VZCZCXRO4005
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKM #0883/01 1431011
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231011Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8804
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 000883 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UG SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT: KAMPALA-BASED DARFUR 
REBELS ON RECONCILIATION 
 
REF: SMALL-FITZGIBBON TELECON 05/18/07 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) 
faction tied to Ahmed Abdelshafi, based in Kampala, wants a 
reconciliation conference among the various SLM factions. 
Abdelshafi is expected back in Kampala in the next week.  His 
faction claims to have assumed Abdelwahid El-Nur's leadership 
mantle.  SLM-Abdelshafi has been contacted by San Egidio, 
which proposed a meeting in Rome of seven factions. 
Abdelshafi's group opposes San Egidio's plan because it 
disagrees on the factions that have been identified. 
Instead, SLM-Abdelshafi prefers a conference hosted by a 
different organization.  Members of the faction are now in 
communication with Chadian-based SLM elements and with 
Sudanese Senior Special Assistant to the President Minni 
Minnawi.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  At the request of the Sudan Program Group, on May 
19, P/E Chief met with eight members of Ahmed Abdelshafi's 
faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) based in 
Kampala.  Beginning in November 2006, Abdelshafi and members 
of his group relocated from Asmara, Eritrea.  Some of the 
others in Kampala include: Abakar Abubashar, who chaired the 
Wealth-sharing Commission at the Abuja Peace Talks, Nouri 
Abdullah (one of two Canadians who had advised SLM leader 
Abdelwahid El-Nur), Mustafa Eisa, Ahmed Siraj, and Karuke 
Ismail Suleiman.  Abdelshafi, currently in Jebel Marra, told 
P/E Chief he would return to Kampala within a week. 
Abdelshafi is a Ugandan passport holder.  The group is 
staying at the Millennium Hotel, owned by Ugandan Minister of 
State for Labor Mwesigwa Rukuntana.  The Ugandan Government 
is aware of the presence of the SLM faction in Kampala and 
has made contact with its members. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The SLM-Abdelshafi faction initially believed that 
the holding of a field commanders' conference would be the 
first step in unifying the movement.  The conference failed 
to take off for a number of reasons.  According to Abakar 
Abubashar and Nouri Abdullah, Justice and Equality Movement 
(JEM) meddling and Government attacks on SLM had made it 
difficult to bring the military commanders together.  In the 
absence of a field commanders' conference, Abdelshafi's 
faction said the next best alternative was to have a meeting 
of the various political players within the SLM.  Abdelshafi 
proposed a leadership structure be developed to focus the 
various faction leaders' attention on making the SLM a viable 
institution that was not based on personalities and personal 
allegiances.  The participation of key military commanders 
may be needed at some point, but most factions were reluctant 
to pull their commanders out of the field for fear of a 
Government attack.  After creating a unified structure, 
Abubashar said that discussion of the "outstanding issues" on 
the Darfur Peace Agreement could be addressed.  He stated the 
key issue for Abdelshafi is more representation and powers 
for the Darfur region.  Compensation issues could be worked 
out, but would need to be better explained to the Darfurian 
population. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  San Egidio had contacted the group last week 
regarding the possibility of holding a conference of the 
various SLM factions in Rome.  Abubashar and Abdullah took 
exception to San Egidio's analysis that there were seven SLM 
factions that needed to be reconciled, complaining that some 
of the "factions" consisted of only one or two persons. 
SLM-Abdelshafi members see three factions that need to be 
brought together: Chad-based and funded Khamis Abudulla's 
group which includes Adam Shogar, Adam Bahkit, and Sharif 
Harir; Ahmed Abdelshafi, who claims contol of 65 percent of 
the field commanders; and Abdelwahid El-Nur, who is in 
France.  Abdelshafi's group described Abdelwahid's group as a 
three-person operation: Abdelwahid, Abdullah Ahmed-Deen, and 
Jafar Munro, his spokesman.  Abubashar said that Abdelwahid 
commands little or no authority within SLM but he would need 
to be included, but not as SLM's leader. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Abdelshafi's group also had been contacted by 
Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) about the 
possibility of a reconciliation conference in Juba.  The 
group still has strong contacts with SPLM members, largely a 
carry-over from its close relationship with Dr. John Garang. 
However, Abdullah said that the SPLM cannot be completely 
trusted after the hard line the SPLM's members of the 
Government of Sudan's delegation took at the Abuja Peace 
Talks.  Abdelshafi's groups would go to Juba if there were no 
other alternatives. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Comment: P/E Chief put the Abdelshafi faction in 
touch with members of Khamis Abdulla's group in N'Djamena. It 
had been almost a year since the rank-and-file members of the 
various factions had spoken with each other. They now have 
exchanged telephone numbers and promised regular contact. 
 
KAMPALA 00000883  002 OF 002 
 
 
P/E Chief also put Abubashar and Abdullah on the telephone 
with Senior Special Advisor Minni Minnawi.  Minni appeared 
genuinely happy to hear from them and they discussed Darfur 
Peace Agreement (DPA)-related issues for about fifteen 
minutes.  P/E Chief encouraged Abdelshafi's group to put its 
positions on outstanding DPA issues in writing. 
CHRITTON