VZCZCXRO9632
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1302/01 2401234
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271234Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1730
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001302 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON 
NSC FOR BPITTMAN AND CHUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: RIZEIGAT, MISSERIYA TRIBAL FIGHTING IN SOUTH DARFUR 
SUBSIDES, BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Fighting that began on August 20 between 
Misseriya and Rizeigat herders resulted in the deaths of more than 
60 people in South Darfur.  Misseriya elder Kamil Nimir downplayed 
the violence, characterizing it as a dispute over access to water 
that spiraled out of control due to the high-powered weaponry 
involved.  However, Mohammed Issa of the Rizeigat stated that such 
clashes over scarce water resources have occurred in the past and 
will continue unless a border is delineated between Misseriya and 
Rizeigat areas and secured by GOS military forces.  Although both 
report that the situation is now calm following the intervention by 
the GoS and tribal leaders, questions remain over the underlying 
causes.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) According to press reports, a clash between Arab Misseriya 
and Rizeigat tribesmen over access to water in South Darfur, left 67 
dead.  Both the Misseriya and the Rizeigat are semi-nomadic herdsman 
who dwell in Darfur and Southern Kordofan, and migrate south with 
their cattle to graze during the summer rainy season.  A local-USAID 
advisor reported that on August 20 a group of Rezeigat killed one 
Misseriya herder, whose companions retaliated by killing several 
Rezeigat.  Fighting escalated from there.  According to UNAMID on 
August 26, the latest GoS reports confirm that the incident took 
place at Umm-Hazura, about 36 km east of Abu Jabura in South Darfur, 
near a UNAMID Military Base.  18 from the Misseriya tribe were 
killed and 49 from the Rizeigat. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On August 25-26 Poloff spoke with Kamil Babo Nimir, a 
senior member of the Misseriya tribe, and Mohammed Issa, head of the 
Rizeigat Shura Council.  Nimir expressed alarm at the media 
portrayal of the events as a clash between the Misseriya and 
Rizeigat tribes.  "The Misseriya and the Rizeigat are brothers," he 
said, noting that the two have historically enjoyed good relations. 
He characterized the fighting as a clash between two isolated groups 
in a remote area.  He stated that an initial skirmish over grazing 
rights between several young tribesmen spiraled out of control due 
to the weaponry involved and lack of government intervention, as 
relatives of the dead sought revenge.  He claimed that the situation 
flamed out quickly and is now calm.  Nimir expressed hope for peace 
and reconciliation, noting that he had just returned from a meeting 
in the parliament called by National Assembly speaker Ahmed Ibrahim 
Al-Tahir in which tribal elders on both sides had reaffirmed their 
commitment to dialogue. 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Mohamed Issa of the Rizeigat Shura Council, 
however, the fighting near Abu Jabura was only the latest 
manifestation of the conflict between the Misseriya and Rizeigat 
over scarce water resources in the region.  Such clashes over have 
happened in the past, he said, and would continue to happen if there 
is no delineation of borders between Rizeigat and Misseriya areas. 
"I think it is very important to renew the borders" and create a 
buffer zone between the two tribes, he said. He stated that the 
border must be secured by GOS forces if future clashes are to be 
avoided.  He noted that with 50 people killed it was "very early -- 
and difficult -- to speak about reconciliation." 
 
¶5. (SBU) National Assembly Spokesperson Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir in a 
statement blamed "unnamed foreign elements" for instigating trouble 
between the Rizeigat and Misseriya tribes, and confirmed the GOS' 
efforts to reconcile the tribes in coordination with the states of 
Southern Kordofan and South Darfur, according to press reports. He 
added that a reconciliation conference will convene next month.  The 
USAID advisor reports that the conference, consisting of ten 
Misseriya representatives, ten Rizeigat, and six from the South 
Kordofan state government, will meet September 5. 
 
6 (SBU) Comment:  Many questions remain in the wake of last week's 
fighting.  While inter-tribal conflict is frequent and bloody across 
Sudan (at the same time as the Misseriya-Rizeigat battle, 13 died 
and 32 were wounded in a cattle raid in Jonglei state in south 
Sudan), the toll in this dispute was particularly high.  It also 
seems strange that the two groups clashed over water in the rainy 
season, when water is relatively plentiful.  The Misseriya and the 
Rizeigat share a common way of life and are traditional allies 
(Rizeigat volunteers rode to assist the Misseriya during the May 
fighting in Abyei).  Both have served in GoS' infamous Popular 
Defense Force militias, but in recent years have turned away from 
the NCP in large numbers and have permitted Darfurian rebels to pass 
through or operate in their territory.  Drawing a boundary to be 
policed by the GoS ought to be an anathema for the two nomadic 
groups.  The conflict may have begun as two marginalized groups 
driven to compete over Sudan's stressed resource base, but the push 
to create formal borders with the GoS in between smacks of 
Khartoum's effort to manipulate the situation to its advantage 
through "divide and rule." 
 
KHARTOUM 00001302  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
ASQUINO