MINISTER OF STATE SEEKS U.S. HELP WITH EGYPT ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 000179

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM QA SU
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF STATE SEEKS U.S. HELP WITH EGYPT ON
DARFUR

REF: STATE 21511

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

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(C) KEY POINTS
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-- Ambassador asked the GOQ to get Sudanese President Bashir
to allow the expelled NGO's to return to Darfur, in a meeting
March 10 with MFA Minister of State Al-Mahmoud.

-- In response, Al-Mahmoud said the GOQ had just raised this
issue with the GOS, in meetings earlier in the day with the
small GOS delegation in Doha.

-- The GOS delegation said the GOS has no objection to having
the expelled NGOs return to work under the auspices of the
International Red Cross, according to Al-Mahmoud

-- In the GOS view, the NGOs that were expelled violated
Sudanese law, Al-Mahmoud said. Apparently, the GOS believes
some of the information used in preparing the ICC indictment
of Bashir came from at least some of the organizations the
GOS had expelled, said Al-Mahmoud

-- Al-Mahmoud asked that the USG approach Egypt for support
of Qatar's Initiative on Darfur.

-- Al-Mahmoud said the Amir's recent meeting with Qadhafi in
Libya shored up Libyan support, especially for Libya's
mediation between Chad and Sudan.

-- Finally, Al-Mahmoud outlined next steps in the Qatari-led
initiative. Please see paras. 13-15.

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(C) COMMENTS
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-- Our fears that the strained political relationship
between Egypt and Qatar over Gaza would spill over into the
Qatar-led Darfur Initiative appear to have been realized.
Al-Mahmoud openly seeks our help in encouraging Egypt to be
helpful to Qatar and Bassole on Darfur, and we should weigh
in with Cairo.

-- It appears for now that Libyan cooperation with Qatar on
the Darfur Initiative, which has also been a concern, is on
track.

End Key Points and Comments.

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GOS NGO EXPULSION
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1. (C) Ambassador raised March 10 with Minister of State
Ahmed Al-Mahmoud our concerns (reftel demarche) about the
Government of Sudan's expulsion of various NGOs in
retaliation for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
indictments of President Bashir.


2. (C) Al-Mahmoud responded that Qatar's Ambassador to the
United States had briefed him on the Qatari Ambassador's
meeting earlier in the week with Acting A/S Carter on this
matter. Ambassador then asked Al-Mahmoud for a response on
the specific USG request that Qatar use its good offices with
President Bashir to advocate the return of the expelled NGOs.



3. (C) Al-Mahmoud said he had raised the issue in meetings
earlier that morning with the small GOS delegation that had
stayed in Doha after Round 1 of the negotiations. According
to the delegation, the GOS has no objection to having the
expelled NGOs return to Sudan, if they work under the
auspices of the International Red Cross.


4. (C) In the GOS view, the NGOs that were expelled violated
Sudanese law, Al-Mahmoud said. He understood from the GOS
delegation that some of the information used in preparing the
ICC indictment of Bashir came from at least some of the
organizations the GOS had expelled.


5. (C) The Minister of State observed that he had always been
concerned that ICC indictments of ranking Sudanese officials
could pose problems for Qatar's Initiative on Darfur. That
said, Qatar's Prime Minister and the UN Secretary General had
worked the phones to keep the peace process on track, and
Qatar intends to press ahead regardless of ICC actions.

DOHA 00000179 002 OF 003



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U.S. ASKED TO WEIGH IN WITH EGYPT
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6. (C) Al-Mahmoud's immediate concern is making sure that
Egypt remains on board with Qatar's Initiative on Darfur. He
told Ambassador that Bassole would travel soon to Cairo to
urge Egypt's continued support for what Bassole and Qatar are
trying to accomplish.


7. (C) Al-Mahmoud said the GOQ would appreciate a message of
support from the U.S. to the Egyptians likewise encouraging
Egypt's support for the Initiative. Al-Mahmoud remarked that
Qatar had Egypt's assurances of support (Note: Prior to the
two countries' public row in December over the Gaza War) but
now it is essential to keep them on board.

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LIBYAN SUPPORT FIRMER THAN BEFORE
--------------


8. (C) Libya, which Al-Mahmoud said has wavered in its
support for the Darfur Initiative, now appears to be fully on
board. Qadhafi gave his personal assurances on this to the
Amir during the Amir's last visit to Tripoli.


9. (C) During the meetings in Libya, the Amir (accompanied by
Al-Mahmoud) sought Qadhafi's support in bringing SLM Unity to
the negotiating table in Doha. Qadhafi gave his assurances
that he would help, and Al-Mahmoud reported that since the
meeting in Libya SLM Unity has agreed to participate in the
next round of talks in Doha. (Note: According to press
reports, talks will occur "in about three weeks," i.e. early
April.)


10. (C) Al-Mahmoud said Bassole was very pleased with this
progress, and Al-Mahmoud underscored that he and Bassole are
in frequent communication on developments on Darfur.
Al-Mahmoud said Bassole intends to brief the UNSC March 26 in
New York.


11. (C) Returning to the meetings in Libya, Al-Mahmoud noted
that Libya "retains the Sudan/Chad file." Based on the
Amir's meetings with Qadhafi and President Deby of Chad,
Sudan and Chad will work with Libya to resolve the disputes
between them.


12. (C) Al-Mahmoud characterized the Amir's meeting with Deby
as "fruitful and honest." He believed Deby wants to have a
good relationship with Sudan and desires to stop the
hostilities and the bleeding along the border. With Libyan
support, Al-Mahmoud also reported that Chad's FM had since
communicated to Al-Mahmoud that preparations are underway for
Chad to participate in the next round of discussions in Doha.


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NEXT STEPS
--------------


13. (C) Al-Mahmoud told Ambassador he and Bassole are
preparing a "strategy to deal with concerns we expect SLM
Unity to raise." Separately, Qatar and Bassole had gone back
to JEM and the GOS, reminding both parties that their input
to the framework agreement between them was supposed to have
been received by now. Al-Mahmoud reported that he expects to
have the input from both parties in two weeks (around March
24). JEM, he said, asked for three weeks, but Bassole and
Al-Mahmoud have been firm that the input needs to arrive in
two weeks.


14. (C) Al-Mahmoud said he and Bassole aim to absorb SLM
Unity, the Fur and others into the JEM/GOS framework. If
that does not work, Al-Mahmoud said they would try for
separate frameworks with the individual opposition parties
and attempt to merge the various frameworks before a final
agreement is ready for the signature of all parties,
government and opposition.


15. (C) Al-Mahmoud said power-sharing, wealth-sharing, and
reconciliation need to be addressed in a framework
agreement (or agreements) before taking the next step forward
toward negotiations on a final agreement.

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PRISONER EXCHANGE
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16. (C) Ambassador asked Al-Mahmoud for the status of the

DOHA 00000179 003 OF 003


prisoner exchange between JEM and the GOS and asked if that
was holding back progress. Al-Mahmoud responded that he and
Bassole had yet to receive lists of prisoners from both
parties. They would compare the lists and try to move
forward on the issue once they had the lists in hand. During
the talks just before the Ambassador's meeting, Al-Mahmoud
said JEM made no mention of the prisoner exchange as a
condition for progress on the framework agreement.


LeBaron