VZCZCXRO7752
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0344/01 0711457
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121457Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3240
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000344 
 
DEPT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, AF/SPG, AF/E 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 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 SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: UPDATE FROM DARFUR - KIDNAPPINGS, ATTEMPTED UNAMID 
CARJACKING, AND NERVOUS IDPs 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 339 
B) KHARTOUM 324 
 
¶1. Summary: The GOS has "lit a slow-burning fuse" in denying key 
international NGOs access, and IDPs remain convinced that GOS 
authorities purposefully intend to reduce humanitarian coverage in 
Darfur, sources in UNAMID and among IDPs indicate.  IDPs queued and 
drained water reserves in camps this week, as GOS authorities 
throughout the region presented only piecemeal plans to provide for 
IDPs' water and sanitation needs.  UNAMID is investigating two 
seemingly unrelated security incidents in El Geneina and El Fasher. 
Five staff - three international and two local -from MSF-Belgium 
were kidnapped from an isolated rural location on March 11; the 
three international staff members remain held hostage as of March 
¶12. End summary. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
UNRELATED ATTACKS ON UNAMID, NGO KIDNAPPINGS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) UNAMID continues to follow up on the March 9 attack on four 
UNAMID soldiers in El Geneina, West Darfur, and the March 11 
carjacking in El Fasher, North Darfur.  On March 9 at 7:45 p.m., one 
Rwandan and three Nigerian soldiers were reportedly attacked while 
returning to their base after escorting the UNAMID sector commander 
to his residence. The incident took place approximately 500 meters 
from the UNAMID camp. According to a UNAMID source, the car 
routinely escorted the Deputy Sector Commander at roughly the same 
time every night and returned to the camp. As to whether the attack 
was an attempted carjacking or an act of deliberate violence against 
UNAMID, the source noted that it appeared to be exceptional for a 
carjacking given the deadly use of force, as no warning shots were 
apparently fired. An official investigation is ongoing.  UNAMID 
sources were unable to provide further details on the March 11 
carjacking in El Fasher, but one source described it as a routine 
event for Darfur, with no serious casualties to report. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On March 11, five aid workers from MSF-Belgium in Saraf 
Omra, approximately 200 km west of El Fasher on the North/West 
Darfur border, were kidnapped.  The five - a Canadian Nurse, Italian 
Doctor and French coordinator, as well as two Sudanese staff - were 
abducted from the MSF-Belgium compound in Saraf Omra at 
approximately 21:00 and taken to an unknown location, according to 
UNDSS sources. Members of the NGO steering committee reported that 
two local staff members have since been released.  According to the 
Canadian Embassy, the pro-regime kidnappers reportedly demanded that 
the ICC lift the arrest warrant against President Bashir as well as 
pay a ransom of 2 million SDG (approx USD $800,000).  More 
information about the kidnappings will be reported as it becomes 
available. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
DARFURIS CONVINCED OF GOS PLOT TO EVACUATE IDP CAMPS 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The prevailing feeling on the Darfuri "street" continues to 
be that the GOS expulsion of the NGOs is a deliberate attempt to 
target Darfuris living in the camps.  "The NGO expulsion is not 
linked to the ICC. They expelled the NGOs to dry out the camps," 
Mohamed Hassan El Taishi, great-grandson of Khalifa Abdullahi and a 
young leader of the Darfuri Arab Ta'isha tribe, told poloff on March 
¶11.  "This step will hurt the security situation, as IDPs will 
congregate around towns to compete for food and water."  Fur leader 
Ahmed Abul Basher of Abu Shouk IDP camp concurred with this 
assessment, telling emboff on March 10 that preventing services from 
reaching the IDPs would weaken security in Darfur.  Although no 
violent clashes between GOS forces and rebels have occurred 
following the ICC announcement on March 4, UNAMID political officer 
Hideo Ikebe suggested that this is because the GOS is employing new 
tactics in Darfur.  "The government has shifted its target from the 
movements to the IDPs, and that's why Darfur is quiet (militarily) 
right now," he said. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The GOS experiment in Darfur to deliver humanitarian aid 
will face insurmountable difficulties given the current political 
landscape of Darfur, sources indicate.  A senior UNAMID military 
officer told poloff on March 12 that the GOS has "lit a slow-burning 
fuse," adding the situation in Darfur could deteriorate drastically 
in two weeks. According to Abul Basher of Abu Shouk camp, IDPs do 
not trust GOS-supported NGOs (so-called "GoNGOs"), passing on a 
conspiracy theory common in his camp that the GoNGOs intend to 
poison the wells in Abu Shouk.  Calling the GOS decision to 
undertake humanitarian delivery a "big disaster," Fur leader and 
SPLM parliamentarian Seifeldin Abelgasim told poloff on March 11 
 
