SUDANESE MFA FORMALLY COMPLAINS ABOUT PURPORTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000162 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/SPG, AF/C E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL SU SUBJECT: SUDANESE MFA FORMALLY COMPLAINS ABOUT PURPORTED US-BROKERED REBEL NON-AGGRESSION PACT Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) CDA Fernandez was summoned to the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs the afternoon of February 3 to receive a formal complaint from Sudan about an alleged non-aggression pact between the JEM (Justice and Equality Movement) rebel group and SLM-MM (Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Minni Minnawi) being brokered by the State Department in Washington. Sudanese media that same day featured numerous articles that AF/SPG Office Director Tim Shortley was coming to Khartoum to make such a deal. The Embassy put out a press release categorically denying such a claim. ¶2. (C) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Al-Samani al-Wasila presented Charge with a document (text follows) and asked if indeed the document was a US document and whether Shortley was in Sudan for such a purpose. CDA noted that Shortley was meeting with a range of Sudanese while in Khartoum, including NCP and SPLM officials, civil society and others following up on meetings held by acting A/S Carter with GOS officials in Addis Ababa. While Darfur was certainly one of the issues under discussion (along with CPA implementation and bilateral) there was no JEM-SLM deal brokered by us and this alleged paper was not any sort of USG document. He noted that, given the spelling, it did not seem to have been produced by a native speaker. CDA further noted that the Embassy had already put out a press release denying the false story in the local media. The Sudan Media Center (SMC),an official body with ties to Sudanese Intelligence had disseminated the false story. ¶3. (C) Al-Wasila said that it was good to hear the Charge's denial. While some of the points of the document were unobjectionable, what had caught the GOS's eye was point D: "The parties to this agreement undertake not to collaborate, militarily or in the form of intelligence, with the regime in Khartoum against each other." Such a move, brokered by the US, would mean that America had decided to intervene directly in the Darfur war on the side of the rebels and subvert the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) between Minnawi and the Government of Sudan, an agreement arrived at with US help. CDA noted that if the DPA has been subverted it is because it was never fully implemented by Khartoum, not because of anything the US has done. ¶4. (U) Begin text (typos in original): None Aggression Pact The Parties: a- Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) chaired by Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Mohamed. b- Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) chaired by Mr. Minni A. Minnawi Subjects of Agreement: a - The Parties to this Pact pledge to refrain from any act of aggression against each other or against the civilian population in Darfur. b- The Parties to this Pact undertake to fight banditry and all sorts of car-jacking and armed robbery. c- The Parties to this agreement undertake not to obstruct the smooth flow of relief assistance to the IDPs and the work of the INGOs and promise to assist UNAMID in its efforts to protect the civilian population. d - The Parties to this agreement undertake not to collaborate, militarily or in the form of intelligence, with the regime in Khartoum against each other. e- The Parties to this Pact undertake not to obstruct the free non-hostile movement of equipment and personnel of each other in any part of the country. f- The Parties to this Pact vows not to levy any taxes or unwarranted fees from the civilian population in Darfur. g - The Parties to this pact undertake to solve any agreements or conflicts amiably or through an arbiter acceptable to both. Implementation Mechanisms: a- The Parties will appoint a joint committee to oversee the enforcement of this Pact. b- The Parties will establish a proper communication channel to exchange information about their movements and liaise with each other. For SLM-MM For JEM Witnessed by KHARTOUM 00000162 002.3 OF 002 End text. FERNANDEZ