VZCZCXRO9319
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1780/01 2051245
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241245Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3871
INFO RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN 0008
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0048
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0018
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001780 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ABLD EFIN IBRD UG SU
SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT MACHAR COMMENTS ON LRA MEDIATION, 
WORLD BANK RELATIONS, NEW U.S. CONSULATE 
 
REF: A. KHARTOUM 1774 
 
     ¶B. KHARTOUM 1775 
 
KHARTOUM 00001780  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: P/E Eric Whitaker for reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  CG Juba met with GoSS Vice President 
Machar on July 21 to review Machar's mediation between the 
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda 
(GOU), the strained GoSS relationship with the World Bank, 
and the need for GoSS cooperation in completing due diligence 
requirements on the new consulate compound site.  Machar 
admitted that the mediation was slow going and called for 
greater U.S. support for the effort.  He expressed great 
exasperation with the Bank.  Machar said that he would do his 
utmost to break loose required documentation for the New 
Consulate Compound (NCC).  End summary. 
 
--------------------- 
Mediation Moves Ahead 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Machar told CG that while no breakthrough between 
the LRA and GOU was in sight, neither party had walked out of 
the talks.  He said that discussion of the first agenda item, 
a cessation of hostilities (Ref a), had concluded with 
general consensus, although the GOU had refused to formalize 
any agreement until the second point, the political and 
economic background to the conflict, had been discussed.  On 
July 20, the mediation effort had jumped directly to the 
third agenda point, reconciliation and accountability. 
Machar said that the Ugandans had backed away from their 
refusal to allow civil society and religious observers from 
Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan to participate directly in 
the talks.  He said that he would propose, and expected that 
both parties would accept, that these observers address the 
mediation session directly on July 21. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In response to the CG's query, Machar said that he 
thought that the LRA delegation could undertake commitments 
on the behalf of LRA military leaders in the bush if 
sufficient consultation took place beforehand.  He said that 
Joseph Kony had asked to meet directly with religious 
leaders, civil society, and tribal elders from Northern 
Uganda, and that Machar himself would take this group as well 
as Southern Sudanese civil society leaders to meet with Kony 
in his camp on July 25.  CG asked if any firm position on 
accountability emerged from the July 20 discussions.  Machar 
said that it had not but cautioned that reconciliation should 
not be taken to mean impunity. 
 
¶4. (C) Machar pitched for greater U.S. support for the 
mediation effort.  He said that Sant'Egidio (Ref a) 
represented the Vatican and that Pax Christi was the de facto 
representative of the Dutch.  In addition, a Swiss diplomat 
attended the sessions and the day before the UN sent a UNICEF 
official to observe the talks.  Machar said that he would 
request actual UN participation in the form of an expert on 
IDPs and said that a U.S. observer - not participant - would 
be warmly welcomed. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Note:  A Swiss representative has been in touch with 
the CG directly and explained that the Swiss are looking to 
give whatever support was needed, logistical, financial, or 
consultative, to make the talks work.  She also seemed eager 
to get additional U.S. support for the project.  CG replied 
that we are keeping a distance from the talks for the time 
being.  End Note. 
 
---------------------- 
Jousting with the Bank 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Machar said that festering problems between the 
World Bank and the GoSS persisted.  He gave his version of a 
July 19 meeting with Bank officials where "I (Machar) was 
upset and let them know it."  He accused the Bank of unfairly 
refusing to release Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) support for 
the Juba Roads Project and the Housing Project for GoSS 
Officials (Ref b).  Machar said that the Bank had released 
funds for hospital, GoSS ministry rehabilitation, and 
water/sanitation projects, but would not cooperate in other 
areas.  The CG said that while the USG had not directly 
committed funds to the MDTF, we nonetheless hoped that some 
equitable solution could be found to speed up reconstruction 
of the South without sacrificing World Bank requirements for 
transparent and open contracting and procurement processes. 
Machar replied that he had insisted to the Bank team that the 
Director for Southern Sudan should be based in Juba, and not 
out of reach and sight in Washington. 
 
KHARTOUM 00001780  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
--- 
NCC 
--- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The CG noted that over six months had been wasted 
since the GoSS granted the USG a 99-year lease for a new 
consular compound site on the outskirts of Juba, as necessary 
GOSS actions to permit groundbreaking had not been taken. 
The proximate cause of the delay was the continued failure of 
officials of Central Equatoria State to complete the 
formality of delivering a due diligence document that would 
permit the USG to move ahead with the project.  The longer 
the delay, the longer it would take for the U.S. to establish 
a fully operational presence in Juba.  Machar said that he 
was aware of the hold up and pledged to approach the proper 
state authorities within the following week to resolve the 
due diligence issue. 
STEINFELD