KHARTOUM 00000344  002 OF 002 
 
 
that the GOS has no capacity to provide for isolated rural areas 
such as Jebel Marra, which remain inaccessible strongholds of 
unaligned Arab militia and rebel movements.  Abdelaziz Sam, legal 
advisor of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority and a leading 
member of SLM/Minni Minnawi, said on March 12 that far-flung 
communities in the arid northwest corner of North Darfur are 
"completely dependent" on international NGOs, and he predicted that 
the decision will open the door to more insecurity in the region 
once isolated Darfuris deplete existing food supplies. 
 
-------------------------- 
WATER WOES INITIATE CRISIS 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Since the GOS decision to expel 13 INGOs operating in 
Darfur, availability of water has emerged as the most pressed 
initial concern of IDPs.  Reports from several camps indicated that 
IDPs are lining up to drain large water tanks whose contents are 
brought to the surface by gasoline-run water pumps.  Speaking with 
emboff on March 11 from Abu Shouk IDP camp, Ahmed Abul Basher said 
that IDPs were currently queuing next to water boreholes, a 
situation causing increasing tension among IDPs worried that the 
provision of drinking water may soon cease.  UNAMID political 
officer Ikebe reported that on March 11, IDPs in camps surrounding 
El Geniena, West Darfur, were also stocking up on water. Operating 
the pumps requires laborious maintenance and supervision, work which 
had previously been performed by INGO partners, including Save the 
Children US, but Sudanese authorities in West Darfur presented 
UNAMID with no plan for increasing water distribution to the camps. 
Ikebe predicted that within days camps there will be hit with a 
severe water shortage due to the lack of fuel available for the 
water pumps. 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to UNICEF, Kalma and Otash IDP camps, and Kass 
town, all in South Darfur, have no water and sanitation providers, 
affecting over 245,000 Darfuri IDPs.  With different sectors of 
Kalma IDP camp formerly managed by different INGO partners, fuel for 
water pumps has only been delivered to one sector of the camp by the 
GOS authority Water and Environmental Services (WES), but eight 
different sectors of the camp have no fuel to operate their water 
pumps.  Kalma residents within those eight sectors refuse to accept 
any materials provided by the GOS, leaving only hand-operated pumps 
to draw the remaining water from shallow wells.  In locations 
outside of the one sector covered by WES, UNICEF is planning to 
quickly sub-contract national NGOs to fill the gap.  The government 
of South Darfur has communicated to UNICEF that it intends to donate 
200,000 SDG (approximately USD $80,000) as a budget for one month to 
cover staff incentives, water chlorination, soap distribution and 
latrines construction. However, at this point, the government of 
South Darfur has released no plans to distribute water to Kass and 
Otash. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment: While food supplies throughout Darfur should last 
several more weeks, the reported lack of water and sanitation among 
IDPs are alarming, as reports indicate several cases of meningitis 
in camps in South Darfur.  Should Darfur witness outbreaks of 
previously preventable diseases such as meningitis and cholera, 
blame for the casualties will fall directly on senior leaders in the 
National Congress Party who foolishly initiated the expulsion 
decision. Embassy officers will attempt to go to Darfur within the 
next few days (regime allowing) to get some additional ground truth 
on the situation in the camps. 
 
FERNANDEZ