VZCZCXRO2017
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2560 3001017
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271017Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5034
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 002560 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR AF/SPG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MCAP SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN:  ALLEGED SAF ATTACKS OUTSIDE OF JUBA 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) 
sources say they have arrested 16 persons in connection with 
alleged Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)-related attacks near 
Juba that killed over 40 people in the last week.  The 
Secretary General of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation 
 
SIPDIS 
Movement (SPLM) publicly accused the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) 
of fomenting the violence.  Other Government of Southern 
Sudan (GoSS) and SPLA officials acknowledge that the LRA 
played a role in the recent violence, but increasingly point 
to SAF.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
SPLA Arrests 16 Suspects 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) SPLA troops deployed in the village of Gumbo, just 
across the Nile from Juba, and arrested sixteen persons 
October 21.  According to several GoSS officials, the 
detainees participated in two nights of violence in Gumbo 
that left 5-10 people dead.  Some asserted that the detainees 
were also responsible for other attacks in the Juba region 
that left a total of over 40 people dead. 
 
¶3. (SBU) All but one of those detained was Sudanese, 
according to a government source, and none were ethnic 
Acholi.  Although the majority of LRA captives and combatants 
are ethnic Acholi from Uganda, their ranks also include 
Sudanese and Ugandans of other ethnicities.  Some of the 
detainees, who reportedly were all picked up in the vicinity 
of Gumbo, were said to hold SAF identification cards.  A 
senior government official offered to show us the 
identification card and a "SAF uniform" from one of the 
detainees.  The sole female detainee, described by one 
official as a "captive," was released October 21. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Eyewitnesses to some of the attacks say they were 
carried out by males and females in dreadlocks and shabby 
clothing.  Others saw attackers in combat fatigues.  The 
detainees picked up in Gumbo are all clean-shaven, according 
to a journalist who saw them.  Others familiar with the 
situation in Gumbo said the SPLA had used heavy-handed 
tactics in searching the area and questioning residents.  The 
detainees include a local chief and his son, who was 
reportedly wearing fatigues.  Guns were found in the chief's 
house.  Both guns and fatigues are not uncommon in the area. 
Journalists have pressed the GoSS to issue a definitive 
statement about who carried out the spate of attacks. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Both the political and military leadership of the 
GoSS have been in protracted internal consultations about how 
to respond to the violence.  While GoSS sources assert 
privately that both the LRA and the SAF had a role in the 
recent events, CG Juba has only heard one official accuse the 
SAF publicly, Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) 
Secretary General Pagan Amum, who made the charge in remarks 
 
SIPDIS 
broadcast over FM radio in Juba. 
 
-------------------------- 
Transportation Interrupted 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Road transportation from Juba to Kenya and Uganda 
along routes east of the Nile remained all but shut down 
October 21 because of the recent attacks.  SPLA convoys 
reportedly escorted several vehicles along the Juba-Nimule 
road.  Officials also shut down air traffic in and out of 
Juba's airport for the Museveni visit (septel).  Museveni 
sent his presidential plane to Juba, but traveled separately 
in a helicopter.  He was also accompanied by three Ugandan 
helicopter gunships. 
POWERS