VZCZCXRO9375
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0571/01 0651435
ZNR UUUUU ZZH 
O 061435Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1746
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0032

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000571 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KPKO UN AU SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR: SUDAN CONTINUES ALL-FRONTS CAMPAIGN 
AGAINST U.N. INTERVENTION 
 
REF:  A) Khartoum 548, B) Khartoum 500, 
 
C) Khartoum 467, D) Khartoum 447 
 
¶1. (SBU) Sudan continues its campaign against U.N. 
intervention in Darfur, with President Omar al-Bashir 
telling military academy graduates that the government 
was opposed to "foreign" troops in the region, but 
favored keeping the current African Union force.  Foreign 
Ministry officials, however, took a slightly different 
tack, telling Arab and Chinese news services that Sudan 
would withdraw from the African Union if AU ministers 
allow the United Nations to take over the AU mandate. 
The Government of National Unity (GNU) also won the 
support of two opposition parties for its stance against 
U.N. forces in Darfur, and called for a mass 
demonstration against foreign intervention on March 6. 
Khartoum is now clearly fighting on all fronts against a 
U.N. force -- though its ultimate success remains 
uncertain.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Bashir Speaks to Military Grads, Rejects "Intervention" 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2. (U) Sudan continued its campaign agaQ the prospect 
of United Nations peacekeeping troops in Darfur on March 
4, as President Omar al-Bashir addressed the graduating 
class of the Commanders and Staff College in Omdurman. 
"We are opposed to foreign intervention in Darfur, 
although we remain committed to cooperation with the 
international community," Bashir told the graduates, 
according to the website Sudan Tribune.  Reports in Sudan 
Vision, a pro-government English language paper, stressed 
that African Union troops were deployed in Darfur "in 
accordance with an agreement with the government," and 
that "the government had spared no effort in supporting" 
the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). 
 
¶3. (U) Transferring control of peacekeeping operations 
from AMIS to the United Nations would be "dangerous," al- 
Bashir reiterated, and called upon the world to "respect 
the people's sovereignty."  He also commended the 
graduates, pledging "we are acting on developing and 
modernizing the armed forces to enable it to fulfill its 
duties."  The speech was Bashir's first on the issue of 
U.N. peacekeeping forces since last week, and a slight 
moderation of his February 26 comments that Darfur would 
become a "graveyard for foreign troops" (Ref A). 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Foreign Ministry Continues Diplomatic Offensive 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4. (U) Meanwhile, officials at the Foreign Ministry kept 
up their own media blitz, with Minister of State for 
Foreign Affairs, al-Qmani al-Wasila, telling al-Jazeera 
on March 4 that Sudan might withdraw from the African 
Union if the AU Peace and Security Council voted later 
this week to ask the United Nations to take over AMIS' 
peacekeeping role in Darfur.  The Ministry spokesman, 
Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim, made similar comments in a 
statement to the New China News Agency (Xinhua) the same 
day, saying "We will resist this attempt and respond 
strongly to it even if that leads to withdrawal from the 
AU and the review of Sudan's membership in the African 
organization."  AU Foreign Ministers are currently 
scheduled to meet on Friday, March 10, to discuss the 
issue. 
 
¶5. (U) The Ministry has also scored a few diplomatic 
victories in recent days.  The Sudan News Agency (SUNA) 
has widely disseminated a statement by Arab League 
Foreign Ministers in Cairo supporting AMIS' current 
mission in Darfur and rejecting the deployment of U.N. 
forces without the consent of Khartoum.  The news service 
also printed written messages of support from sources as 
diverse as the Arab Labor Conference participants in 
Morocco, and Guinea-Bissau President Joao Bernardo Nino 
Vieira. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
GNU Rallies Opposition Parties, Convenes States Council 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶6. (U) The Government of National Unity (GNU) appears to 
have won the support of two major opposition parties for 
its stance against U.N. intervention.  The DQocratic 
 
KHARTOUM 00000571  002 OF 003 
 
 
Unionist Party and the Sudanese Communist Party both 
issued statements over the weekend opposing U.N. troops 
in Darfur, Sudan Vision reported on March 5.  The ruling 
coalition issued its own statement following its weekly 
meeting on March 4, stressing the necessity of dealing 
with international intervention "within the framework of 
partnership governing the policies of the GNU" and 
emphasizing the importance of continuing the AMIS mission 
in Darfur by "removing all difficulties impeding its 
successful performance." 
 
¶7. (U) The Government has also convened an emergency 
meeting of the Council of States, the upper house of 
Sudan's parliament, on the evening of Monday, March 6. 
Newspaper announcements in Khartoum indicated that 
delegates would discuss "the aftermath of the Darfur 
issue." 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Cartoons:  Al-Qaeda On the Way to Darfur? 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Morning newspapers in Khartoum were rife not only 
with discussion of Darfur, but with cartoons about the 
issue.  Pro-government Sudan Vision featured a snake 
labeled "intervention" en route to Sudan, ready to be 
dispatched by a featureless man in a robe.  The more 
moderate Juba-based newspaper Citizen showed a robed man, 
labeled "al-Qaeda," ready to throw a bomb in the 
direction of Darfur.  The cartoon ostensibly refers to 
the widespread theory -- leaked to media outlets by 
government officials, and echoed by U.N. Special 
Representative to Sudan Jan Pronk on February 27 in New 
York -- that U.N. forces in Darfur would attract al-Qaeda 
terrorists, as part of their broader war against the 
West. 
 
----------------------- 
To Demonstrate...or Not 
----------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) The Government also called upon "on all sectors of 
the Sudanese nation" to take part in a demonstration 
against foreign intervention in Darfur organized by the 
Popular Organization for the Defense of Religious Faith 
and Motherland (aka People's Organization for the Defense 
of Creed and Homeland).  Newspapers on March 5 declared 
the demonstrations would occur on Monday, March 6, but 
the date subsequently has been moved to Wednesday, March 
8, coinciding with another anti-U.N. rally by the Popular 
Defense Forces.  Organizers have called for one million 
people to take to the streets of Khartoum, to deliver 
"letters" to the Government, the United Nations, and the 
U.S. and British embassies.  Muslim students groups in 
Khartoum are also reportedly planning a sit-in protest in 
front of the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday, March 7, demanding 
that Ali Abdel Latif Street be re-opened to public 
traffic and that the Embassy -- "a symbol of colonization 
and tyranny" -- be closed.  (Note:  Similar protests by 
the same organizations were scheduled for last week, but 
were abruptly cancelled at the last minute.  ) 
 
¶10. (U) Rallies against foreign invention have also 
occurred in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur State, 
according to the pro-government newspaper Sudan Vision on 
March 6.  The paper reported that residents rallied 
through the city and delivered a statement to the U.N. 
representative in Darfur and the A.U. Mission, expressing 
"absolute rejection" of the entry of foreign forces in 
the country; however, these reports have not been 
independently confirmed. 
 
------------------------------- 
Comment:  A Fight on All Fronts 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Sudan is clearly campaigning on all fronts -- 
enlisting key interest groups, using any possible 
rallying cry -- to thwart the prospect of the United 
Nations taking over AMIS' work in Darfur.  The Government 
is trying to wind up the military at home, enlist 
sympathetic allies abroad, reach out to domestic 
opposition parties, and call the people out on to the 
streets.  After a few false starts, Khartoum has clearly 
decided against U.N. peacekeepers, though its success in 
mobilizing others to support it is less certain. 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00000571  003 OF 003 
 
 
WHITEHEAD