VZCZCXRO6230
OO RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0582/01 1060554
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 160554Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6837
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA IMMEDIATE 0094
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT IMMEDIATE 0023
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI IMMEDIATE 0129

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000582 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF/SE NATSIOS AND IO 
SILVERBERG, NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2017 
TAGS: OVIP NEGROPONTE JOHN PREL MOPS PINR KPKO UN
AU-1, SU 
SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY'S VISIT TO EL FASHER, NORTH DARFUR 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00000582  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: CDA C. HUME, REASON: SECTION 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: On April 14, Deputy Secretary Negroponte 
travelled to El Fasher, the capital of the state of North 
Darfur. During his day-long visit, the Deputy Secretary met 
with U.S. military observers, UN personnel, IDP camp 
representatives, an African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) 
Colonel, the AMIS force commander and the wali of North 
Darfur (septel). The Deputy Secretary's discussions centered 
on the humanitarian, political and security situation in 
Darfur. 
 
---------------------- 
MEETING WITH US MILOBS 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Deputy Secretary met with two of the fourteen U.S. 
military observers currently assigned to AMIS camps in 
Darfur. The military observers described a generally 
succesful working relationsip with protection force patrols, 
evacuations, investigations and the ceasefire commissions. In 
response to the Deputy Secretary's request for a security 
assessment, the observers described the situation on the 
ground as volatile, with a serious lack of discipline among 
rebel movements. All sides are violating the DPA, they said, 
pointing to the recent incidents in Umm Baru and Sortoni as 
examples. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been sidelined 
during the past several months, in contrast to last year's 
more frequent clashes with rebel groups. 
 
--------------------------- 
UNMIS: ACCESS STILL LIMITED 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) In a follow-on briefing with United Nations Mission in 
Sudan (UNMIS) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian 
Assistance (OCHA) officials, the Deputy Secretary asked for 
an update on progress implementing the recent humanitarian 
access communique. Annamaria Laurini, UNMIS Head of Office, 
El Fasher, said that while it was too soon to make a real 
judgement, North Darfur had seen some slight improvements in 
access issues, while South and West Darfur had not. In North 
Darfur there had been a significant decrease in the number of 
NGO staff who were experiencing problems, she said, but those 
who were still without permits were all from the same 
organization (IRC). The conflict with Chad and the Arab 
tribal fighting in the south have also limited access to many 
vulnerable areas, she added, as have rebel groups who have 
prevented Sudanese government troops from coming into 
hard-to-reach areas. The Deputy Secretary asked how the 
international community could press the rebel groups to 
cooperate on access issues with the Sudanese governent. 
Laurini said that the AU/UN mediation team must be given a 
chance to succeed, and that the rebels need strong leadership 
figures on the gound. 
 
----------------------------------- 
IDPS: NEED SECURITY AS WELL AS FOOD 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) In a visit to the El Salaam IDP camp, the Deputy 
Secretary met with the camp coordinator and a group of umdas 
 
SIPDIS 
(traditional village heads). The camp coordinator noted that 
the camp had almost doubled in size during the past eight 
months because of fighting in northern areas of the state. 
The Deputy Secretary then asked to hear from the umdas 
themselves. The head umda's secretary began by thanking the 
donor community for food contributions, but said that what 
was really needed was security. He specifically mentioned the 
need for UN peacekeeping forces to assist the AU troops, 
saying that those who rejected the UN were criminals. 
 
¶5. (C) The deputy umda from the village of Jebel Si described 
in detail the Janjaweed attacks which destroyed his village 
last year, and said that the AU is not enough to resolve the 
problems in Darfur. The Deputy Secretary assured the group 
that the American people were aware of the tragic situation 
in Darfur, and said that the US government was committed to 
continuing humanitarian assitance for as long as necessary. 
The Deputy Secretary described the efforts underway to 
improve the security situation for Darfurians and to create a 
hybrid AU/UN peacekeeping force which would be comprised of 
mostly African forces operating under UN standards. The 
 
KHARTOUM 00000582  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Deputy Secretary highlighted the importance he personally 
attached to the issue, citing this as a reason for making his 
trip to Sudan a priority so early in his tenure. 
 
