Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASMARA31
2009-01-27 08:20:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Asmara
Cable title:  

JEM'S INTER-ETHNIC HOSTILITIES

Tags:  PGOV PINS PREL SU ER 
pdf how-to read a cable
P 270820Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASMARA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0120
INFO DARFUR COLLECTIVE
DIA WASHDC
CIA WASHDC
NSC WASHDC
SECDEF WASHDC
CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
JICCENT MACDILL AFB FL
CJTF-HOA J2X CAMP LEMONIER DJ
HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
COMUSNAVCENT
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000031 


DEPARTMENT FOR AF/EX AND AF/E

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL SU ER
SUBJECT: JEM'S INTER-ETHNIC HOSTILITIES

REF: A. KHARTOUM 13

B. KHARTOUM 75

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen for reason 1.4(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000031


DEPARTMENT FOR AF/EX AND AF/E

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL SU ER
SUBJECT: JEM'S INTER-ETHNIC HOSTILITIES

REF: A. KHARTOUM 13

B. KHARTOUM 75

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen for reason 1.4(d)


1. (C) Summary: On January 1, gunmen led by ethnic Zaghawa
JEM commanders fired on 32 unarmed JEM members of the Meidob
ethnic group of North Darfur, according to JEM's Secretary
for Legal Affairs. The attack was aimed at eliminating
potential opposition to Khalil Ibrahim's retention by force
of the JEM chairmanship, the senior JEM official continued,
as Khalil's tenure officially ran only until January 3. This
likely bodes ill for democratization of Darfur or Sudan in
the event of JEM coming to power, he concluded. This cable
provides a senior JEM official's take on the events described
REF A. End Summary.


2. (C) JEM's Secretary for Legal Affairs
--------------

Osman Wash, JEM's Secretary for Legal Affairs, is the highest
ranking ethnic Meidob in JEM. He met with Emboffs January 22
at Asmara's Peacebuilding Center for the Horn of Africa to
detail JEM inter-ethnic divisions and to provide his views on
Khalil Ibrahim's autocratic leadership. Wash was in Ndjamena
during the January 1 incident, but spoke to Meidob survivors
shortly thereafter.


3. (C) JEM's Bloody New Year's Day
--------------

Osman Wash's account of the January 1st inter-ethnic clash
follows:

In late 2008 ethnic Meidob and Berti members of JEM drafted a
memo to the movement's chairman complaining that the five
top-ranked JEM military commanders were all Zaghawa, despite
a presumed commitment to diversity. When Zaghawa-led JEM
fighters attempted to disarm an outspoken group of 32 ethnic
Meidob JEM members, a firefight ensued. The 32 eventually
agreed to disarm, and six Meidob leaders were taken to the
chairman's camp "to negotiate." The remaining 26 Meidob
heard firing at the place of negotiations, and then 40 JEM
gunmen, led by Commander Abdul Karim Cheloi and Deputy
Commander Suleiman Sandal (both phonetic),attacked the
unarmed Meidob. Many were killed, but some managed to escape
and described the incident to Wash. The attack took place
just inside Chad at a camp near the Ouadi Sokapa River
(approximately 15.43N, 23.07E).


4. (C) Zaghawa Domination
--------------

Wash claimed that Khalil Ibrahim's four-year term of office
as JEM's chairman was set to expire January 3, and that the
chairman had no intention of calling a new JEM congress to
properly extend his tenure. When the public complaint of
Zaghawa over-representation jeopardized the chairman's plans
to retain control by promoting his loyal kith, Khalil Ibrahim
moved decisively to destroy the Meidob questioning Zaghawa
domination of JEM's military hierarchy. Chadian President
Debby's support of JEM, all of which is channeled through
Khalil Ibrahim, Wash claimed, has empowered JEM's executive
office to the detriment of the movement's other organs. Wash
aims to undertake an accounting of the January 1 attack, in
part to make JEM's leadership answerable to the movement,
Darfuris, and the world.


5. (C) "Autocratic" Khalil Ibrahim
--------------

The JEM official was skeptical that his movement's recent
military success against SLA/MM in South Darfur (REF B) would
promote the Darfuri cause politically, as fighting among the
Darfuri rebel groups would only divide and weaken them
vis-a-vis Khartoum, he contended. Osman Wash was not
optimistic about prospects for a democratic JEM leadership of
Darfur or Sudan, given what he sees as Khalil Ibrahim's
bloody autocratic tendencies.


6. (C) COMMENT: This message has been coordinated with
Embassy Khartoum. They tell us that it is rare for a JEM
official to criticize Khalil or their movement's action. Of
all the rebel groups, JEM has tight control over their
strategic communications, and no matter which JEM member you
speak to, the line is almost always the same. END COMMENT.

MCMULLEN