VZCZCXRO9664
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0123/01 0531334
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 221333Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0251
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000123 
 
SIPDIS 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/22 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM SU
SUBJECT: SE GRATION MEETS HEAD OF CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES 
 
REF: KHARTOUM 262 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Robert E. Whitehead, CDA; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In a February 20 meeting, the Head of the Center 
for Strategic Studies Sayeed el-Khatib told U.S. Special Envoy 
Gration and Charge d'Affaires that recent discussions in Juba were 
fruitful and should help facilitate a planned meeting between 
Presidents Bashir and Kiir. He said a high level National Congress 
Party (NCP) delegation and Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) 
leadership discussed outstanding issues related to additional seat 
allocations in the National Assembly; nominations for chairman 
positions for three important commissions; and North-South border 
demarcation. El-Khatib responded to queries regarding certain 
post-2011 issues, such as citizenship, wealth-sharing, and national 
debt. End Summary. 
 
 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Additional Seats for the South 
 
------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2. (C) On February 20, Sayeed el-Khatib, NCP member and Head of the 
Center for Strategic Studies briefed SE Gration on discussions held 
a week ago in Juba. El-Khatib said the NCP delegation met with GOSS 
Vice President Riek Machar, Sudan People's Liberation Movement 
(SPLM) Secretary General Pagan Amum, and others. According to 
El-Khatib, the NCP put forward an offer to increase to 34 the 
additional number of seats for the South in the National Assembly. 
The NCP had previously offered 24, while the SPLM wanted 40. Sayeed 
viewed this as a good compromise. The NCP proposal also included 
four additional seats at the national level for Southern Kordofan 
and two for Abyei. He was confident the Presidency would reach a 
resolution on this issue. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
Unfilled Chairman Slots for Three Commissions 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (C) El-Khatib noted that the two sides discussed names for 
unfilled chairman positions on the Southern Sudan Referendum 
Commission, the Abyei Referendum Commission and the National Human 
Rights Commission. For the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, he 
said the NCP put forward a well-respected, former attorney general. 
GOSS accepted the name and reciprocated with a mutually agreeable 
deputy chairman name of SPLM choosing. The National Assembly must 
be recalled into a brief session to approve the member appointments 
once completed. For the Abyei Referendum Commission, El-Khatib said 
the SPLM presented a list of names and although no decision was 
reached in Juba, it looks as if one name may be agreeable to the 
NCP. (Note: The SPLM name was later rejected by the NCP. End Note.) 
However, he cautioned that any person selected would have to be 
accepted by the Misseriya. On the third unfilled chairman position 
on the National Human Rights Commission, El-Khatib called SPLM's 
proffered candidates "not palatable" to the NCP. He said they were 
not professional enough or lacked the human rights expertise 
necessary for the position. The chairman of the Human Rights 
Commission, he further noted, needs to be in place prior to 
elections. (Note: The National Human Rights Commission Act was 
enacted on May 31, 2009. End Note.) 
 
 
 
 
 
------------------------------ 
 
North-South Border Demarcation 
 
------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) The North-South border demarcation committee has completed 
 
KHARTOUM 00000123  002 OF 002 
 
 
its report and, according to El-Khatib, there are only four 
remaining ambiguous areas. He noted that one of those areas 
(Kafiakingi/Hofri-en-Nahas area of South Darfur) is, admittedly, in 
Southern Sudan and is the most straightforward of the areas. He 
claimed the NCP will "not make a fuss" of it. El-Khatib said the 
GOSS wants the President to direct border demarcation begin on 
undisputed land and further, to issue a directive on the four 
unresolved areas. He also said the NCP delegation is recommending 
to President Bashir that Sudan should approach the U.S. for more 
technical assistance to further the demarcation process. (Note: 
Both Vice President Taha and Vice President Machar later agreed 
that technical assistance would be useful and the Special Envoy's 
office is working to deploy a previously-identified demarcation 
expert to assist. End Note.) 
 
 
 
---------------------- 
 
Post-Referendum Issues 
 
---------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) With regard to post-referendum topics, El-Khatib said the 
NCP is so far comfortable with the wealth-sharing discussions with 
the GOSS. He does not see Southern Sudan as having viable 
alternatives to utilizing northern pipelines to export oil. He 
claimed the NCP is willing to reach agreements on wealth-sharing 
issues and to work on economic issues with the GOSS to ensure that 
neither side's economic underpinning is harmed. 
 
 
 
¶6. (C) El-Khatib agreed that citizenship may not be easy to resolve 
and admitted that the two parties may need help in this regard. 
According to El-Khatib, the NCP does not want to be put in the 
position to forcibly transfer out of Northern Sudan people who do 
not want to leave. He speculated that in the event of secession, 
those southerners who opt to remain in the north could be granted 
dual citizenship or Northern Sudanese citizenship if, he continued, 
it would be a small number and therefore pose little threat to the 
NCP. He cautioned that citizenship is a topic that needs dialogue 
from both the GOS and GOSS. Party tactics, he added, will only 
serve to waste time and could prove dangerous. 
 
 
 
¶7. (C) In the event of secession El-Khatib said another subject 
that could be difficult to negotiate will be the national debt. 
Although, he thinks a formula can be agreed upon by both sides, he 
predicts that it will require a division of assets. The NCP 
expectation, however, is that if the South votes for independence, 
their foreign debt will be forgiven, so he acknowledged with a 
smile that it may be a good idea to let them take as much debt as 
possible. 
 
 
 
¶8. (C) Comment. El-Khatib noted at one point that the status of the 
oil rich area around Heglig had "been resolved"; in a later 
meeting, the SPLM's Luka Biong stated that it had not. End Comment. 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) This cable has been cleared by the Office of the Special 
Envoy to Sudan. 
WHITEHEAD