VZCZCXRO1479
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1007 1900517
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 080517Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1257
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001007 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, A/S FRAZER, 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: ADMINISTRATOR FOR ABYEI STILL TO BE DETERMINED 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Consul General Juba paid an office call on Arop 
Moyak Monytoc, Chairman of the Southern Sudan DDR Commission and 
potential new Abyei Administrator.  Moyak confirmed that GOSS 
President Salva Kiir had called him to discuss his willingness to 
take on the job, but indicated that it had not yet actually been 
offered to him.  Moyak himself said he favored the selection of 
incumbent Edward Lino for the position, although he told Kiir he 
would accept the appointment if offered.  He further said that it 
was not the NCP who opposed Lino, that there is bad blood between 
Kiir and Lino, and that many in the SPLM, with the exception of 
Moyak himself and FM Deng Alor, are opposed to a Lino appointment. 
End Summary 
 
¶2. (SBU) On July 7 ConGen met with SSDDRC Chairman Arop Moyak 
Monytoc to discuss the rumor that he might be named the new 
Administrator for Abyei.  Moyak confirmed that GOSS President Kiir 
had called him to discuss the job, but he had not actually been 
offered it yet. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Moyak described the Administrator's position as a difficult 
challenge.  Originally from Abyei himself, he said the people there 
are losing confidence in the CPA, and they felt the GOSS had let 
them down.  In addition, "UNMIS has no teeth and no one recognizes 
their authority."  Critical to turning this situation around, he 
said, is reestablishing security in Abyei.  The SPLA is already 
almost entirely out of the region, and the SAF is slowly starting to 
leave.  Before an Administrator could take up his role, however, the 
SAF had to finish their evacuation and the town needed to be 
demined. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Asked about the possibility of a Misseriya taking on the 
Deputy Administrator slot, Moyak answered emphatically that was not 
possible.  "They are not a part of Abyei," he said.  "None of them 
are native to Abyei."  There were many Arab traders with long 
standing ties to the town, whose children had been born there, and 
they were welcome to participate in the community and the 
government.  The Misseriya were not, although they were welcome to 
continue to drive their cattle through the region unmolested, as 
they had always done, on the way to their seasonal grazing fields to 
the south. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Moyak continued that he was by no means the only candidate 
for the Administrator's position.  Edward Lino was still in the 
running, and he, Moyak, personally supported his selection.  He said 
he had suggested him to Kiir, but that Lino was now unpopular in the 
region and with many in the SPLM because it was thought he had 
created the situation that led to the fighting in May.  Further, he 
said that there was bad blood between Lino and Kiir, he was not sure 
why, but he thought it went back to something that had happened 
between them many years before.  It was only the intervention of FM 
Deng Alor that had convinced Kiir to make Lino the Administrator for 
Abyei previously.  He (Moyak) and Deng Alor still do support his 
selection, however, Moyak said. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: We have heard previously that Lino had lost favor 
in the SPLM.  Although Moyak would seem to be a natural choice to 
replace him in Abyei, Presidential Minister Luka Biong Deng just two 
days ago indicated that he did not believe Moyak would get the nod. 
Given FM Alor's advocacy for Lino, there appears to be a struggle in 
the SPLM itself over who to choose that could be more bruising than 
any difference with the NCP over the subject.  However, if an 
Administrator is not selected soon, the Abyei Road Map Agreement 
schedule will slip dangerously further than it already has, 
increasing the potential for near term conflict.  We will continue 
to encourage the parties to seek creative solutions to this impasse 
on the question of the Abyei deputy administrator. 
 
FERNANDEZ