VZCZCXRO6992
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0075 0201147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201147Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9732
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000075 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS, AF SE WILLIAMSON 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: SPLM HOLDS FOUR-DAY CPA CELEBRATION IN WAU 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) The GoSS pulled out all the stops to hold its own 
celebrations of the third anniversary of the signing of the CPA, 
with a four-day celebration in the southern city of Wau from January 
13 to 16 that included cultural events, speeches, sports 
competitions and parades.  By holding the celebration in Wau, and 
moving almost the entire senior leadership there for the event, the 
GoSS intended to show that this is not a Juba-centric government, 
but one that represents all the regions of the south.  On January 
14, the GoSS flew the entire diplomatic community and many of the 
NGOs in Juba to Wau for the day so they could attend GoSS President 
Salva Kiir's address to the people.  Although the SPLM participated 
in the low-key CPA events held in Khartoum on January 9 (there were 
no public events in Khartoum, and none to which the diplomatic 
community was invited) the events in Wau were the primary focus of 
the SPLM and the GoSS. 
 
¶2. (SBU) GoSS President Kiir delivered his speech at the Wau soccer 
stadium.  This was preceded by parades and speeches by others, 
including Vice President Taha, the only member of the NCP present 
for the event.  Taha spoke only in Arabic, the only speaker to do 
so.  Taha's address outlined the benefits the CPA has brought, as 
well as its potential to allow the people of the Sudan to live 
together in a "new Sudan" with prosperity for all.  Kiir's address 
followed.  On the one hand, he praised the CPA and extolled the 
fruits of peace and the benefits of increasing development and 
prosperity made possible by peace.  On the other hand, he advised 
the GOS that the southern commitment to unity was "conditional" and 
that the enemies of peace intent on stirring up trouble should not 
"overplay your hand." 
 
¶4. (SBU) While citing the large income that the GoSS receives from 
oil sharing with the north, Kiir pointedly asserted that southern 
Sudan on a per capita basis gets far less than the north.  He 
complained that he had inherited a corrupt civil service in 2005, 
but that he would not tolerate further corruption and would work to 
stamp it out.  He warned that the challenges for the South are 
enormous, and that mistakes will inevitably be made, but he promised 
progress on all fronts including health care, education, 
development, and road building. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Kiir went on to discuss specific outstanding problems with 
the CPA.  At the top of the list was the demarcation of the border 
in Abyei, which he said must be settled in 2008.  The 2009 
elections, he maintained, would also present a major test of the 
CPA.  All parties must participate in the elections, but he said 
Sudan needs to learn a lesson from Kenya and avoid the violence that 
marked elections there. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In a warning to the North, Kiir plainly stated that the 
GoSS commitment to the unity of the Sudan was conditional and it was 
"up to the north, not to us."  "They must make unity attractive, 
because the people of the south preserved the right to 
self-determination in 2011."  There are, he said, sworn enemies to 
the peace who are currently stirring up problems on the border. 
"Don't overplay your hand," he pointedly warned them, by fighting 
proxy wars on the border.  He called for continued vigilance and 
pressure by the international community to keep the CPA on track. 
Without such pressure in the first place, he said the CPA would 
never have been signed in the first place. 
 
¶7. (SBU) On Darfur, the GoSS supported the hybrid force deployment 
and Kiir promised that 2008, with GoSS assistance, would be the year 
that peace comes to that troubled region.  Finally, Kiir stated that 
the GoSS is committed to devoting 2 percent of its oil revenue to 
assist the "marginalized peoples" of the Sudan. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment: On the whole, the tone of the speech was upbeat 
about the future of the south, but full of warnings to the north 
about the limits of southern patience.  Of particular note was the 
public commitment to use 2 percent of GoSS oil revenues to court the 
marginalized peoples of the Sudan, which seemed to indicate that 
Kiir's strategy for the 2009 elections will be to run against the 
NCP in alliance with the other marginalized peoples of the Sudan. 
Or conversely, in typical Sudanese style it could also have been an 
opening bargaining ploy to pressure the NCP to meet SPLM demands on 
border demarcation and other issues in return for not running 
against the NCP.  At this point, the SPLM intends to keep its 
options open. 
 
FERNANDEZ