URF LEADER ABU GARDA TO PRESENT HIS CASE BEFORE

C O N F I D E N T I A L NDJAMENA 000055

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR POL: LORD
PARIS FOR POL: D'ELIA AND KANEDA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF UN AU SU CD
SUBJECT: URF LEADER ABU GARDA TO PRESENT HIS CASE BEFORE
THE ICC

REF: NDJAMENA 51

Classified By: DCM Sue Bremner for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Sudanese rebel Bahr Abu Garda, leader of
the URF coalition, will travel to the Netherlands to present
his case to the International Criminal Court (ICC),his
spokesman told Embassy Ndjamena. If this information is
correct, URF may be trying to recapture international
attention, which has recently been turned to the Doha process
between the Sudanese government and JEM-Khalil. End Summary.


2. (SBU) During a February 21 meeting with Poloff. Tadjadine
Niam, spokesman for the Sudanese rebel coalition United
Resistance Forces (URF),said that URF leader Bahr Abu Garda
would travel to the Netherlands to present his case to the
International Criminal Court (ICC). Abu Garda is one of the
Sudanese rebel leaders sought by the ICC for his role in the
2007 attack on African Union peacekeepers in Haskanita, in
which seven peacekeepers died.


3. (SBU) Niam stated that through Abu Garda's cooperation
with the ICC, the URF sought to demonstrate its commitment to
the principle of justice. The URF also hoped, according to
Niam, to pressure Sudanese president Bashir to also cooperate
with the ICC.


3. (C) Niam said he expected Abu Garda to arrive at the
Chad-Sudan border by February 23 and to travel through Chad
by February 25 after previous arrangements for Abu Garda to
travel with UN cooperation through South Sudan fell through.
Niam also said that the ICC would send someone to Chad to
facilitate Abu Garda's transit, and that the French might
send people to the Chad-Sudan border and to Goz Beida, also
to assist Abu Garda's travel. (Note: The French embassy in
Ndjamena did not/not confirm any role for France in these
purported movements. End note)


4. (SBU) Abu Garda was the Deputy of JEM leader Khalil
Ibrahim until he was sacked by Ibrahim in September 2007; Abu
Garda's splinter faction of JEM then joined the URF. Abu
Garda has been sought by the ICC since November 2008. His
alleged intent to cooperate now may indicate a URF effort to
recapture the international community's attention after the
highly publicized Doha talks between JEM and the Government
of Sudan resulted in the Agreement of Goodwill and
Confidence-Building. Although the URF's stated intent to
cooperate with the ICC is commendable (if Niam's information
is accurate),its resistance to joining the Doha talks -- and
apparent desire to pursue a separate political path --
underscores the deep divisions among Sudan's rebel factions.
End Comment.
NIGRO