VZCZCXRO1409
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0822/01 0940904
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040904Z APR 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2163
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0023
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0002

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000822 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO OIIP PGOV PINR PHUM ECON MOPS
SU, CH, ER 
SUBJECT: Press Summary March 27 - April 3 
 
REF: Khartoum 547 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: This cable covers miscellaneous items that 
have appeared in the press over the past week but are not 
covered elsewhere.  This includes renewed violence at the 
University of Juba over the student union issue (reftel), 
the forming of a new political party by southern NCP 
member-- and former Vice President-- George Kongor Arop, 
the visit of the Sudanese Defense Minister to China, and 
the move towards normalization of relations between 
Eritrea and Sudan.  On Darfur, President Bashir gave an 
interview to an Egyptian paper reiterating his hard stand 
against the UN, while the major opposition parties are 
planning a series of demonstrations to encourage a quick 
resolution to the crisis.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
More Violence at the University of Juba 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  There was fresh unrest at the University of Juba 
after police in riot gear violently broke up another 
student demonstration at the university's main Kadaro 
campus outside of Khartoum on March 30.  The students 
were repeating their previous request to form a student 
union.  Police arrested 26 students, all of whom were 
released the next day following the intervention of the 
SPLM's Yassir Arman and Ghazi Suleiman.  "The Citizen" 
also reported, falsely, that one student was killed when 
police opened fire on the crowd.  The University had been 
closed from February 11 to March 25 after earlier riots 
there (reftel). 
 
---------------------- 
Kongor Forms New Party 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  Former Vice President of Sudan and prominent 
southerner in the National Congress Party (NCP) George 
Kongor Arop announced that he is leaving the NCP to form 
his own political party, the African National Congress 
Party (ANCP).  In a press conference, Kongor cited 
internal conflict in the NCP between reformers and 
hardliners, and the NCP's failure to resolve the Darfur 
crisis as reasons for his exit.  Kongor explained that 
his party would be dedicated to supporting CPA 
implementation and finding solutions to conflicts in 
Darfur and the East.  While Kongor did not say he would 
join forces with Presidential Advisor Bona Malwal, he did 
indicate support for Malwal several times during the 
press conference. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Sudanese Defense Minister Visits China 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein is in 
Beijing at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Cao 
Gangchuan.  The Sudanese press reports that Hussein is 
looking to solidify and expand the already strong 
military cooperation with China.  He also repeated 
Sudan's support for the one-China policy and thanked the 
Chinese government for its stance on Darfur.  According 
to press reports, Sudan's air force recently spent USD 
100 million on Shenyang planes, including 12 F-7 jets and 
34 other fighter-bombers.  This is in addition to the 12 
MiG fighters Sudan took delivery of in July 2004. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Sudan and Eritrea to Exchange Ambassadors 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Following the first meeting of the Sudanese-Eritrean 
Joint Committee (SEJC), the two governments announced on 
April 1 that they would raise their diplomatic 
representation to the ambassadorial level.  Sudan's SUNA 
news also reports that arrangements are being made for a 
presidential summit in either Khartoum or Asmara.  The 
SEJC was recently established to normalize the strained 
relations between the two countries, to negotiate the 
official reopening of the border, closed since 2002, and 
to encourage other commercial links. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
Bashir Distributes Blame, Refuses Intervention in Darfur 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶6.  In an interview with the state-owned Egyptian paper 
Al-Ahram al-Arabi, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir 
 
KHARTOUM 00000822  002 OF 002 
 
 
again said that the crisis in Darfur was a result of a 
local tribal dispute inflamed by an international 
community intent on disrupting Sudan.  He lamented the 
lack of a peace deal in Abuja, but said that it was 
entirely the fault of the rebels.  Bashir reaffirmed that 
he would not accept international forces in Darfur, 
explaining that the UN has proven to be ineffective when 
it intervenes in Africa.  He then cited the mass 
exterminations in Rwanda and Srebrenica, which he said 
took place "under the sight and hearing" of UN forces. 
According to Bashir, only "weapons dealers" and "enemies 
of peace" are demanding the transition to UN forces. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Opposition Parties Plan Darfur Demonstrations 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  A series of joint demonstrations on Darfur are 
planned next week by the three major political parties 
that remain outside the government -- Sadiq al-Mahdi's 
Umma Party, Hassan al-Turabi's Popular Congress Party, 
and the Communist Party (which has accepted seats in the 
National Assembly but refused to join the executive 
branch).  According to an Umma party spokesperson, the 
goal of the rallies will be to encourage a quick 
resolution to the Darfur conflict.  All three party 
leaders plan to speak: al-Mahdi, Turabi, and Communist 
Party Secretary General Mohamed Ibrahim Nugud.  They will 
then present a joint memo to both the government and the 
African Union concerning the crisis. 
 
STEINFELD