VZCZCXRO0641
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0523/01 1051433
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 151433Z APR 09 ZDK CTG NUMEROUS SERVICES
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3544
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000523 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A A/S CARTER, AF/E 
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 KDEM SOCI ASEC AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR THE SPLM NUBA AS ABDEL AZIZ AL-HELOU 
ASSUMES THE ROLE OF SOUTHERN KORDOFAN DEPUTY GOVERNOR 
 
REFS:  A. KHARTOUM 264 
¶B. KHARTOUM 186 
¶C. 08 KHARTOUM 1435 
 
KHARTOUM 00000523  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) On April 14, Nuba mountains native and respected SPLM 
national figure Abdel Aziz Al-Helou was sworn in by the President of 
the Government of National Unity (GNU) as the Deputy Governor for 
Southern Kordofan State (SKS).  Abdel Aziz's appointment to this 
position comes after the SPLM Nuba expressed continuous, deep 
disappointment with former SPLM Deputy Governor Daniel Kodi for 
failing to work effectively with the National Congress Party (NCP) 
to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Southern 
Kordofan state (refs A and C).  Kodi was removed as the Chairman of 
the SPLM for Southern Kordofan State in a vote of no-confidence by 
the SPLM Southern Kordofan State Liberation Council on February 19 
(ref A).  Following this action, SPLM Chairman Salva Kiir Mayardit 
held discussions with Deputy Governor Kodi, Deputy Secretary of the 
SPLM for the Southern Sector Dr. Anne Itto, former SKS Governor and 
current GNU State Minister for Animal Resources Ismail Jalab, and 
Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile CPA Protocol author and Nuba 
Mountains native Abdel Aziz Al-Helou on a way forward for SPLM 
leadership in Southern Kordofan State. Al-Helou's recent swearing-in 
as Deputy Governor of SKS comes as a result of those discussions. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Deputy Speaker of the Southern Kordofan State Legislature 
Sadiq Mansour (SPLM) told poloff on April 15 that he is very hopeful 
that Al-Helou will deliver much-needed progress on CPA 
implementation to SKS.  He noted that Al-Helou should focus on 
setting straight security arrangements as called for in the CPA, as 
well as getting police and civil administration integration on 
track.  This is a CPA deliverable that is unique to Southern 
Kordofan and Blue Nile, (ref B).  Mansour said that the SKS SPLM 
State Liberation Council will hold a session to elect its next SPLM 
State Chairman shortly and hoped that Dr. Anne Itto would attend. 
He hinted that Al-Helou will be nominated as the next SPLM Chairman 
for SKS, and stated that this will provide Al-Helou with the 
"political power" he needs at the state-level to accomplish his role 
successfully.  Mansour said that Al-Helou is accepted by "all of the 
people," and that he will encounter very high expectations in his 
role as Deputy Governor and, if elected, as SPLM State Chairman.  In 
Mansour's view, it is the SPLM Nubans' hope that Al-Helou can solve 
the CPA, security, and political challenges of Southern Kordofan (no 
doubt a mammoth task) and then be released to the SPLM National 
*Secretariat* in order to run in early 2010 as the SPLM's candidate 
for the President of the Government of National Unity. 
 
¶3. (SBU) SPLM SKS Secretary Arnu Lodi told poloff on April 15 that 
the SPLM's mission in SKS was to assure "strong leadership" for the 
SPLM Nuba.  In his view, this has been accomplished through the 
appointment of Al-Helou to Deputy Governor.  Lodi said that he had 
spoken with Al-Helou on April 14 and told him that the SPLM Nuba is 
entering "a new era;" this is the first time that Al-Helou will 
return to the Nuba Mountains in a state leadership role since the 
signing of the CPA.  Lodi praised Al-Helou as the SPLM figure 
best-suited to work with the tribes of Southern Kordofan, and said 
that he is "widely-respected" in the state.  He cautioned that 
Al-Helou will immediately face a number of challenges in SKS.  "For 
four years, we have had no real progress on the CPA," lamented Lodi. 
 Lodi said that Al-Helou is currently in Juba attending the SPLM 
Political Bureau Meeting.  According to Lodi, Al-Helou is expected 
to take up his seat as Deputy Governor in Kadugli, Southern Kordofan 
at the end of April. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Prior to his recent visit to the Washington, DC with other 
SPLM leaders in late March, Al-Helou told poloff that Kodi's removal 
as SPLM State Chairman came mainly as a result of his failure to 
implement the CPA in SKS.  "They blamed Kodi instead of the NCP, 
when it is the NCP that is the real obstacle for CPA progress," said 
Al-Helou.  Although poloff (and perhaps even Al Helou himself) was 
not aware that he would replace Kodi in mid-April, Al-Helou spoke 
with measured caution about taking on a leadership role in SKS.  He 
referred to the Sudan Armed Forces' (SAF) alleged arming of Arab 
tribes in Southern Kordofan (in particular the Hawazma,) the unrest 
between the Nuba and the Misseriya in the area, and the NCP's 
unwillingness to implement the CPA.  He made clear there would be 
great challenges ahead for any SPLM political leader in the Nuba 
Mountains.  Al-Helou  asked if the US would support him if he were 
to take on a leadership role in Southern Kordofan. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  Abdel Aziz Al-Helou's appointment as Deputy 
Governor for Southern Kordofan is a positive, welcomed, and 
long-awaited event for the SPLM Nuba.  Al-Helou is indeed a 
well-respected figure in the state, and represents the SPLM putting 
its best foot forward to accomplish its political goals in Southern 
 
KHARTOUM 00000523  002 OF 002 
 
 
Kordofan.  The latter include CPA implementation and the SPLM 
winning a majority in state legislative elections so that it can 
influence the popular consultation to allow the Nuba to get more out 
of the CPA than its current "raw deal," which  makes them beholden 
to GoS administration. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment continued:  In late March, Al-Helou seemed 
extremely cautious and almost nervous about assuming any type of 
leadership role in Southern Kordofan, regardless of his peoples' 
wide calls for him to return to the state.  He is rightly skeptical 
about whether the NCP will allow any SPLM leader to succeed in the 
state before the 2010 elections.  Now that Al-Helou will be at the 
helm of SPLM leadership in such a critical and volatile region, it 
is important that the USG provide him full support in pressing for 
CPA implementation in this state, which is located along the 1-1-56 
north/south border.  It is both poignant and appropriate that as one 
of the authors and negotiators of the CPA Protocol for Southern 
Kordofan and Blue Nile, Al-Helou will return to his homeland to try 
and hold together a fragile peace in the region.  At the same time, 
he will have to race to implement those things in the CPA that are 
crucial to the people of Southern Kordofan prior to the 2011 
referendum for southern Sudan.  Al-Helou will also be faced with the 
challenge of determining the best and most acceptable fate for SPLM 
Nuba in that state as the 2011 popular consultation in that state 
approaches.  It is also important to note that Al-Helou's 
appointment as the Deputy Governor of Southern Kordofan comes at a 
loss to Darfur, as he was co-chair of the SPLM's Darfur Task Force 
(and is half-Darfuri himself).  End comment. 
 
FERNANDEZ