VZCZCXRO5971
PP RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0282/01 0601016
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011016Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3114
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000282 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, AF/SPG, AF/C, NSC FOR 
MGAVIN AND CHUDSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SU
SUBJECT: BASHIR TAKES THE HIGH ROAD AT UMMA PARTY CONVENTION 
 
Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) The opening of the Umma Party's 7th national 
convention on February 26 attracted a constellation of 
Sudan's political elite with party head Sadiq al-Mahdi 
welcoming representatives from the Democratic Unionist Party 
(Sudan's other traditional party), Sudanese Communist Party, 
Popular Congress Party, SPLM SG Pagan Amun, Senior Assistant 
to the President Minni Minnawi, NCP party chief Nafie Ali 
Nafie, and, most remarkable of all, the man who overthrew 
Al-Mahdi, Sudan's last democratically elected ruler, in 1989: 
President Omar al-Bashir. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Although Umma remains technically in opposition to 
Bashir, the mass meeting underscored the fluid categories of 
opposition and collaboration in Sudan. Except for the PCP rep 
Abdullah Hassan Ahmed -- whose leader, Hassan al-Turabi, 
remains in a Port Sudan prison -- and who used the 
opportunity to bitterly denounce the regime literally to 
Bashir's face, all the other speakers paid homage to the 
President, offering commentary which ranged from guarded 
praise to mild criticism of the regime. Even Pagan Amun, the 
SPLM's firebrand Secretary General, who has voiced bitter 
criticism of the NCP and Bashir in the past was relatively 
subdued. Pagan noted that Sudan was entering a very sensitive 
period, moving from war to peace has not been easy and there 
are many peace agreements for Sudan that still need 
implementing. Amun focused on "building peace," democratic 
transformation "so that every trace of totalitarianism 
remaining in Sudan is removed," and fighting poverty as the 
main issues facing Sudan. He noted that it is only 23 months 
until the 2011 referendum on Southern independence and "we 
need to have true dialogue on this." Aside from a rousing 
defense of press freedom, he was muted in challenging the NCP. 
 
¶3. (SBU) With an ICC decision on an arrest warrant expected 
within days, President Bashir's speech took the high road. He 
congratulated the Umma Party for freely and openly holding 
its national convention. He noted that the Sudanese Communist 
Party had held a similar meeting in January in complete 
freedom. These events underscore the liveliness of Sudan's 
true democracy which eventually lead to greater political 
stability. He added that without political stability there 
cannot be a stable economic, qecurity and social situation. 
Sudan today is on the verge of real transformation to a new 
Sudan of freedom and democracy.  He added th!t the "time of 
the rifle in Sudan" is over, except for the protection of the 
motherland. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Bashir said that we are looking forward to free, 
transparent elections this year so that the people can make 
their choice with total freedom. As for those outside Sudan 
who seek to block Sudan's march towards a better future, they 
don't know Sudan's history. They don't know the Sudan of the 
Mahdi who "defeated the empire on whom the sun never sets - 
except here."  Sudan was the first sub-Saharan country to 
gain its freedom and it always supported all liberation and 
revolutionary movements in Africa and this is why Africa 
stands with us today. Any effort to restore colonialism in 
Sudan or in Africa will be defeated. In celebration of 
Sudan's destiny, he would be inaugurating on March 3 the 
electricity generating capacity at the Meroe Dam. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Bashir continued that Sudan had negotiated the 2005 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end war in Sudan, "we 
thought it would be the end of war here," but enemies of 
Sudan had used the traditional problems of violence in 
Darfur, of tribal conflict, and struggles between nomads and 
farmers, to create more problems for Sudan. In 2006, Sudan 
had negotiated the Abuja agreement (the Darfur Peace 
Agreement) and they thought it would work because everyone 
participated in the negotiations but then after an agreement 
was signed, some of the participants turned around and 
criticized the DPA, tore it down and put pressure not on 
those who refused to make peace, but on the Sudanese 
Government. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Bashir dismissed these distractions and said that 
Sudan would continue to work on bringing democracy and 
development to the people. This means roads and other means 
of transport, it means cheap electricity for people and for 
industrial and agricultural development, it means meeting the 
needs of the people. 
 
¶7. (SBU) After Bashir, Sadiq al-Mahdi's own 22 page, 
mind-numbingly dull speech seemed anti-climactic. He noted 
that Umma had called for addressing Darfur war crimes in 
2004, "lest foreigners later do it for us, and this is 
 
KHARTOUM 00000282  002 OF 002 
 
 
exactly what is happening now." Despite this he called for an 
Article 16 deferral of any ICC charges against the President 
and called on all Darfur rebels to join the peace process. He 
criticized the flaws of the CPA, noting that it was an 
exclusive political deal between two parties, "the NCP does 
not represent the North and the SPLM does not represent all 
of the South."  He hinted that in the interests of democracy, 
he did not want to continue as party president (loud cries of 
"No! Never! We trust no one but Sadiq!") and that it was time 
to chose others to lead (not surprisingly, two days later 
Al-Mahdi was re-elected as party president). 
 
¶8. (C) Comment: Aside from the minor suspense of whether 
Al-Mahdi would pass on the mantle of party leadership to one 
of his children (his daughter Miriam being considered the 
front runner), the most interesting element of the convention 
was Bashir's speech which touched on all the now familiar 
tropes of the regime's counter-ICC agenda: a focus on staying 
the course, moving towards "democracy" (where the NCP, with 
its near monopoly on finance, coercion and media, has an 
excellent chance of winning the next elections), an inclusive 
nationalist rhetoric, and highlighting peacemaking and "the 
people's business" of development and tangible deliverables. 
Although Bashir sometimes gets excited with colorful and 
alarming rhetoric when addressing the NCP's core base of 
Islamists, here he was very much on message and (for him) 
statesman-like and controlled. The fact that he sat for four 
hours hearing a litany of complaints and criticisms large and 
small from a series of opposition political leaders 
underscored his preferred image of a serious, somewhat 
authoritarian but mostly reasonable autocrat. That is how 
Bashir sees himself and wishes the world to see him in the 
runup to the ICC announcement. He'll leave most of the 
saber-rattling to his underlings. 
FERNANDEZ