VZCZCXRO8205
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0500/01 1030832
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 130832Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3506
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000500 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A A/S CARTER, AF/E, PRM 
NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF EAID KPKO SOCI ASEC AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: SE GRATION'S VISIT TO ABYEI:  INSECURITY, BUDGET, AND 
EXPELLED NGOS 
 
REF:  KHARTOUM 439 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  In Abyei and Agok on April 7, SE Gration heard a 
consistent message from residents and officials, who said that the 
failure to fully implement the CPA and the Abyei Roadmap left the 
IDPs in Agok fearful of returning home and dependent on 
international NGOs for all basic services.  They appealed to the 
U.S. and the international community for support.  The only 
dissenting voices were two hardline NCP members of the Abyei 
Administration, who toed their party's line, one of them calling the 
expelled NGOs "spies."   END SUMMARY. 
 
IDPs in Agok Afraid to Go Home, Depend on INGOs 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶2. (SBU) On April 7, Presidential Special Envoy Scott Gration met 
with IDPs in Agok and visited the town of Abyei, where he met with 
the Abyei Interim Administration (AIA) and UNMIS.  His party, which 
included CDA Fernandez, USAID Director Hammink, and Deputy Special 
Envoy Shortley, was accompanied by Government of South Sudan 
Presidential Affairs Minister Luka Biong Deng and head of the 
Government of National Unity's (GNU) Unity Fund Yehia Babiker 
Hussein.  Landing first in Agok, where 70 percent of Abyei's 
residents continue to reside 11 months after they fled their homes 
during the May 2008 fighting, Gration was welcomed by Abyei Interim 
Administrator Arop Mayok, Dinka tribal and IDP leaders, and several 
hundred IDPs.  In a traditional Dinka ceremony, a white cow was 
slaughtered in his honor at the gate leading to the meeting hall. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) SE Gration heard from Ngoc Dinka Paramount Chief Kuol Deng 
Kuol and various leaders of the IDP community.  Speakers delivered a 
consistent message about IDP concerns; including lack of security, 
the inability of the AIA to provide basic services because of the 
lack of revenues, and the IDPs' resulting total dependence on 
international humanitarian NGOs that now have been ordered expelled 
by the GNU in Khartoum. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Speakers all stated that IDPs are unable to return home to 
Abyei and rebuild because they fear a resumption of the kind of 
violence that caused them to flee last May.  Paramount Chief Deng 
complained that the Joint Integrated Police Unit (JIPU) established 
to provide security in Abyei is insufficient in number to do the 
job, and also is short of equipment.  (Note:  Separately, 
UNMIS-Abyei Protection Officer told econoff that the JIPU now 
numbers about 330 and is up to four vehicles from one.  However, due 
to lack of money for fuel, the JIPU is unable use the few vehicles 
it has for patrolling.  End note.)  Deng added that he feared that 
SE Gration's stop in Agok, before Abyei, would be cited as proof by 
some that the Ngoc Dinka homeland lies south of the River Kiir and 
not in the town of Abyei and north of the river. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Speakers also complained that the GNU is not implementing 
either the CPA's 2004 Abyei Protocal or the Abyei Roadmap agreement 
of last June, specifically by failing to fund the budget of the AIA, 
leaving it incapable of delivering basic services.  One speaker 
asserted that money that should go to the AIA is being used to arm 
the Ngoc Dinka's "enemies" instead.  As a result, they said, the 
IDPs depend totally on the efforts of the international humanitarian 
NGO's, 13 of which have now been ordered to leave Sudan by the GNU. 
One IDP leader noted that it had been the NGO's that had been on 
hand when the IDPs had fled to Agok in May, and had remained there 
ever since.  By contrast, President Bashir had not visited Abyei or 
Agok even once since then to access the situation.  Abyei needs more 
NGOs to provide basic services, not fewer, another added. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) SE Gration told the group that he had come to Sudan to 
"learn and listen."  He said he had been touched by the number and 
enthusiasm of the people who came to greet him and honored by the 
sacrifice of the white cow.  He praised the people of Abyei's 
sacrifice and commitment to peace and promised that the United 
States will do its best to ensure continued humanitarian assistance 
and implementation of the CPA. 
 
Lunch With UNMIS:  "Abyei is Not an Island" 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶7. (SBU) In Abyei, UNMIS Head of Office Chris Johnson briefed SE 
Gration at a working lunch, reviewing for him events from the 
signing of the CPA leading up to last May's fighting.  She noted 
that the provisions of the CPA's Abyei Protocol were never 
implemented, Abyei had no government (until late 2008) or 
post-conflict development, and UNMIS was severely restricted in its 
ability to patrol and to mitigate potential conflicts.  Although 
violence had been averted on several previous occasions, in May a 
minor incident had escalated into a full scale SAF-SPLA battle, 
employing heavy weapons.  Most of Abyei's population fled on the 
 
KHARTOUM 00000500  002 OF 003 
 
 
first day, had lost their homes and most of their belongings, and 
now are afraid to return. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Now, she continued, the people are angry with the SPLA and 
UNMIS for not having protected them during the conflict.  Johnson 
noted that the IDPs had been extremely articulate when they met with 
the joint UN-GNU humanitarian assessment looking into the NGO 
expulsions.  They complained that they never had received anything 
from their own government; only the NGOs had helped them.  She 
emphasized that the NGOs remain absolutely vital to the delivery of 
needed services.  Access to water is especially critical. 
Dinka-Misseriya competition for water is a major source of conflict 
during the migration season.  She also noted that UNMIS still is 
prevented from patrolling all of Sector VI, especially to the north, 
where trouble is most likely to start and in neighboring Southern 
Kordofan.  "Abyei is not an island," she concluded, it is directly 
and immediately affected by events in adjoining areas. 
 
