UNAMID STAYS IN MUHAJARRIYA AS BOMBING AND FIGHTING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000125 DEPT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, AF/SPG, AF/C ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU SUBJECT: UNAMID STAYS IN MUHAJARRIYA AS BOMBING AND FIGHTING CONTINUE REF: A) KHARTOUM 116 B) KHARTOUM 104 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On February 1, UNAMID's Deputy Joint Special Representative General Henry Anyidoho informed Embassy Khartoum that UNAMID will remain in Muhajarriya "at the determination of the Secretary General," despite GOS bombing of JEM rebel positions around the area the same day and in spite of two written requests from the GOS to evacuate from Muhajarriya. Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mutriff Siddiq, confirmed to CDA Fernandez that the GOS had asked UNAMID to leave the area because of concerns that JEM will either attack or hide behind UNAMID. Siddiq also argued that no civilians remain in the area and informed the CDA that the GOS does plan on attacking and gaining control of Muhajarriya. Reliable NGO sources have also reported that almost the entire population around Muhajarriya has now been displaced, although approximately one to two thousand people remain camped outside the UNAMID team site. END SUMMARY FIGHTING AND BOMBING CONTINUES IN SOUTH DARFUR - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) UNAMID reports confirm that fighting in South Darfur continues, most recently north of Seleah on January 31. According to these same reports, UNAMID has also verified that GOS aircrafts dropped at least five bombs near Muhajarriya on two separate occasions on January 31 and also bombed two different locations north and west of Muhajarriya on February 1. According to a UNDSS report, one of the bombs fell within 800 meters of the UNAMID camp. UNAMID political affairs also reported increased GOS deployment to the area, with at least two convoys of GOS forces arriving west and east of Muhajarriya in the last two days. UNAMID REJECTS GOS REQUEST TO LEAVE MUHAJARRIYA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (SBU) According to Deputy Joint Special Representative (DJSR) Anyidoho, despite the ongoing military activity in South Darfur, UNAMID has decided to remain in Muhajarriya. Anyidoho reported that the Rwandan troops in Muhajarriya are well fortified and remain committed to staying unless instructed to evacuate. There are no NGOs left in Muhajarriya, following the evacuation of MSF last week, stated the DJSR. Anyidoho told polchief that the Governor of South Darfur called him January 31 requesting that UNAMID evacuate given that the SAF was planning a large-scale military operation to remove JEM from Muhajarriya. (Note: JEM invaded Muhajarriya on January 15. Muhajarriya was previously controlled by SLM/MM forces which initially refused Khartoum's help in repelling JEM. End note.) Anyidoho said that UNAMID requested that the GOS put this demand in writing, and subsequently the Wali and the SAF commander in El Fasher submitted letters to UNAMID calling on it to evacuate from Muhajarriya. Anyidoho said that despite the letters, UNAMID would remain in Muhajarriya "at the determination of the Secretary General." JSR Adada flew back to Khartoum on February 1 to request a meeting with the MFA, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon met with President Bashir in Addis Ababa to discuss the issue. ¶4. (SBU) A senior UNDSS contact also told emboffs in Nyala that UNAMID will not leave Muhajarriya, although it has withdrawn some of its staff since the start of the fighting between JEM and SLM/MM. This source said that the week of January 25, UNAMID withdrew one unarmed civilian police, a language assistant, and one military observer from its Muhajarriya base. Like Aniydoho, this contact reported that UNAMID's peacekeepers are still present in Muhajarriya and that UNAMID is not planning to pullout from the region. This same UNDSS source also stated that the GOS spread rumors through radio broadcast last week of an impending GOS attack on the town. According to this source, this radio broadcast "created hysteria" among the local population and led to the displacement of at least 5000 civilians. SYG: UNAMID MUST REMAIN IN MUHAJARRIYA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (SBU) Several UN sources reported that although some UNAMID officials recommended withdrawing from Muhajarriya, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy