VZCZCXRO5146
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0448 0861430
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261430Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0313
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000448 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: ALLEGED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST LAM AKOL DEBUNKED 
¶1. (SBU) An accidental encounter between cattle-rustlers and a 
motorcade convoy belonging to former Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam 
Akol has sparked a press battle of conspiracy theories and alleged 
 
assassination plots.  Media spin to date has cleaved along "true 
SPLM" and "former SPLM" lines, with ousted party member (and former 
GNU minister) Telar Deng actively asserting an attempt was made on 
Lam Akol's life.  No such theory has been borne out as a result of 
NISS, UNMIS, or SPLA inquiries to date, although the story continues 
to get media play given its "convenient fit" with the internal 
politics of Upper Nile State.  SPLM leaders dismiss any 
characterization of the incident as an "attack," and posit this is 
nothing more than Akol trying to generate the state's sympathy vote. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Akol, a rival of SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum an "NCP 
turncoat" fighting for his political life within the SPLM, skipped 
the Interim Political Bureau meeting in Juba to personally campaign 
for the selection of delegates representing his wing of the party 
during Boma-level and county-level SPLM congresses in Upper Nile 
state this past weekend.  His multi-car convoy came under fire as it 
traveled southeast from Malakal to Mamoajak, although it appears 
that Akol was not traveling with the convoy when it was attacked. 
Two members of the traveling party were killed instantly and a third 
succumbed to his wounds one day later. The convoy was carrying 
delegates loyal to Lam Akol to county-level party congresses outside 
of the state capital.  Both the NISS and the SPLA had officers in 
the convoy, and NISS/Juba and the SPLA later confirmed to ConGen 
staff that they lost officers during the attack. 
¶3. (SJU) agan!Amum told"CgnGe stagv"Marcl`24 |hatDam A{ol*rexmrxdhy tohQSQLB`Eaff,of"3d`fh!OymcQgg'Afk%4| :M QaqxjxQQQkn$4lsjw.kb)r`hlQ.Yi,n(pqmC*t-x,7ae, 1hoQDQZ.axQeTbQt the woman had made "vigorous 
attempts" to warn Akol's staffers about "large numbers of cattle and 
men on the road ahead, and the potential dangers."   NISS/Juba told 
ConGen staff on March 25 that they were skeptical of the 
assassination claim, noting that the former minister's travel 
schedule "would not have been something well known." UNMIS officials 
in Malakal, to include UN DSS, told ConGen PolOff they believe the 
incident was "purely accidental." 
¶4. (SBU) Strong skepticism by observers and the SPLM alike has not 
dampened Akol's or Telar Deng's enthusiasm for fueling sensational 
reports.  Akol has since claimed publicly that he was in the car, 
and has named Amum and Upper Nile author and GNU Council of States 
member Peter Aduok Nyaba as complicit in the attack.  Nyaba laughed 
when queried about the claim, "Lam is orchestrating his political 
death on his own, why would I participate in his physical one?" 
Upper Nile State will send 71 delegates to the SPLM National 
Convention in May, 40 of which will be chosen through balloting 
during county-level congresses.  Pagan Amum told ConGen staff March 
25 that Akol had failed to place any of his faction's adherents into 
county-level Chairman slots.  Akol's delegates subsequently walked 
out of three different county conventions when their attempts 
failed. 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: Lam Akol has been conspiring and successfully 
maneuvering divisions within the Shilluk Kingdom in Upper Nile state 
since his ouster from Khartoum politics.  The former minister's 
setbacks during this past weekend's county-level congresses, 
however, appear to have been mitigated by a precipitous, accidental 
encounter with cattle rustlers that he will undoubtedly continue to 
play up through the May SPLM National Convention. 
FERNANDEZ