and will encourage its success, but, realistically, we cannot, and should not, pin our hopes on this latest paper." ¶4. (C) At a social event on March 14, shortly after the Dakar Agreement was concluded, MFA AF DAS-equivalent Helene Le Gal (responsible for Sudan) said that it was good that Chad and Sudan had signed an accord, but she said "there's nothing about this agreement that makes me think it will succeed when the other six haven't. I would be pleasantly surprised if it did, but let's not get our hopes up too high." ¶5. MINIMIZED CONSIDERED Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm PEKALA