ACTING A/S PHIL CARTER SPEAKS WITH GOSS PRESIDENT

UNCLAS STATE 023541


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SU UN
SUBJECT: ACTING A/S PHIL CARTER SPEAKS WITH GOSS PRESIDENT
KIIR AND OTHER GOSS OFFICIALS


1. (SBU) Summary: Between Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March
10, Acting Assistant Secretary (A/S) of African Affairs (AF)
Phil Carter spoke with Government of South Sudan (GOSS)
President Salva Kiir and, separately, Ezekiel Gatkuoth, the
GOSS Head of Mission to the United States. Kiir and Gatkuoth
both reaffirmed that the National Congress Party had acted
unilaterally in its decision to expel the NGOs last week.
Kiir had advised the NCP to reverse its decision, but
believes they will not likely take his advice. He has
offered to allow the ousted NGOs to come to Juba in the
meantime, as well as any members of the international
diplomatic community who feel that necessity. Kiir also
advised that the international community should stay engaged
diplomatically and politically for the sake of the people of
Sudan while he is enlisting the support of his friends in the
region to persuade Khartoum to reverse its decision. GOSS
Representative Gatkuoth and A/S Carter discussed the
necessity of the GOSS making its own decisions and Gatkuoth
expressed his personal concern that if the NCP continues to
exclude the SPLM from key decisions it will create a crisis
within a crisis and it risks the SPLM pulling out of the GNU.
End Summary.

Meeting with South Sudan President Salva Kiir
--------------

2. (SBU) AF Acting Assistant Secretary Phil Carter called
Government of South Sudan (GOSS) President Salva Kiir on
Tuesday, March 10 to discuss the current situation and to
express further USG desire to see the NGO decision reversed.
Kiir reaffirmed that the GOSS had not been consulted by
President Bashir or members of his National Congress Party
(NCP) on their recent decision to expel numerous NGOs from
Darfur. Kiir stated that he had advised the NCP to reverse
its decision but was not confident they would take his
advice. According to Kiir, it seems that the NCP is
hell-bent on making decisions its own way with only a small
circle of insiders advising Bashir, a dangerous path in his
eyes. Kiir mentioned that he believes, based on Bashir's
rhetoric, that the NCP is willing to expel more NGOs they
deem to be wrongly involved in the internal affairs of Sudan.
Kiir offered to let the ousted NGOs come to Juba in the
meantime.


3. (SBU) Kiir stated that the NGO expulsion not only affects
Darfur but is also a disaster for Three Areas - Southern
Kordofan, Abyei, and Blue Nile. He believes the GOS has no
alternative to filling the gap these humanitarian groups will
leave behind, stating that Islamic NGOs will not be enough.
Despite the dire situation, Kiir expressed that the only
option to move forward is through diplomatic and political
channels. Though the NCP is undermining all standing peace
agreements in Sudan, Kiir said that it is crucial that we
push forward during this crisis to work for the
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
In Kiir's view, the best option for the international
community is continued engagement with Khartoum as the main
concern should be for the people of Sudan rather than its
rulers. At this time, the SPLM has not made any decisions
about pulling out of the Government of National Unity as it
did over the Abyei dispute in 2007. Kiir's current moves
include reaching out to friends in the region such as Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni, in hopes that others can influence
the NCP while it is no longer listening to the West.

Meeting with GOSS Head of Mission to the United States
Ezekiel Gatkuoth
--------------

4. (SBU) In a separate meeting Monday, March 9, A/S Carter
met with Ezekiel Gatkuoth, GOSS Head of Mission to the United
States, and two of his staff. During the meeting, A/S Carter
affirmed the USG condemnation of the NGO expulsion and
expressed to Gatkuoth that the GOSS needed to think through
and determine its next steps. He explained that the USG
needed to know where the GOSS was heading as we develop our
engagement strategy. He emphasized that as the GOSS makes
decisions, it also must carefully consider the consequences
of any decisions they make in the current political climate.
Gatkuoth responded that he believes senior GOSS officials
should make very public statements that the decision to expel
the NGOs was made by the NCP alone without GOSS input. Right
now the NCP is attempting to make it seem as if this was a
GNU decision. The GOSS should make it clear that if the NCP
wants to exclude them, it will create a crisis within a
crisis and that it risks the SPLM pulling out of the GNU at a
time when Bashir needs the SPLM (note: Gatkuoth said this is
because many in the NCP want to oust Bashir but are not moving
now because they think the SPLM is behind him). Gatkuoth
explained that these were not official options yet, but that
he was just "thinking out loud."

Comment
--------------

5. (SBU) It is not yet clear that the GOSS has made any
substantive decisions about how to respond to the current
situation. It is possible that the SPLM could pull out of
the Government of National Unity (GNU),but that option has
not been fully discussed yet and we believe that kind of move
could propel a further breakdown of the CPA. It is essential
that the GOSS think clearly about the consequences of any
actions it may take but it must also determine its course of
action quickly. While the decision is only theirs to make,
the USG should counsel the GOSS leadership to proceed with
caution in the hopes that cooler heads will prevail. Charge
D'Affaires Alberto Fernandez may consider traveling to Juba
to meet with President Kiir after the SPLM meetings to gauge
next steps for the South.


CLINTON