VZCZCXRO2275
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0897/01 1031122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 131122Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2351
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000897 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SU
SUBJECT:  Sudan Update:  Chad, East, Intervention, 
Khartoum Constitution, Editor Arrested, Iran Commended 
 
REF:   Khartoum 895 
 
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Chad:  SAF Claims it has Driven All Chadian Rebels Out 
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¶1.  Sudanese Armed Forces claim they have driven all 
Chadian rebel forces out of West Darfur.  There have been 
skirmishes along the Sudan-Chad border for two days, and 
MILOBS report hearing artillery firing on the morning of 
April 13.  NGO workers confirm the reports, adding they 
believe the artillery is outgoing - i.e., from Sudan to 
Chad.  SLA in-fighting continues between forces loyal to 
Abdel Wahid and Mini Minawi in and around the Jebel Mara 
area.  The skirmishes have been small and indecisive, but 
AMIS MILOBS report that SLA MILOBS' loyalty to a 
particular faction often precludes them from 
participating in investigations due to fears for their 
personal security.  UN reporting indicates that 
unidentified SLA forces have surrounded the SAF and 
government-held town of Rokiro in the Jebel Mara and are 
not allowing traffic in or out of the enclave.  Rokiro 
has been fought over numerous times.  (see reftel) 
 
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East:  Rebels Attack Police Garrisons Near Kassala 
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¶2.  Government officials in Kassala, East Sudan, report 
that on April 11, Eastern Front and Justice and Equality 
Movement (JEM) rebels attacked two police garrisons 70 km 
north of Kassala, killing six army officers and four 
civilians.  Four Eastern Front members were also killed 
in the attack. Government officials estimated that about 
50 people were injured in the attacks.  PolOff spoke with 
an Eastern Front representative in Khartoum, who reports 
that 14 were killed, all government soldiers, no Eastern 
Front rebels killed, and a few civilians injured.  The 
source states that three areas were attacked to remind 
the government that the Beja are still a threat. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
President Bashir:  Beware Western Intervention in Darfur 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶3.  According to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA), in an 
April 12 interview with Saudi Al-Ekhabariya TV, President 
Bashir denounced "suspicious Western attempts to fuel and 
prolong the conflict in Darfur in order to realize 
special agenda."  Also on April 13, President Bashir is 
cited by SUNA as having addressed the fourth Congress of 
the Sudanese Youth National Union, stating that 
"international targeting of the country would continue 
until all Sudanese decided that no foreign soldier would 
set foot on Sudanese soil whatever be the 
justifications."  He added that "foreign intervention is 
but the old colonization cloaked in the new cloth of the 
suspicious organizations and arms dealers." 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Khartoum Constitution Stuck in Negotiations 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The Khartoum State Assembly has so far failed to 
ratify a state constitution due to differences among the 
National Congress Party, the SPLM, and the National 
Democratic Alliance.  Each group has presented its draft 
of a proposed constitution.  During discussion, some 17 
differences were marked, with the assembly unable to 
reach an agreement.  The assembly formed a constitution 
committee to discuss the differences and to come out with 
its recommendations; it was able to narrow the 
differences to six.  The assembly then formed a technical 
committee of five members to work out the differences, 
although it also failed to reach to an agreement.  The 
SPLA and NDA, who see the issue similarly, have suggested 
that the differences be raised to the Presidency.  Key 
areas of disagreement include the definition of Khartoum 
as a national capital or a northern state under sharia 
law, and whether of not to include a human rights 
article, as mentioned in the Interim National 
Constitution. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
One editor detained; another thrilled with his IV 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  According to the Khartoum Monitor, the English daily 
 
KHARTOUM 00000897  002 OF 002 
 
 
newspaper's Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Alfred Taban was 
arrested on April 13.  Taban was charged with publishing 
false information and defamation over an editorial, which 
appeared earlier this month on the police treatment of 
Juba University students.  He was later released on his 
own recognizance.  Separately, the editor in chief of 
Sudan Vision (pro-govt), in a front page box, thanks the 
State Department and the Embassy for what he reports was 
a very fruitful IV program, from which he has just 
returned. He promises many articles on his visit. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Sudan National Assembly Speaker Commends Iran 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  According to Tehran IRNA, on April 13 in Istanbul, 
Sudanese National Assembly Speaker Ahmed Ibrahim al-Taher 
expressed delight over Iran's achievement in the area of 
peaceful nuclear technology.  At a meeting with his 
Iranian counterpart Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel on the 
sidelines of the 4th Parliamentary Speakers' Conference 
of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), he 
said Khartoum was happy to hear that Tehran had 
successfully achieved uranium enrichment.  He underlined 
the need for enhancement of mutual cooperation between 
the two states, and called for establishment of a 
parliamentary friendship group by the two parliaments. 
 
STEINFELD