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