VZCZCXRO7944
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0396/01 0461130
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151130Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1483
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000396 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC WASHDC 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINS MARR SU
SUBJECT:  FOUR TIMES A CHARM: PRESIDENT BASHIR VISITS 
JUBA 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  On February 14, Government of National 
Unity President Omer Hassan Ahmed al Bashir paid a brief 
visit to Juba as part of a one-day swing through the 
South, including Bahr el Ghazal and Rumbek.  Bashir 
addressed the population of Juba, promising to deal with 
the Lord's Resistance Army and provide various forms of 
assistance to the South.  He called for continued unity 
after the six-year interim period stipulated in the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), but said that he 
would accept a southern vote for independence.  Bashir's 
reception was cordial, if not warm.  End summary. 
 
-------------- 
Four's a Charm 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (U) President Bashir paid a ninety-minute visit to 
Juba the morning of February 14 before departing for 
stops in Bahr el Ghazal and Rumbek, a trip that had been 
announced but then postponed on three prior occasions, 
including the January 9 celebration one-year anniversary 
of the signature of the CPA.  There was a heavy Sudanese 
Armed Forces (SAF) and national police presence in town - 
security concerns were rumored to have influenced prior 
postponement of the visit - with Joint Integrated Units 
(JIU) and SPLA also standing guard at Freedom Square. 
The assembled crowd numbered less than half those who had 
come for the January 9 event.  Virtually all GoSS 
dignitaries were present along with Bashir's entourage 
from Khartoum. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Thanks for Coming, and What About the LRA? 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (U) Bahr el Jebel Governor Clement Wani Konga made 
brief remarks, noting that Bashir had been "too long in 
coming south," and even that morning the citizens of Juba 
had not been certain Bashir would show.  Wani received 
rousing applause when he stated that he hoped that Bashir 
had come with a solution for insecurity provoked by the 
LRA in the South.  GoSS President Salva Kiir spoke next, 
citing an African version of the proverb about "crying 
wolf" and losing credibility - he cited this as the 
reason for the moderate turnout, since most Jubans had 
not believed that Bashir would really arrive. 
 
------------------------------- 
Help on the Way, Unity the Goal 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) President Bashir took the podium to muted applause 
and delivered a twenty-minute address that hit the right 
notes.  He commenced that two decades ago everyone had 
cried wolf as well, claiming the peace was at hand.  But 
now, believe it or not, peace was here and should endure. 
Bashir said that the GNU would provide security for the 
South and that he would give the JIU's responsibility for 
dealing with the LRA once and for all, thus providing 
southerners the security they deserved.  He said that 
after one month, he expected to hear no more about 
problems caused by the LRA. 
 
¶5. (U) President Bashir ticked off other areas in which 
the GNU stood ready to provide assistance to the South. 
He cited health, roads, and education as areas of 
emphasis, and promised that the GNU would provide the 
South seeds and agricultural implements before the 
planting season begins.  Bashir said that he had provided 
twenty tons of asphalt to repave the roads of Juba town, 
since it was important that those living there prepare 
the town for the return of refugees and IDPs. 
 
¶6.  (U) Bashir said that his first and most important 
priority as president of the GNU was to ensure that unity 
prevailed at the end of six years; the GNU would work to 
make such unity worthwhile.  He stressed that there was 
not difference between Muslims and Christians:  all 
Sudanese were equal.  He concluded that while he sought 
unity, if the people of Southern Sudan should opt for 
independence, he would accept this and work to see that 
the two countries that emerged from the state of Sudan 
would continue to work hand in hand. 
 
 
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Comment 
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KHARTOUM 00000396  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) While President Bashir's promises were well 
received by the crowd, there was healthy skepticism among 
GoSS figures after the event.  The JIUs are not formed 
and ready to deploy:  unless the SAF and the SPLA stand 
ready to take on the LRA, a short-term solution does not 
seem likely.  Paved roads would be welcome in Juba, but 
donors are taking the lead in the other priority areas in 
which Bashir promised that the GNU would engage. 
 
STEINFELD