UNCLASSIFIED E4 4' amon- AF oo RELEASED IN PART B1 1 403 LOG-00 MFA-00 EB-OO 1 VC oo VCE-OO AC-oo OIC-OO OMB-00 PM-OO ACE-00 P oo SP-OO T-oo DRL-OO G-OO 2411122 31 2409172 MAY 04 FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM - TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0729 INEO AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA AMEMBASSY ASMARA AMEMBASSY BERLIN USEU BRUSSELS 0125 AMEMBASSY CAIRO CJTF HOA HQ USCENTCOM FL AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM AMEMBASSY LONDON AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY AMEMBASSI NDJAMENA - NSC NASHDC AMEMBASSY OSLO AMEMBASSY PARIS AMEMBASSY ROME SECDEF NASHDC AMEMBASSI THE HAGUE USMISSION USUN NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL KHARTOUM000550 Department also for E O 12958 DECL 5 21 2009 TAGS PREL PHUM PREP EAID SU SUBJECT GOS ANNOUNCES SUSPENSION OF PERMITS FOR DAREUR AND OTHER MEASURES RETRANSMISSION OF KHARTOUM 546 REF Khartoum 530 CLASSIFIED BY Gerard Gallucci COM Embassy Khartoum DOS REASON 1 5 B D 1 SBU The government of Sudan announced on May 20 a number of measures to will take to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Darfur As of May 24 the G05 said the following measures will UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVIEW AUTHORITY HARRY MELONE ID 10 JAN 2007 200502144 UNCLAS SIFIED UNCLASSIFIED go into effect The government will give humanitarian aid workers of the UN donors Red Cross and other NGOs visas valid for three months The visas will be available from Sudanese embassies abroad as opposed to only from Khartoum and will be granted within 48 hours The requirement for travel permits for these humanitarian aid workers to go to Darfur will be suspended for three months The Foreign Minister told us this period will be renewable In lieu of the permit the entry visa and simple notification to the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry of the name of the traveler and the visitor s program will be all that is required The Minister told us that there will be no need to wait for a reply The government will open offices at airports with Customs for clearance of equipment and vehicles for humanitarian work in Darfur We asked our other interlocutors see below to take Special measures to clear up the backlog of equipment and vehicles quickly 2 U The Foreign Minister also reportedly called the monitoring of the Darfur ceasefire essential in order to provide security for people to return to their homes before the coming rainy season 3 C Mission team including Charge DCM USAID DLO and RAO spent the better part of May 20 in meetings with the GOS to help prepare the way for the government s announcement We had prepared for the meetings by talking with various government and other officials over the last several days about the absolute urgency for the G03 to chan its a roach to Darfur On May 17 we passedl lthe points B1 in reftel He subsequently told us that he had discussed them with Foreign Minister Mhstafa Osman Ismael who had found them reasonable emphasized the importance of accompanying humanitarian efforts with a political process to end the conflict I UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 4 C We met first on the 20th with GOS team led by B1 Over two hours we heard the 603 express its interest in working with the US and the international community its concerns and its readiness to act off by saying that the G03 understood that time is running out and of its genuine resolve to address the humanitarian issues as well as those that contributed to the Darfur problems He said that humanitarian assistance is the important first phase of what must be done Help must be given to the displaced affected and refugees Immediate needs include food and other supplies transport roads and providing security and protection to the displaced But it would also be important in the next phases to focus on development to counter the causes of the long-term conflict Meanwhile efforts must also begin to reach a political settlement including all parties and social reconciliation through activation of traditional tribal mechanisms that the G08 understands that humanitarian assistance must come first that the GOS understands that it has a problem and needs help from the U S and international community The government he said wants a partnership with the U S to work on the humanitarian political and social issues 5 that the humanitarian work would be guided by the ceasefire so it is important that it be maintained He said that for the partnership with the international community to work there must be an understanding of what needs to be done specifying the needs and personnel required He spoke of the importance of the voluntary return of the displaced They needed basic service transport rehabilitation assistance police to maintain law and order and the return of government administration The police he said needed help with transport According to the army would be redeployed to support the police The nomads would be guarded and coordinated by the police in their movements to grazing lands But resource conflicts caused the conflict and need to be overcome Farmers must be helped to go from subsistence to commercial farming and the nomads must become more settled as well 6 C Charge said that the U S wanted to work with the 608 to address the humanitarian crisis He briefed the group on the UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED recent mortality figures n- gross mortality being estimated as 3 6 per 10 000 people per day meaning perhaps 360 deaths every day - He noted the human and political concerns this raised and the likelihood that left unaddressed the figures and I political outrage -- would increase Immediate changes were needed in the G08 procedures on humanitarian assistance to Darfur He provided copies of the steps the G03 should take Charge recognized