VZCZCXRO2024
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0983 1721431
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 211431Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7681
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 000983 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/SPG, EB 
PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR AFR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2017 
TAGS: PINS PHUM PAO SCUL KDEM PGOV PREL SU
SUBJECT: KAJBAR VIDEO SYMBOLIZES SUFFERING OF DARFUR AND 
THE SUDANESE PEOPLE AS A WHOLE 
 
REF: A. KHARTOUM 711 
     ¶B. KHARTOUM 968 
 
Classified By: CDA Fernandez, for reasons 1.4 (a) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  On June 14, police killed four 
demonstrators protesting the construction of a dam near 
Kajbar (reftel) .  Several days later, a ten minute video of 
the dead and wounded from Kajbar appeared on the Internet. On 
June 20, in the Sudanese independent daily "Al-Ayaam," 
Murtadi Al-Ghali, a professor of journalism at the University 
of Khartoum, reflected on watching the Kajbar video, 
comparing the documented images from Kajbar to the unseen 
atrocities in Darfur.  Unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, videos 
documenting battle scenes or the resulting dead or wounded 
rarely originate from Sudan.  Although the Kajbar incident 
may have resulted in few casualties, the video may become a 
symbol for the suffering of the Sudanese people and the 
brutality of their government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) On June 19, video footage of the dead and 
hospitalized from Kajbar appeared on the popular video 
sharing site "YouTube."  The video provides footage of 
corpses with gunshot wounds to heads, bullets removed from 
bodies, bleeding survivors, and onlookers vowing revenge and 
claiming that the dead were shot from behind.  Preliminary 
analysis from locally engaged staff indicates that the video 
is authentic and corresponds to the incident in Kajbar. 
 
¶3.  (U) On June 20, in his regular back page column, "The 
Issue," Murtadi Al-Ghali reflects on the themes of 
occupation, emigration, and martyrdom while watching the 
Kajbar video with several colleagues.  (Note:  Although he 
does not name the video or its original website, Ghali's 
description of the film corresponds to the YouTube video. 
The link for this video has been sent to the Sudan Programs 
Group. End note.)  Ghali describes the experience as creating 
"one of the worst days that I've ever experienced."  Upon 
seeing the bloodshed, one of Ghali's colleagues states that 
Sudan is still under occupation.  Ghali then writes that the 
image of one young boy's corpse from Kajbar reminds him of a 
famous image of a martyred Palestinian youth.  He then states 
that the image of the Sudanese boy is even more painful and 
tragic than that of the Palestinian.  Another colleague 
asserts that viewing the film makes him want to emigrate. 
Ghali then infers that the video provides proof that the 
protests were nonviolent.  He argues that no family would 
knowingly take its young son to a violent protest.  He 
poetically describes the innocence of the boy, the pain of 
the family, and the need for justice. 
 
¶4. (U)  Ghali ends his column comparing the Kajbar tragedy to 
Darfur.  He writes, "We have learned from this misfortune the 
depth of the Darfur tragedy, and the depth of cruelty of the 
Sudanese reality that we live in from painful moment to 
painful moment."  He calls for accountability for those who 
instigated the violence, and for all who perpetrated the 
crimes to watch the film and remember the images of the dead. 
 
 
¶5.  (C) COMMENT:  In this column, Ghali touches upon many 
sensitive themes for the Arabic speaking world including 
occupation, emigration, and Palestinian suffering.  What is 
exceptional is not the issues in and of themselves, but the 
fact that Ghali uses them not to condemn the West, but his 
own government.  In another rare rhetorical move, Ghali also 
argues that the suffering of the Sudanese people, as embodied 
in one Sudanese boy, is greater than that of the 
Palestinians.  When compared to other issues facing Sudan, 
the four casualties and overall Kajbar dam issue may at first 
appear to be minor or insignificant.  Nonetheless, the power 
of this video to symbolize the suffering of the Sudanese 
people and the brutality of its government may resonate for 
weeks to come.  END COMMENT. 
 
FERNANDEZ