VZCZCXRO6356
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1205 2211040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081040Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1554
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001205 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON 
NSC FOR BPITTMAN AND CHUDSON 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO KPAO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: NEWSPAPER HOSTS AN ICC DEBATE: SAME STUFF, DIFFERENT WAY 
 
¶1. (U) On August 6, the Khartoum-based Sudan Vision newspaper hosted 
an event regarding the recent actions by the International Criminal 
Court (ICC) entitled "Ocampo's Allegations: International Justice or 
Colonial Agendas."  While the event seemed to promise a forum that 
would explore multiple perspectives on the ICC's recent actions, in 
the end it predictably lapsed into a one-sided denunciation of 
"hypocrisy by the West." 
 
¶2. (U) On August 6, APAO and Media Assistant were welcomed into the 
offices of the English-language, pro-National Congress Party (NCP) 
newspaper Sudan Vision.  In private, the Editor-in-Chief of the 
paper, Saif Adeen al-Bashir, appeared very pro-American, speaking at 
length about how much he respected American volunteerism.  He also 
showed a great amount of enthusiasm for federalism, which he sees as 
"a source of many of Sudan's problems."  Al-Bashir, a 2006 
International Visitor Leadership Program alumnus, spoke fondly of 
his time spent in Nebraska, where he "experienced the concept of 
federalism firsthand" and "could not believe that important, 
educated people there had never been to Washington DC." 
 
¶3. (U) The mood of the day changed dramatically, however, as soon as 
the press event began.  Al-Bashir introduced Dr. Khalid Hussein as 
an "expert on international law" and the head of the Sudanese 
Council for Research.  Local reporters made up most of the press 
event's audience.  Dr. Hussein spoke for about 90 minutes on why 
"the ICC's actions are illegal."  Using specific legal jargon, he 
outlined why the ICC's recent actions were "wrong," highlighting a 
myriad of individual clauses in the Rome Statute.  The only mentions 
of the United States occurred when he said the U.S. was "adamant 
that only signatories would be under the ICC's jurisdiction," and 
that it was "worried that the statute would include our troops." 
But every argument Hussein made pointed to the same conclusion: the 
ICC's allegations were "politically motivated and illegal."  He 
ended his talk by saying "Ocampo can eat his allegations and suck on 
them." 
 
¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Though there was the vague promise of a "forum" 
presenting multiple perspectives on the recent actions by the ICC, 
this press event turned out to be a mouthpiece for NCP rebuttal. 
Predictably, the NCP and its supporters are not above perverting a 
debate on the issue into a one-sided condemnation against the West. 
 
FERNANDEZ