VZCZCXRO6442
PP RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0543 0991431
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081431Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0504
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000543 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF S/E WILLIAMSON, AF/SPG 
NSC FOR HUDSON AND PITTMAN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO UN SU
SUBJECT: UNMIS GRANTED 14-DAY AUTHORITY TO PATROL OUTSIDE OF ABYEI 
 
 
REFS: A. KHARTOUM 508 
¶B. KHARTOUM 524 
 
¶1.  (U) On April 7, UNMIS Force Commander LTG Jasbiri Singh Lidder 
announced that both Sudan's National Congress Party (NCP) and the 
Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) have granted UNMIS 
Authority to patrol freely within the Abyei area for 14 days. 
Previously, UNMIS had been restricted to the town of Abyei by both 
SAF and SPLA checkpoints on its outskirts and unable to patrol the 
surrounding countryside.  UNMIS now will be able to monitor and 
report on any troop deployments throughout the Abyei region. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Tensions have been rising in Abyei since the SPLM's 
unilateral appointment of Edward Lino as SPLM Coordinator/Abyei 
"Administrator."  They sharply increased when Lino arrived in town 
with a company-sized SPLA force and delivered an anti-Miseriyya 
address to the Ngok Dinka community.  They escalated further when 
the SAF responded by deploying a reportedly-330 man force to the 
town on March 31.  There have been widespread, but unconfirmed, 
rumors of an even larger SAF troop buildup to the north of Abyei 
town and additional SPLA units moving into the area. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) COMMENT: During his April 2-3 visit to Abyei (refs), a 
variety of contacts told CDA Fernandez that the greatest immediate 
threat of violence stemmed from unsubstantiated rumors of ethnic 
violence following the SPLA and SAF troop deployments and the 
growing anxiety among the population.  It is too early to determine 
whether UNMIS will have the open access LTG Lidder claims, since 
local commanders often restrict movement despite clearances given in 
Khartoum.  However if UNMIS is able to exercise its new authority, 
even if only temporarily, it will provide a new measure of 
transparency to the region's security situation and a check on 
public hysteria. This will be even more significant if the two sides 
fail on April 9, once again, to achieve a compromise on the troubled 
region's borders. 
 
FERNANDEZ