---------------------------- 
AMIS: MORE FORCES, EQUIPMENT 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) At the Sector 1 AMIS battalion headquarters in Zam 
Zam, the Deputy Secretary met with Rwandan sector commander 
Colonel E.K. Gasana who briefed him on AMIS operations in the 
area. Colonel Gasana also underscored the precarious nature 
of the security situation in Darfur. He desribed the 
difficulty of his mandate, which is to patrol with one 
batallion an area of over nine thousand square kilometers. He 
cited numerous operational challenges, including the presence 
of four armed groups in the area, lack of proper observation 
towers in the camps, troops who had not received salaries in 
more than four months and lack of communication resources. 
When asked by the Deputy Secretary to describe what he needed 
to be more effective, the colonel listed more forces and 
equipment relevant to the operating environment. 
 
¶7. (C) In a subsequent meeting with AMIS Force Commander 
Major General Luke Aprezi, the Deputy Secretary asked how the 
proposed heavy support package would be of use to the AU 
mission. Aprezi described the heavy support package as mostly 
logistics, while the hybrid force would be the phase that 
would actually empower AMIS since it would triple the number 
of batallions in each sector. Aprezi said that AMIS currently 
does not dominate the ground in the way it should, and so 
cannot see, and thus name, those who are committing ceasefire 
violations. Aprezi said that while AMIS presence on the 
ground has prevented people from carrying out "genocidal" 
acts, its current incarnation is insufficient. Aprezi also 
added that in the past month, he had lost nine men. (Note: 
Another AMIS civpol advisor was killed the evening of April 
14 behind the El Fasher headquarters; the assailants' 
identity is unknown. End note.) 
 
¶8. (C) The Deputy Secretary asked Aprezi whether there had 
been better identification of ceasefire violators since AMIS 
deployed to Darfur. Aprezi said that proving guilt is 
difficult, and raised an August 2006 incident in which AMIS 
vehicles were hijacked and because of the lack of checkpoints 
it was impossible to track the attackers. The Deputy 
Secretary asked Aprezi to comment on the Sudanese 
 
SIPDIS 
government's objection to including attack helicopters in the 
heavy support package. Aprezi said that the Sudanese 
government incorrectly believed that the helicopters would be 
used against them rather than in support of peacekeeping 
operations. 
 
¶9. (C) In reference to the command arrangement for a hybrid 
force, the Deputy Secretary pointed out that the USG wouldn't 
adjust its own position to the point where the forces would 
lose their effectiveness. Aprezi agreed, but noted that that 
there are no facilities for the currently deployed UN troops. 
UN security standards exceeded those of the AU, he said, and 
there still was no agreement on security conditions for 
living quarters. When asked about the timeline for AMIS camp 
expansion in order to accomodate new troops once a hybrid 
force is deployed, Aprezi said it depended on PAE capacity's 
to build. When asked for an AU opinion on any command 
relationship with a hybrid force, Aprezi said that this 
hadn't been discussed. He said that while the Sudanese 
government's position was clear, the position of the AU/UN 
still is not. No new force commander will come in until both 
parties agree on what they want, he said. 
 
¶10. (C) Participants: 
 
The Deputy Secretary 
Jendayi E. Frazer, A/S for African Affairs 
Cameron Hume, Charge d,Affairs 
Bobby Pittman, Senior Director for Africa, National Security 
Council 
Roberto Powers, Deputy Chief of Mission 
Colonel Dennis Giddens, DoD advisor 
Lt. Col. Joe Bovy, Defense Liaison Office 
Mike Holshey, Regional Affairs Office 
Bill Garvelink, USAID advisor 
Erna Kerst, USAID Mission Director 
 
KHARTOUM 00000582  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Gustavo Delgado, D staff 
Ted Wittenstein, D staff 
Nina Behrens, interpreter 
Ronda Capeles, Executive Secretariat 
Oumar M'bareck, USAID 
Jennifer Larson (notetaker) 
 
Other: 
Ken Jones, U.S. MilOb 
 
Cliff Kinnebrew, U.S. MilOb 
 
Annamaria Laurini, UNMIS Head of Office, El Fasher 
 
Willie Harrison, UNMIS Security Coordinator 
 
Paul Thomas, OCHA, El Fasher 
 
Jane Lewis, Camp Coordinator, El Salaam IDP camp 
 
Colonel E.K. Gasana, Sector Commander, Zam Zam (Rwanda) 
 
Major General Luke Aprezi, AMIS Force Commander (Nigeria) 
HUME