SUDANESE DIPLOMATIC POTPOURRI: CHADIAN REBELS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000888

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S, AF/C, AF/E, DRL
NSC FOR MGAVIN
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2011
TAGS: MOPS ODIP PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI UN AU CD SU
SUBJECT: SUDANESE DIPLOMATIC POTPOURRI: CHADIAN REBELS,
HUMAN RIGHTS, AND DIPLOMATIC TRAVEL

REF: KHARTOUM 870

KHARTOUM 00000888 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: CDA Robert E. Whitehead for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. Charge d'affaires (CDA) met with Ministry
of Foreign Affairs Under Secretary Dr. Mutriff Sidiq on July
30 to review a range of issues. CDA requested information on
the current location of Chadian rebel leaders in Sudan as
well as the disposition of their forces, to which Mutriff
replied he was not in the loop. He provided information on
two Sudanese properties confiscated by the Government of Chad
(GOC) and charged that there had been two recent Chadian Army
(ANT) incursions into Sudan, one of which we have since
confirmed with the United Nations/African Union Mission in
Darfur (UNAMID). Charge next raised the case of a Sudanese
woman who is at risk of flogging for wearing pants. Other
business items in the 30-minute meeting were progress on a
child abduction case, an embassy problem with obtaining
travel permits in a timely fashion, and GOS interest in the
USG position on language in the United Nations Security
Council (UNSCR) resolution on extension of the UNAMID
mandate. Some of these same subjects came up in subsequent
conversations with other GOS and UN officials. End Summary.

CHADIAN REBELS, RAIDS AND CONFISCATION


2. (C) Charge asked Mutriff for current information on the
location of top Chadian rebel leaders based in Sudan, whether
they were presently in Khartoum, and the disposition and
location of their forces in the field. We remained
interested in ensuring that both the GOC and GOS were meeting
their ends of the bargain to stop proxy cross-border
activities. Mutriff looked blank and claimed that he was
unaware of this issue and had no up to date information.
(Note. If true, this would indicate that GOS is keeping this
issue very close hold, probably within the confines of the
NISS and the Presidency. Dr. Mutriff comes from the
intelligence side, is the National Congress Party (NCP)
insider watchdog in the MFA, and is almost always in the
loop. End note.) He suggested that CDA raise this issue
with the General Director of NISS.


3. (C) Charge showed Mutriff July 30 press reports about
cross border raids into Sudan from Chad and asked if he had
details on these allegations. Mutriff responded that on July
28 the ANT and Sudanese rebels (presumably JEM) from Chad
staged two attacks on a village on the Sudanese border 10
kilometers south of Kulbus (100 kilometers north of El
Geneina). He said the raiders came in 15 to 20 vehicles but
found that nearly all the adults in the village were
cultivating their fields. There were no casualties and the
ANT force and its allies returned home. We have confirmed
with UNAMID a reported ANT incursion into Arwa village on
July 27. Troops in six APCs and 44 other military vehicles
reportedly looted property, including 15 weapons, and
kidnapped two soldiers, one from the Public Defense Force and
one from the Central Reserve Police. The two were released
following a request by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) but
the ANT has not returned seized weaponry. Neither Mutriff
nor UNAMID could supply a motive for the incursion.


4. (C) Charge asked if Mutriff could provide any further
details on Sudanese properties in Chad reportedly confiscated
by the GOC -- our queries in N'djamena had not confirmed that
any properties had been taken. Mutriff said that the
Sudanese Embassy in Chad received a letter from the GOC
informing that a Sudanese school in N'djamena and a second in
Abeche had been closed and were to be confiscated by the GOC.
The Chadian Foreign Minister subsequently phoned the
Sudanese Ambassador and told him to ignore the confiscation
letter. To date no written GOC confirmation had followed.

WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN SUDAN?


5. (C) Charge presented Mutriff a sheath of articles from
the international media on the case of Lubna Ahmed
al-Hussein, a journalist and press officer at the United
Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). She had been arrested with
eight other women by police in an early July raid on a
Khartoum cafe; subsequently, they were charged with breaching
Islamic law due to their dress, which included wearing pants,
and dancing in public with men (reftel). Several of the
women received lashes as punishment. For her part,
al-Hussein demanded a trial, then resigned from UNMIS and

KHARTOUM 00000888 002.2 OF 002


waived her UN immunity so that the case could be publicly
resolved. Some Sudanese women's groups and newspapers have
rallied to her defense, and the case has been adjourned until
August 4. The Charge told Mutriff that the entire affair had
been a public affairs embarrassment for Sudan and a blot on
its human rights copybook. He advised that a rational
cost/benefit analysis would indicate that the best course of
action would be to drop the case and avoid future
repetitions. Mutriff said he had already spoken with the
al-Hussein's father in an attempt to resolve the case out of
court. Charge repeated that it was not in the GOS interest
to pursue such affairs.

TRAVEL AND VISITATIONS


6. (C) Charge noted that the US Embassy has recently
encountered problems with travel permits to areas outside of
Khartoum. Last week, three USAID staff did not receive
permission to visit Darfur and were forced to postpone their
mission. The Charge had not yet received a permit
authorizing travel to Abyei as part of an Assessment and
Evaluation Mission, and neither had a TDY staffer from
Washington. Mutriff gave the usual song and dance -- the
permit was to ensure our security in areas suffering unrest
-- but said that he would speak with the MFA Director General
about the problem. (The DG later phoned to say that Charge's
permit was ready but apologized that TDY staffer's was not.
He admitted that the MFA channels embassy travel requests to
"the central authority," which we read to be the Ministry of
Interior and NISS.) The conversation moved to brief
discussion of a child abduction case and the visitation
rights of the American citizen mother. Mutriff closed by
expressing GOS surprise that the US was supporting UK
language in the UNSCR on extension of the UNAMID mandate that
condemned Sudan for its expulsion of 13 humanitarian group.
Charge admitted that he had not details but said that he
would inform himself.

OTHER ASIDES


7. In a following meeting with UNAMID JSR Rudolphe Adada,
Charge asked about the removal of Chadian rebels forces from
the border area. Adada said that some had moved back but
"some of the forces are still there." He could not provide
details on who and where. Charge encountered Minister of
International Cooperation Tijani al Faidal as a national day
reception and queried the minister -- who is from Darfur --
about the situation with the rebels there. Tijani said that
he did not know but hoped that the USG could find a solution.
He lamented that the Sudanese approach to politics,
international relations and even its economy was tactical.
Saving face and gaining momentary advantage often counted for
more that finding a real solution to problems at hand.



WHITEHEAD