Abyei Administration and Security Committee 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶9. (SBU) Following a driving tour of forlorn Abyei town center to 
access the unrepaired destruction from last May's fighting and 
looting, SE Gration continued to a joint meeting of the AIA and the 
Abyei Security Committee, where he was greeted with the sacrifice of 
another white cow.  Administrator Mayok (SPLM) and his Deputy Rahama 
al Nour (NCP) both welcomed Gration and thanked him for coming. 
Joint Integrated Unit (JIU) Commander Valentino reported that 90 
percent of the security deployment under the Roadmap has been 
completed, but that his battalion is hampered because its locations 
were determined by geography, rather than any military doctrine.  He 
added that, while for now security is "normal," there are still 
threats stemming from the presence of the Oil Police in Difra, and 
because the SAF and SPLA remain only a few kilometers north and 
south of Abyei, respectively, hampering the JIU's freedom of 
movement. 
 
¶10. (SBU) AIA members praised the Gration visit and most repeated 
the concerns expressed by the IDPs earlier in the day.  Agriculture 
Secretary Lual Deng listed the AIA's concerns as security, lack of 
budget revenues required to fund basic services, and the departure 
of the expelled NGOs.  They agreed that Abyei remains depopulated 
because people lack confidence in the security situation.  One 
described the area as awash in weapons and stated that the JIPU is 
unequipped to handle the threat.  Lual Deng stated that there can be 
no farming without security in the countryside.  He also noted that 
without a budget, the AIA cannot carry out basic government 
functions and, therefore, the NGOs have had to provide the services 
instead. 
 
NCP Members Break With Consensus 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶11. (SBU) Two NCP members of the Administration dissented from the 
general consensus.  Deputy Assembly Speaker Zakaria Atem stated that 
the Ngoc Dinka and the Misseriya peoples have for long coexisted 
peacefully, adding "we make problems here and send them to 
Khartoum," rather than vice versa.  He contended that it was 
inappropriate for the SE to have visited Agok before Abyei, since 
Abyei is the headquarters.  He asserted that the expelled NGOs had 
been circulating false information about the situation in Abyei.  He 
further contended that only three of the 13 expelled NGOs were 
operating in Abyei, and that Khartoum will replace them soon with 
domestic ones. 
 
¶12. (SBU) A strident Secretary of Social Affairs Ayom said that 
Abyei's problems were being exaggerated.  He said that the GNU soon 
will be delivering the needed budget revenues, according to 
newspaper reports.  (Note:  Separately, Administrator Arop said that 
these reports are fabricated and that he only had been able to 
obtain about US$1.5 million from the GNU on his most recent visit to 
Khartoum (reftel).  End note.)  Ayom declared his fervent support 
for President Bashir's decision to expel the NGOs, who he called 
"spies," and said that Sudan is within its rights to do so as a 
sovereign country.  He further charged that it was the NGOs that had 
persuaded the IDPs to remain in Agok, when they have already 
returned to Abyei, refusing his demand that the NGOs stop helping in 
Agok.  (Note:  After the meeting one UNMIS official told emboffs 
that in the past Ayom has demanded that UNMIS force the IDPs to 
return to Abyei, even against their will.  End note.) 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Administrator Mayok summed up, saying that everything SE 
Gration had heard reflects the reality of the situation.  The 
problem is how to deliver security and basic services to the people. 
 Without these, there is no government.  Now, the Abyei region 
remains insecure and the AIA lacks money to provide the services. 
 
KHARTOUM 00000500  003 OF 003 
 
 
Without these, it will be very difficult to persuade the IDPs to 
return, and he will not force them.  "Voluntary return" means 
voluntary, he said. 
 
¶14. (SBU) SE Gration expressed first his gratitude for the ceremony 
and for the opportunity to listen to the views of the people of 
Abyei.  He promised to take with him the concerns of all who he had 
heard.  Second, he expressed disappointment at hearing the NGOs 
characterized as "spies," after the work and sacrifices they had 
made to deliver assistance to the people of Sudan.  He warned that 
the problems of Abyei and Sudan will only be solved by working 
together, not by politicizing them. 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
¶15. (SBU) SE Gration's visit to Abyei provided an opportunity to 
hear first-hand the concerns of the population, which center on 
security and basic services such as access to water, health 
services, and education.  Despite the comments of the AIA's NCP 
members, there was a clear consensus that Khartoum has, and 
continues to, fail the people of the region, which remains ripe for 
renewed conflict.  The dangerous reality is that much of the 
North-South border, including Abyei, is heavily armed and primed for 
renewed conflict based on tribal tensions, historic grievances, and 
competition for resources.  It is a more dangerous reality in the 
long-term than Darfur, and will require constant attention and 
mediation to prevent an escalation into a larger conflict that could 
pull in regular armies from both sides.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶15. (U) SE Gration reviewed this message before transmission. 
 
FERNANDEZ