VZCZCXRO5236
OO RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1981/01 2320804
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200804Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4228
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001981 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG/, AF/PD (A. JOHNSON, S. LAUTERBACH), IIP/G/AF, 
RRU-AF, INR/R/MR 
PARIS FOR ARS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO OIIP PGOV PINR SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN: NCP AND PRESS RHETORIC AGAINST DARFUR REHATTING 
INTENSIFIED BY MIDDLE EAST DEVELOPMENTS 
 
REF: Khartoum 01843 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Over the past two weeks, Sudanese press reports 
suggest that two lines of Arab-nationalist opinion in Sudan - 
focused on the Lebanese and Darfur crises, respectively - are 
tending to converge.  A major link is provided by Omer al-Bashir 
himself, who is both Sudan's president and current Chairman of the 
Arab League.  He claims that Zionist and American interests and 
strategies, in various configurations, are behind both crises.  And 
Hizbollah and Nasrallah are increasingly held up as models for 
Sudanese resistance to any threats to national sovereignty, 
especially to "foreign intervention" in Darfur.   END SUMMARY. 
 
Dual Struggles, Lebanon and Darfur 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  For over a month, the Sudanese press has been marked by two 
lines of gradually intensifying protest and critique, centered on 
the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, on the one hand; on the other, 
international pressure to accept UN peacekeepers in Darfur.  In both 
cases, NCP hardliners have taken the lead, with Bashir as the major 
spokesman, and the NCP and affiliated organizations as platforms for 
supporting statements and demonstrations.   Apart from official 
statements, a scattering of editorials appear on a daily basis, 
expressing a strongly Arab-nationalist line on one or another of 
these crises. 
 
With Some Connections... 
------------------------ 
 
¶3.  Until recently, the two lines of critique proceeded largely 
independently.  A few early editorials, however, noting the 
perceived ineffectiveness of the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, 
reasoned that they would be equally useless in Darfur (Sudan Vision, 
July 17).  An even earlier op-ed by Dr. Al-Tayeb Zein Al-Abdin of 
the Inter-Religious Council -- "Because of the U.S., No to UN 
Troops" (Al-Sahafa, July 6) - spotted another link:  because of a 
perceived U.S. bias towards Israel, which he found unfair, he was 
withdrawing his previous support for the U.S.-backed plan to bring 
UN peacekeepers to Darfur. 
 
Or more Organic Links 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  In a National Workers Day speech last week, however, al-Bashir 
suggested a more organic link between the two struggles, with the 
U.S. as the common enemy.  Bashir reiterated government opposition 
to UN troops in Darfur, Sudan's support for the Palestinian cause, 
and condemnation of U.S. support to Israel.  In addition, however, 
he was reported to consider "what is happening now in Darfur as an 
extension of an American Zionist plan to apply the experiment of 
Lebanon and Palestine in Sudan" (Sudan Tribune, Aug. 6). 
 
Nasrallah and Hezbollah as Models 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  A second speech at the Sudan Armed Forces 52nd Anniversary this 
week Al-Bashir also implied similarities, at least, with respect to 
the resistance struggles in Sudan and the Middle East: 
"President Al-Bashir commended the steadfastness of Hezbullah under 
the leadership of Nasrallah and hailed the struggle of the 
Palestinian peoples, affirming Sudan's solidarity with Lebanon and 
Palestine.  President Al-Bashir hailed the Armed Forces on the 
occasion of the Army Day, describing it as a symbol of the dignity 
of the people and protector of Sudan."  ("Al-Bashir reiterates 
rejection of Sudan to entry of international troops to Darfur under 
Chapter 6 and Chapter 7," SUNA, Aug. 15; also "Al-Bashir: We Will 
Defeat the International Troops as  Hassan Nasrallah Did with the 
Israeli Army," Al-Sahafa). 
¶6.  In a visit this week to the Wadi Halfa area in the far north, 
Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha reiterated these themes, 
hailing Sudan's rejection of international troops and describing the 
Sudanese people as "capable of miracles." 
"We will prepare rockets to amputate the hands of whoever assaults 
our country; we take Hizbullah as a model," he said (Alwan, Aug. 
16). 
 
And the U.S. the Common Enemy 
----------------------------- 
 
¶7.  In this new conjuncture, the views of a right-wing, anti-Western 
columnist such as Alfatih Ziada are sounding less unusual. "The UN 
has become an arm of the U.S. State Department," he writes, and the 
"military impotence and political bankruptcy" of the "conventional 
Arab governments" is now clear.  U.S. charges of Iranian backing to 
Hezbollah, he argues, are as baseless as were Powell's accusations 
against Iraq; events show the "falseness" of U.S. views "both in 
Lebanon and Darfur" ("The American Game," Sudan Vision, Aug. 15). 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00001981  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8.  In his editorial of Aug. 16, Ziada continued to weave 
connections.  "The best lesson learned from Lebanon by the Arab 
world and particularly Sudan," he argues, "is the unity of ranks 
against foreign intervention."  Despite their sectarian divisions, 
the Lebanese united against Israeli invasion.  In Sudan, however, 
some "secular politicians" and "moderate Muslims" (such as the Umma 
Party, "an out-of-wedlock baby of the West") voice support for 
foreign intervention.  And why does the U.S. call some armed groups 
"terrorists," he wonders, "while Darfur rebels enjoy U.S. support?" 
 
But Most Still Want the U.S. as a Friend 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  Despite this emerging discourse, pitting the Arab nation(s) 
against the West, the press remains the mirror of a wide variety of 
views.  Alongside scathing attacks on the U.S. role in the Middle 
East, one can find articles recognizing U.S.-Sudanese cooperation on 
the DPA (e.g., "Sudan, USA Agree to Boost Darfur Peace," Sudan 
Vision, Aug. 8), and calling for closer relations ("Al Sammani: 
Sudan Aspires for Direct Positive Relations with the USA," (Sudan 
Vision, Aug. 10).  Some articles have reported CDA Hume's efforts to 
work with Sudan, specifically for his meetings with Presidential 
Advisor Al-Khalifa ("Moves in the Right Direction," The Citizen, 
Aug. 9) and with President Al-Bashir ("Cameron Hume's Efforts:  Will 
they get Washington on the Right Track?" Al-Wihda, Aug. 14).  Many 
hope for improved relations, despite the crisis in the Middle East. 
 
 
HUME