VZCZCXRO0456
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0997/01 1881524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 061524Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1240
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000997 
 
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: SLOW, INCREMENTAL PROGRESS IN ABYEI 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The CPA parties met in Juba the weekend of July 
4/5 to address remaining questions on the Abyei roadmap, including 
the arbitration mechanism and the interim administration.  An 
additional document on the arbitration will likely be presented to 
the GNU Presidency this week, to which State/L advisor Sanford 
provided input.  However, the parties did not make any progress on 
naming an interim administration and remain stuck on the question of 
whether a Misseriya should be named to the Deputy Administrator 
position.  SAF 31st brigade made some small steps toward departing 
Abyei town July 4-6, although the redeployment is far from complete. 
End summary. 
 
ARBITRATION MECHANISM 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) SPLM Minister for Presidential Affairs Luka Biong Deng met 
with the Consul General and Christina Sanford, State Department 
Legal Counsel, to discuss the arbitration agreement.  Biong Deng 
expects the final arbitration protocol to be signed later this week. 
 Deng shared with ConGen and Sanford the latest version of the Abyei 
Arbitration Protocol, which was to be signed later this week in 
Khartoum although delays in the interim administration (see below) 
might delay this.  In reviewing the document, Sanford suggested 
several changes to clarify and refine the protocol.  Biong Deng was 
grateful for the advice and indicated he welcomed continuing US 
participation and advice on helping them to manage the process. 
 
INTERIM ADMINISTRATION 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) NCP negotiators Yahia Bebiker and Dirdeiry Ahmed Mohammed 
told polchief July 6 that negotiations in Juba over the weekend 
regarding Abyei were "deadlocked."  State Minister of Humanitarian 
Affairs (and ICC indictee) Ahmed Haroun, Dirdeiry, and Bebiker spent 
the weekend negotiating with SPLM representatives Deng Alor (GNU 
Foreign Minister), Biong Deng, and northern sector SG Yasir Arman. 
Deng Alor and Ahmed Haroun reportedly spent almost an entire night 
negotiating on the issue but were not able to reach a compromise. 
Dirdeiry said the NCP position is that the deputy should be a 
Misseriya, given that there are some Misseriya villages within the 
interim Abyei borders.  He said that based on the agreement between 
the parties, the only criteria for the Abyei interim leadership is 
that they should be from the area and should not have been directly 
involved in the fighting.  Biong Deng indicated to CG that the 
interim administrator would not now be SPLA General Arop Mayak, as 
reported by others in the SPLM earlier, but he declined to name who 
he thought it would be.  The issue would be settled later this week, 
he said, when Kiir met with Bashir in Khartoum.  (Note: Biong Deng 
later clarified that Kiir might not travel to Khartoum this week due 
to illness, and negotiators from the NCP confirmed that due to the 
impasse on the interim administration, Kiir would likely remain in 
Juba. End note.) 
 
SAF BEGINS REDEPLOYMENT OF 31ST BRIGADE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to reports from UNMIS, the SAF 31st brigade began 
tentatively redeploying out of Abyei town on July 4.  Several units 
reportedly redeployed to Difra July 4 and continued to Muglad July 
¶5.  UNMIS observers in Abyei reported July 7 that several SAF 
companies were still in the town but appeared to be packing up their 
equipment and preparing to leave.  At SRSG Qazi's meeting with 
President Bashir last week, Bashir reportedly said he was committed 
to fully withdrawing the entire brigade from Abyei.  Regarding the 
deployment of police, Biong Deng indicated that the NCP had moved 
its own police force into Abyei, but that the SPLM had asked them to 
leave.  The new Abyei police force of about 700 individuals was due 
to start arriving July 7, to be largely composed of people from the 
Abyei region, and the chief of this force was to be a half brother 
of Minister Biong Deng. 
 
PRESSURE FOR IDPS TO MOVE 
------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Biong Deng decried the lack of assistance the IDPs are 
receiving in helping them return to their homes.  Their most 
pressing need is temporary shelters and basic household utensils 
that will allow them to return to Abyei and live until their homes 
can be rebuilt.  He claimed the UN and the international community 
are not doing enough, at this time, to provide these items. Embassy 
will set up a meeting with Biong Deng and USAID to inform him of USG 
support to date for Abyei. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The decision to move the SAF out of Abyei is a very 
 
KHARTOUM 00000997  002 OF 002 
 
 
positive development and we will be watching closely to see if the 
entire brigade redeploys to Muglad and stays out of the disputed 
region.  The lack of progress on the interim administration is not a 
surprise, but given the ethnic dimension this issue must not be 
allowed to fester.  The parties should consider creative solutions 
such as rotating the deputy or even creating two deputy slots so 
they can move beyond this potentially destabilizing impasse. 
Although there are almost no Misseriya within the borders of Abyei, 
and in their comments to us the Misseriya have not identified the 
deputy administrator position as a make-or-break issue, the SPLM 
must find a way to ensure that Misseriya interests (primarily 
migration and development concerns) are represented.  Regarding the 
Abyei IDPs, it is critical that they not be pushed to return until 
is it safe to do so; we will continue to pass that message to the 
SPLM. 
 
FERNANDEZ