VZCZCXRO7434
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1782 3191535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 151535Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9184
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001782 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI AU SU CD
 
SUBJECT: NOTHING NEW AT DEMONSTRATION IN EL FASHER 
 
¶1. (SBU) On November 14 El Fasher local broadcasting stations 
announced that there would be a November 15 student demonstration to 
condemn the attempt of the French organization Zoe's Ark to "abduct" 
Sudanese children from Chad.  UN agencies operating in El Fasher 
announced through their daily radio check that there would be a 
two-hour curfew in the morning between 0800 and 1000 during the 
demonstration period as a precautionary measure to protect staff and 
vehicles from any potential acts of violence or vandalism by 
demonstrators. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  On the morning of November 15, primary and secondary 
school students, chaperoned by their teachers, made their way 
haphazardly to the North Darfur Governorate Building, carrying 
banners and calling for an end to the "abuse and exploitation of 
Sudanese children."  The North Darfur Wali, Osman Mohamed Yousif 
Kibir, addressed the demonstration, speaking to the necessity of 
taking legal action action against Zoe's Ark workers and of 
reunifying the children with their families.  The demonstrators 
dispersed without incident at 1100 local time, and regular activity 
in the area (near the center of El Fasher town) resumed. 
 
¶3. (SBU) COMMENT.  The demonstration, like several before it in both 
El Fasher and Nyala, was acknowledged by locals as a 
Government-organized show intended to mobilize popular support for 
its campaign of discrediting the international NGO community in 
order to drive assistance providers from the IDP camps those 
organizations service and accordingly to compel returns.  END 
COMMENT.