determined that UNAMID should stay in Muhajarriya. According to these sources, Secretary General Ban decided that a departure would signal UNAMID's failure to live up to its mandate of protecting civilians as one thousand IDPs are now taking refuge outside of their gates. UNAMID's polchief Abdul Mohammed told polchief that the meeting between JEM and the GOS with Chief Mediator Bassole will go forward on February 8 as planned, according to contacts with all sides. GOS CONFIRMS THAT IT DID REQUEST UNAMID'S DEPARTURE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - KHARTOUM 00000125 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) On February 1, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mutriff Siddiq told CDA Fernandez that the Government of Sudan had asked UNAMID to leave Muhajarriya and that he was annoyed that the U.S. knew this, as "this had been asked in confidence." (Note: On February 2, Sudanese press, such as "Al-Rai' Al-Aam", also reported that the Government had requested UNAMID's departure from the area. End Note.) According to Siddiq, the GOS is afraid that similar to the rebel attack on Haskanita (of September 2007 that resulted in the death of 10 AMIS peacekeepers,) JEM would attack the peacekeepers to take their fuel and ammunition, especially as JEM is low on fuel and supplies. Siddiq stated that another JEM tactic may be to seize some of the peacekeepers as human shields, "this is their way, they always hide among the innocent so we will be blamed when we attack them." Siddiq pledged that the GOS wants to, as much as possible, separate JEM from UNAMID and from civilians. GOS COORDINATES WITH SLM/MM AND REJECTS CIVILIAN PRESENCE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (SBU) Siddiq also stated that the GOS is now coordinating closely with SLM/MM. Muhajarriya only fell to JEM in the first place because Minni had refused Khartoum's support and sought to defend the area by himself, said Siddiq. Siddiq ended the conversation stating, that JEM had tricked both Bassole and the Americans, talking peace in January while plotting this offensive. CDA Fernandez noted that the U.S. is deeply concerned about the possibility of civilian casualties in the Muhajarriya area. Siddiq responded saying that currently there are no civilians left in Muhajarriya, as all of the population has fled, and that the only people who even remotely fit this category are civilian recruits JEM has gathered there to join their forces, and "we don't consider them civilians." Side said the attack on Muhajarriya could come at any time. MUHAJARRIYA'S POPULATION IS ALMOST ENTIRELY DISPLACED - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (SBU) Also on January 31 and February 1, NGO sources told USAID officers that the total population of Sheiria (including Muhajarriya) has been displaced. The estimated total population of Sheiria is 40,000 people. The majority,appp/ximem txmb HgmmQt9hqbQ* Kd$jTl%q $eqQ`QoQ o{`sfmlQQZUhii(g, saying that the vast majority of Muhajarriya's population has been displaced. Minnawi also reported that a desperate JEM effort to resupply units in Muhajarriya with fuel and ammo was blocked by an SLM/MM checkpoint at Umm Sidr within the past couple of days. COMMENT - - - - ¶9. (SBU) Both JEM and the GOS are to blame for the displacement, death, and destruction in an area that was, until recently, relatively stable by Darfur standards. Ironically, JEM bears the greater blame. JEM precipitated all of this violence by invading South Darfur on January 6 and attacking Minni Minnawi's forces in Muhajarriya on January 15 immediately after meeting with U.S. officials in Washington. Post recommends a statement from the Department calling on JEM to immediately withdraw from South Darfur and return to status quo ante positions (with Minni Minnawi in control of Muhajarriya and JEM along the North Darfur-Chad border). The statement should also call on the GOS to end its bombing of areas populated by civilians and to allow JEM safe passage back to its original positions in North Darfur. However, given that JEM may have been caught flatfooted in South Darfur, if indeed it is running low on fuel, it is unlikely that the GOS would let their most bitter enemy (which 9 months was poised briefly on the banks of the Nile across from Khartoum) escape back to their refuge in Chad unscathed. If the GOS is able to trap and defeat JEM in Muhajarriya, it will have inflicted a rare outright military defeat on a usually elusive foe. FERNANDEZ