IRISH AMBASSADOR BRIEFS CDA ON NGO KIDNAPPING

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 000820 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/C, EUR/UB NSC FOR MGAVIN DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC EAID KPKO UNSC AU SU EI SUBJECT: IRISH AMBASSADOR BRIEFS CDA ON NGO KIDNAPPING Classified By: CDA Robert E. Whitehead, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Gerard Corr, Ireland's Ambassador to Cairo, met with CDA Whitehead on July 8 to discuss the kidnapping of two female staff of the Irish NGO GOAL that occurred on July 3 in Kutum. Corr is in Khartoum accompanied by a military officer, as well as a small police and military team currently in Darfur liaising with GOS security officials there in attempt to obtain the release of the Irish and Kenyan nationals. Corr told CDA that the incident has aroused intense public and media interest in Ireland, as it has in Kenya, and that he has been collaborating closely with Kenyan Ambassador Ngesu in Khartoum. Sudanese security forces have confirmed to them that the two kidnapped humanitarians are being held near Kutum, though the identity of their captors remains unknown. ¶2. (C) Corr said that the group holding the two women had made no demands, and that the Irish government is unwilling to pay a ransom for their release. He cited a similar case where a humanitarian aid worker had been released after three weeks of captivity and said that he hoped for a similar outcome this time. UN officials have told him that they doubt any of the rebel groups present in the area would take such actions -- they have no motive to do so, nor much freedom of movement in Kutum -- and that the GOS would probably seek a speedy resolution of the case if elements loyal to it were involved. The seizure of the hostages appeared too well organized to be the work of armed bandits, Corr said. ¶3. (C) Corr and the Kenyan Ambassador have requested meetings with MFA Undersecretary Mutriff Siddiq, NISS Director General Salah Ghosh, Minister of Justice Abdelbasit Sabdarat, and HAC Director Hassabo Mohemed Abdulrahman for June 9. He observed that the latter's description of the capture of the two women differed notably from other sources. State officials in Darfur had been more positive in their conversations with the Irish team there than have Corr's interlocutors in Khartoum, who appeared unsure about where things stand. Corr said that the Sudanese Ambassador to Ireland, resident in London, had traveled to Dublin to meet with the Irish Foreign Minister and the family of the kidnapped Irish national, but that his meeting with the Foreign Minister focused largely on Ireland's public support for the ICC indictment of President Bashir. However, the Sudanese Ambassador had in no way linked this to resolution of the kidnapping case. ¶4. (C) Corr requested that the US. Embassy Khartoum pass on any information it might pick up from its network of contacts in Darfur and the humanitarian community. CDA replied that the Embassy has been following the case closely, and assured Corr that the Embassy stands ready to assist him and his team with information sharing and in other ways, as possible, to help resolve the case. WHITEHEAD