VZCZCXRO9847
PP RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1933 2261502
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141502Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4142
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001933 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPKO PREF SOCI US UN AU SU
SUBJECT:  DPA IMPLEMENTATION OFFICE OPENS IN KHARTOUM 
 
¶1.  Sudanese and international community efforts to achieve peace in 
Darfur received a boost with the opening of the Darfur Peace 
Agreement (DPA) Implementation Office in Khartoum on August 12. 
Signatories to the agreement and the Declaration of Commitment 
attended, as did representatives of Darfur civil society, the 
African Union, and the international community.  In all, nearly 120 
persons were present.  A similar DPA implementation office will open 
in El Fasher within the month. 
 
¶2.  Ambassador Sam Ibok, AU Senior Advisor and Head of the African 
Union DPA Implementation Team, opened the gathering by noting that 
the inauguration of the DPA office constituted an "act of faith" in 
both Darfur and the DPA.  Furthermore, it was a "testimony of the 
commitment of the United States" to a lasting peace.  The real 
implementation of the DPA could begin in this new office and it 
could become a home for every Darfurian.  Ambassador Ibok also 
chastised neighboring states that were supporting non-signatories 
and encouraged the broader international community to press them to 
sign on to the DPA. 
 
¶3.  Representing the Government of National Unity, Dr. Omar Haroun 
made the point that no document was perfect, but that the DPA 
nonetheless represented a substantial step toward peace.  Darfur is 
a region of over one hundred tribes, thus all parties, signatories 
and international community alike, must work together to construct a 
durable peace.  Dr. Abdul Rahman Moussa spoke on behalf of the 
signatories of the Declaration of Commitment to the DPA.  Minni 
Minawi, newly-named Senior Assistant to the President and Chair of 
the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority, represented the Sudanese 
Liberation Movement (SLM), though he acknowledged he was now part of 
the government.  Minawi thanked the U.S. for its efforts to both 
broker the agreement in Abuja and bolster its implementation via 
this office.  He specifically thanked Dr. Moussa for his courage in 
joining the agreement and encouraged others to sign.  Minawi spoke 
at length about the Darfur Joint Assessment Mission (D-JAM), the 
World Bank-led evaluation of the long-term needs for recovery, 
reconstruction, and development in Darfur.  A comprehensive plan was 
required to enable refugees and internally displaced persons to 
return to their villages and resume their lives.  Minawi stated 
several times that he wanted to be inclusive, that for the DPA to 
succeed all had to join, and that he was willing to help facilitate 
this. 
 
¶4.  CDA Hume closed the ceremony by stressing the dire humanitarian 
considerations of the crisis in Darfur and the imperative for all 
parties to shoulder responsibility for the implementation of the 
agreement.  He also congratulated the signatories for the personal 
risks each had assumed in signing the agreement.  CDA Hume's remarks 
were reported extensively and favorably on the front page of the 
English language daily Khartoum Monitor.  The English language Sudan 
Vision also carried a front page photo of the ribbon cutting 
ceremony.  The event was not covered in the Arabic language press, 
however, as of yet. 
 
HUME