the long-term development needs of the people of Darfur but said that the urgent task in front of us now is to save lives and ensure that there is a long term He also cautioned that there is probably not enough time for the displaced to return securely to their land before this rainy 'season What we could do is help keep people alive over the next 12r18 months and help those who may be prepared to return while ensuring also that those still on their land but affected by the war also do not become displaced Charge said the government would not be judged by how quickly the displaced return to their land but by how it cooperated in meeting urgent needs while preparing for a secure return In that regard it said it would be important to prevent the jenjaweed from occupying land they had seized as we had been seeing recently 7 C said that the rebel's have the practice of I BI attacking small police posts and this impedes re-establishing order The police are key as is an effort to regularize the tribal militias which play a traditional role in self-defense Charge said that we could encourage the rebels not to attack the police but the real problem is the impunity with which the jenjaweed are now operating They often abuse and kill civilians in the presence of the police and army The government must act against these outlaws the government's referred term if they are to build trust with the people that the real solution is a political agreement ending the conflict For that to occur the parties government and rebels need to agree on the rules of the game and to respect them Charge said that we recognize the importance of the political process and that it must be inclusive of all parties and groups in Darfur we are prepared to_accompany and encourage the political side In that regard perhaps the government should put on the table its vision for a decentralized Sudan with local elections and resource sharing 8 C raised the question of U S intentions and stressed the need to share a common vision of what must be done in Darfur Charge said that the U S wants to work with the government to help the people of Darfur we have no other agenda He assured that while some others may wish to use the Darfur issue against the government that is not the US UNCLAS SIFIED UNCLASSIFIED intention or policy we have put much effort into re establishing our relationship with the GOS and working with it against terrorism and for peace The USS does not want to use the Darfur issue against the G08 but rather wants to work with the government to help ensure that the issue does not overwhelm our relationship and impact negatively on the IGAD process Charge said that the G08 should do everything it can do to facilitate humanitarian access and end the jenjaweed violence Perhaps some of the jenjaweed he noted need to be arrested The military itself should avoid confrontations with the rebels Any military sent to provide security for IDPs should not be former jenjaweed in PDF uniforms L I B1 said they were reassured by this message The meeting en wi an agreement to coordinate closely The Charge said he would be the point of contact for discussions at the level of this meeting and gave everyone his cell number joked that they already had it 9 C Charge met with 41 immediately after Charge made same general points as ove He asked that transmit to President Bashir that the U S remains committed to the peace process and ready to move ahead in our relationship But he stressed that the Darfur issue could end up blowing the relationship out of the water said that with the U S approach of stressing working with the 608 cooperation would be possible 10 C Charge and DCM next met with Foreign Minister Ismael Ismael had clearly been our suggestions and on the meeting Ismael and Charge traded comments details of meeting will be reported septel and then Ismael briefed on steps he said that he had decided to take along lines of subsequent announcement -a He said that he would seek approval from President Bashir which he almost certainly had already and hoped to announce the changes in the next few days But Ismael stressed that while the G05 does not want a return to war the rebels are trying to change the facts on the ground by occupying places they did not occupy at the ceasefire 'He accused the Zaghawa of trying to seize land that they never had The army he said has orders to not allow the rebels to do this 11 C Ismael said that the AU must move quickly to station monitors Charge asked for a clear statement of the G05 position on monitoring was there a problem with US participation He told Ismael that we had committed personnel and an aircraft that would probably come from CPMT assets Ismael said that GOS had no problem with the U S The Sudanese had given the AU some observations but said they told the AU that it was the AU's decision and the G03 would accept anything UNCLASSIFIED UNCLAS SIFIED Charge asked if their would be any problem with using US military personnel that form part of the DLO for Darfur ceasefire monitoring- Ismael replied that the GOS accepted US participation without any distinction It simply wants the monitoring deployed quickly The rebels must decide before that happens how they wish to be treated If they wish to move into populations or towns that they have not occupied till the ceasefire they must give up their weapons If they want to retain their weapons they need to declare their locations and numbers and remain in those locations If the rebels move he said they will be attacked He added that the government's ability to control the jenjaweed depends on the rebels not seeking to move into their land or attack them Charge replied that the government must do all it can now to stop the jenjaweed who continue to attack and harass civilian with impunity B1 UNCLASSIFIED GALLUCCI UNCLASSIFIED B1                     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