UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014 RELEASED IN FULL ACTION AF-00 INFO LOG-00 NP-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 DOTE-00 SRPP-00 DS-00 EAP-00 EB-00 EUR-00 FAAE-00 FBIE-00 VC-00 H-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 10-00 LAB-01 CAC-00 VCE-00 M-00 NEA-00 NSAE-00 CAEX-00 PA-00 PM-00 PMB-00 DSCC-00 PRM-00 DRL-00 G-00 NFAT-00 SAS-00 001W F4F2F7 020938Z 38 0 R 020441Z MAR 04 FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM TO AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN IMMEDIATE INFO AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA AMEMBASSY ASMARA AMEMBASSY BANGUI USEU BRUSSELS AMEMBASSY CAIRO AMEMBASSY KAMPALA AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM AMEMBASSY LONDON AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA NSC WASHDC AMEMBASSY OSLO AMEMBASSY PARIS AMEMBASSY ROME AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL SECSTATE WASHDC 0257 CONFIDENTIAL KHARTOUM 000215 CAPE TOWN FOR A S CHARLES SNYDER DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR AF SPG E O 12958 DECL 2 29 2014 TAGS PREL PINS PHUM PREF MOPS SU CD SUBJECT THE DARFUR REBELS CALL REF A KHARTOUM 000175 NOTALL B KHARTOUM 000142 NOTALL CLASSIFIED BY GM GALLUCCI CHARGE EXO STATE REASON D G CLASSIFIED BY GALLUCCIG COM US EMBASSY DOS REASON B D The following telegram KHARTOUM 000200 is being repeated action to Cape Town for A S Charles Snyder info for all others and adding classified by information Quote P 290408Z FEB 04 FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM TO RUEHC SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0238 INFO RUEHDS AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1135 REVIEW AUTHORITY Charles Daris Senior Reviewer UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014 RUEHAE AMEMBASSY ASMARA 0175 RUEHGI AMEMBASSY BANGUI 0042 RUEHBS USEU BRUSSELS RUEHEG AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0223 RUEHKM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 0135 RUEHKH AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0564 RUEHLO AMEMBASSY LONDON 0205 RUEHNR AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0255 RUEHNJ AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 0140 RHEHNSC NSC WASHDC RUEHNY AMEMBASSY OSLO 0184 RUEHFR AMEMBASSY PARIS 0045 RUEHRO AMEMBASSY ROME 0023 RUEHTC AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 0053 RUCAACC USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL BT CONFIDENTIAL SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000200 DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR AF SPG E O 12958 DECL 2 28 2009 TAGS PREL PINS PHUM PREF MOPS SU CD SUBJECT THE DARFUR REBELS CALL REF A Khartoum 0175 notal B Khartoum 0142 notal 1 C Sudan Liberation Movement SLM Spokesperson Hassan Ibrahim Mandela called Charge from Northern Darfur on February 28 Ibrahim may have gotten Charge's number from Darfur leaders we met with last week ref a Charge received call in early evening and Ibrahim said he was calling during a still on-going battle near Karnei which he said is some 90 kilometers west of Al Fasher During call Ibrahim said that GOS Antonov aircraft were flying overhead and Charge could hear something that may have been a plane It also seemed that at times during the 20 minute call Ibrahim was exerting himself in moving from place to place Ibrahim said he had just spoken with a reporter and the details of the battle he gave Charge track with press reporting of February 29 out of Nairobi 2 C According to Ibrahim the jenjaweed and regular army forces have been attacking and bombing villages in the Karnei area for the previous two days Villages were burned and 70 civilians killed The SLM responding by attacking the government forces on February 28 He claimed that the SLA killed 50 jenjaweed and army while suffering light casualties Ibrahim accused the government of attempting genocide against the Zaghawa tribes of Northern Darfur He added that the SLM's policy as a movement is not to participate in the reconciliation conference called by the government ref b because it is solely the government that is responsible for destroying the social fabric of Darfur and only the government that need stop But the SLM does not trust the government to stop its military actions without the monitoring of the international community UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014 3 C Ibrahim said that Darfur needs the involvement of the international community and especially the U S in any true reconciliation effort Reconciliation will require U S expertise and funding He also appealed for an international fact-finding team to be sent to Darfur to look into genocide Note Press reports suggest that Ibrahim accuses the GOS of ethnic cleansing But the word he used with Charge repeatedly was genocide end note Ibrahim warned that there could be no real peace in Sudan without peace in Darfur Continued war in Darfur will threaten even the IGAD peace process Despite the government's claims Ibrahim said the movement has not been defeated and it will not remain calm while the government is resisting international involvement in settling the Darfur conflict Rather the SLM will widen its attacks He also condemned the government's laying of mines around villages and passes 4 C Ibrahim reported that the rebels had been speaking to the EU about negotiating a humanitarian ceasefire He said that the SLM has no preconditions other than involvement of the international community But he noted the government has refused access for the EU Charge said that we were aware of the EU initiative and supported the effort He said that he understood the EU is now trying to get the GOS to agree to attend a meeting with the rebels in Chad on the reasoning that the GOS has said Chad could play a role in negotiations and it is nearby Darfur The GOS has promised a reply in the next few days If a meeting could be arranged in Chad the U S would be there too But Charge said that the EU is also considering meeting the rebels alone in Chad if the GOS continues to balk Charge said thinking was that this might be a way to make it clear to the GOS that the international community was not leaving it to Khartoum to determine whether we would get involved in settling the Darfur conflict If this was the formula the U S could attend that too Ibrahim said that the SLM was ready to accept either of these options They would try anything to end the conflict peacefully 5 C Ibrahim suggested that the SLM needed to be a party to the IGAD talks in Kenya The Charge said that these talks are at a very difficult stage and remain stuck on the issue of Abyei It would not help the IGAD process to introduce a further issue at this time However whatever is decided between the GOS and SPLM at Naivasha in terms of federalism de-centralization and power wealth sharing will be the model to be used for all of Sudan Therefore though not present in Kenya all the marginalized people are there in the presence of the SPLM The international community also understands that there can be no real peace between north and south while there is war in Darfur We are therefore pushing for peace process in Darfur at the same time we are working separately to gain an agreement in Naivasha Ibrahim said that he understood this approach and the SLM would accept it UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014 6 C Before ending the conversation Charge asked the SLM to continue to allow humanitarian organizations to have access to Darfur's needy persons by not interfering with humanitarian efforts or targeting humanitarian infrastructure Ibrahim pledged that the SLM will honor this request because the people need all help He said that rebel forces had attacked trains carrying government supplies but implied they would no longer target the rails themselves 7 C Comment The Embassy has had lower level contact with the Darfur rebels -- initiated by them -- for several weeks now Ibrahim's call was probably prompted by Charge's recent efforts to elevate our dialogue with Darfurians in Khartoum and the rebel's evident interest in establishing contact with the American Charge in Khartoum We will continue such contacts in an effort to learn more about what the rebels want and how it may be possible to bring them into a direct dialogue with a still-reluctant government We will also continue to share information with the leaders of the EU effort here the UK ambassador and Dutch Charge end comment Gallucci Unquote Gallucci GALLUCCI NNNN UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2013-09087 Doc No C05424596 Date 01 22 2014                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu