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C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000829 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016 
TAGS: PREL PINR PGOV ER SU
SUBJECT: EASTERN FRONT NEGOTIATIONS CONCLUDING 
 
REF: ASMARA 802 
 
Classified By: CDA Jennifer A. McIntyre, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The Eastern Front and Government of National 
Unity (GNU) initialed the power sharing agreement on October 
¶9.  Only the implementation modalities need to be finalized 
and these are expected to be resolved by October 13.  The 
Eastern Front successfully secured a significant number of 
governmental positions,  including an assistant and advisor 
to President Bashir, but the issue of one region was 
sidelined pending a GNU-proposed national conference on 
federalism.  The Eastern Front and other sources claim that 
the eastern Sudan agreement will be signed October 14. 
President Bashir, Vice-President Kiir and the presidents of 
Yemen and Djibouti are rumored to be attending.  End Summary. 
 
 
¶2. (C) On October 9, the Eastern Front and GNU reached 
agreement on the power-sharing arrangements and initialed the 
draft agreement.  Specifically, on the federal level, the 
Eastern Front will get an assistant to the president, an 
advisor to the president, one state minister, and ten 
national parliament MPs.  The Eastern Front, as well as other 
observers, were surprised that they were given both positions 
of advisor and assistant to the president.  It is rumored 
that Rashaida Free Lions (RFL) leader Mabrouk Mubarak will 
take the position of Advisor to President Bashir and that the 
GNU has asked that the position of Assistant to President 
Bashir be taken by Beja Congress leader Dr. Amna Dirar.  Dr. 
Dirar has not decided at this stage whether she will accept 
the position.  (Comment:  Given Dr. Dirar's leadership role 
in the Eastern Front, her departure would present an added 
challenge in the future development of a strong Eastern Front 
party.  End Comment.) 
 
¶3. (C) On the regional level, the Eastern Front did not gain 
any governor (Walis) positions, but were given a deputy 
governor position in Kassala and Gederaf, with the deputy 
governor position in Port Sudan remaining a Democratic 
Unionist Party (DUP) post.  The Eastern Front also secured 
three advisor positions in each of the regions and nine 
commissioners.  On the local level - which is where many feel 
they fared the best - the Eastern Front was allocated five 
out of eleven slots in each of the 24 (or 25) local councils 
in the three states.  Given that the local councils have the 
most direct contact with communities, this is where some 
Sudan experts believe the Eastern Front could have the most 
impact, especially as they try to transform themselves into a 
political party over the next two years leading up to 
national elections. 
 
¶4. (C) The Eastern Front not only did not achieve their goal 
of one state for eastern Sudan, they also failed to get a 
coordinating body for eastern Sudan.  Instead, the GNU held 
its ground, fearing that if a precedent of one state was 
struck in the east, it would need to follow suit in Darfur. 
As detailed in reftel, the GNU has agreed to a national 
conference on federalism to be held in the next year, 
although GNU negotiators would not confirm dates or times. 
The GNU presented the position that it must first tackle the 
problems of Darfur before moving onto a national conference. 
After the conference is held, the GNU agreed it would then 
hold a national referendum on whether to return to a federal 
Sudan.  Some experts, such as Dr. Taisir Ali fear that the 
Eastern Front's failure to get details from the GNU now may 
mean a lack of commitment to such a proposal in the future. 
 
¶5. (C) Currently, the Eastern Front and GNU are working out 
the implementation modalities.  Specifically, they are 
focusing on a mechanism for oversight of the wealth-sharing 
fund, oversight over the security arrangement and 
implementation of the overall agreement, anticipated to be 
completed by the end of the week.  The signing of the Eastern 
Front/GNU agreement is planned for Saturday, October 14. 
President Isaias, President Bashir, Vice-President Kiir, the 
presidents of Yemen and Djibouti as well as senior Arab 
League representatives are expected to attend the signing. 
(Comment:  Post predicts the U.S. Embassy and other Western 
diplomatic missions will receive last-minute invitations. 
End Comment.) 
 
¶6. (C) Following the signing, the Eastern Front plans to hold 
a conference in Tesseney, Eritrea from October 30 until 
November 5, to work out their next steps and implementation 
of the agreement in eastern Sudan.  On November 8 and 9, the 
Eastern Front leadership will take part in an European 
Commission (EC) sponsored training in Asmara, led by Dr. 
Taisir Ali of the Peacebuilding Center in the Horn of Africa 
(PCHA), focused on preparing the leadership for returning to 
positions in Khartoum and eastern Sudan.  The EC plans to 
bring Sudanese experts from Khartoum to discuss key areas of 
concern, such as changes in the constitution, legislature and 
politics over the last decade.  That training will be 
followed by a longer three-week course also sponsored by the 
EC and run by PCHA focused on approximately 40 individuals 
who will be taking positions in the local councils. 
 
¶7. (C) Comment:  Post is pleasantly surprised by the number 
of positions conceded to the Eastern Front in the 
power-sharing agreement, especially at the presidential and 
local levels.  This level of representation could provide the 
opportunity for the Eastern Front to transform itself into a 
sustainable political entity, if the right support and 
training are provided.  The next few weeks will be 
instrumental in getting the Eastern Front ready for 
implementation of the agreement and building their 
organization into a viable entity before national elections. 
Proposed USG-funded programs could effectively build on the 
EC's immediate-term training by focusing on longer-term 
capacity-building needs. Post will provide a more detailed 
training proposal by e-mail to AF/SPG and Embassy Khartoum. 
End Comment. 
MCINTYRE