VZCZCXRO6736
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0868/01 2080446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 270446Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4145
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000868 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/E 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
THE HAGUE 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: SUBJECT:  Special Envoy Gration's July 22 Visit to Abyei 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:   Special Envoy (SE) Scott Gration traveled to 
Abyei on July 22 to observe, on the ground, the announcement of the 
ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague on 
the delimitation of the borders of Abyei.  During the course of the 
day the SE: met with the commanders of the Abyei Joint Integrated 
Unit (JIU) and the Abyei Administrator, attended the televised 
announcement of the decision at the United Nations Mission in Sudan 
(UNMIS) camp in Abyei, stopped briefly in the town of Mereim, and 
paid a longer visit to the town of Muglad in the Misseriya heartland 
where he addressed a meeting of assembled tribal leaders.  Despite 
the very real tensions around the PCA ruling, all sides eschewed 
violence and representatives from both the National Congress Party 
(NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) publicly 
reiterated their common commitment to abide by The Hague ruling. 
While there was no jubilation on either side of the compromise 
decision, the Misseriya clearly felt that they had come out the 
worse.  The high-profile international presence helped defuse 
trouble in Abyei, as did the efforts of both national and local 
officials.  The peace has held to date, but to maintain this status 
quo, a continued high-level focus on Abyei will be needed in the 
weeks and months ahead.   End summary. 
 
ORDER IN ABYEI TOWN 
 
¶2.  (U) SE Gration, Charge Whitehead and five other USG officials 
took an early morning July 22 helicopter flight from Kadugli to 
Abyei town, a predominantly Ngok Dinka settlement.  They witnessed a 
robust UNMIS presence in the area during the drive to the first stop 
on the itinerary, the JIU camp on the edge of town, where they met 
with SPLA Commander Colonel Valentino Tokmac and his Deputy, Sudan 
Armed Forces (SAF) Colonel Mohammoud Abu Sarah.   Valentino remarked 
that it was good that the SE had come at the time of the ruling to 
show that the outside world was watching Abyei.  He said that the 
JIU had been in place for three years and had thus far been 
successful in containing unrest leading up to The Hague ruling.  The 
JIU had three garrisons stationed in the area, one north and one 
south of the town, and they planned to deploy into Agok when the 
site there was prepared.  He was confident that his forces were "one 
hundred percent" ready to deal with any unrest sparked by the 
ruling.  Rumors were flying, but civilians on both sides knew that 
there would be an immediate response to any trouble. 
 
¶3.  (U) Valentino continued that the JIU had contingency plans in 
place leading up to the announcement as well as post-ruling.  They 
had deployed along the roads in every direction, although there were 
no forces stationed in several internal areas away from the roads 
where attacks could occur.  The number- one challenge was preventing 
the entry of firearms, especially from the Misseriya cattle camps in 
the north.   He added that there was no indication that any attack 
was imminent and thus far calm had prevailed both north and south. 
Valentino roundly berated the negative impact of the July 21 public 
statement by UN Special Representative of the Secretary General 
Ashraf Qazi on an SPLA presence south of Abyei town.  Valentino 
complained that the Qazi declaration had unnecessarily heightened 
tension, a refrain the SE was to hear repeated throughout the day. 
He said that one militia had been reported moving from the north 
after the announcement, and former Southern Sudan police officer 
Samuel Deng had been ordered back after he moved up from the south. 
He repeated that the JIU could contain would-be spoilers and 
confirmed that outside of the JIU, the Joint Police Integrated 
Units, UNMIS and 35 NISS officers, he was unaware of any other armed 
forces in Abyei in violation of the road map.  Only Misseriya in the 
cattle camps were armed.  Valentino concluded that it was not his 
place to decide how the JIU deployment might be restructured after 
the ruling.  He said that his men were adequately trained, equipped 
and organized, although heavier weapons were minimal.  He had heard 
that the Abyei JIU was considered one of the best of these units. 
 
¶4.  (U) The route to the headquarters of Abyei Administrator Arop 
Mayak, the next stop on the itinerary, was lined by new construction 
of tukuls (traditional huts) and more permanent structures in 
replacement of those that had been destroyed in the fighting in 
Abyei May 2008.  Arop told the SE that he was there to support the 
ruling, and not take sides.  Some individuals would certainly be 
disappointed by the ruling, but the PCA was the mutually-agreed 
forum for the decision, and his message to all the people of Abyei 
was peace.  Arop thanked SE Gration for showing the USG's concern, 
and then remarked that he had been taken aback by Qazi's "painful 
and unexpected" statement.  He claimed that Qazi had been informed 
in advance of the SPLA presence in Abyei.  The latter was reportedly 
an element of Salva Kiir's personal protection force returning to 
Juba by land after Kiir's recent visit to the Nuba Mountain area. 
SE Gration said that he was heartened by the rebuilding he had 
witnessed, a testament to the people of Abyei investing in their 
 
KHARTOUM 00000868  002 OF 003 
 
 
future.  The US was confident that Abyei could succeed.  Arop said 
that they were trying to do their best.  For the first time in a 
decade the central track of the north/south Misseriya migration 
route had been open.  Two Ngok Dinka/Misseriya reconciliation 
conferences had gone smoothly, and the third had been canceled due 
to the visit of Kiir to the region, another major milestone in 
defusing tensions between the two communities. 
 
¶5.  (U) The final stop in Abyei town was the UNMIS camp, where 
several hundred people had gathered to see the televised PCA ruling. 
 The most charitable way to describe the event would be chaotic.  On 
the international side, the SE and party joined Qazi and his 
delegation, the Dutch Ambassador representing the Assessment and 
Evaluation Commission (EAC), and the Special Envoy of the European 
Union.  On the national side, Government of National Unity (GNU) 
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of National Unity Deng 
Alor, GNU Minister of Health Tabita Sokaya and Blue Nile State 
Governor Malik Agar represented the SPLM; and GNU Minister of 
Interior Ibrahim Hamid and State Minister of Humanitarian Affairs 
Dr. Abdel Bagi El-Janini represented the NCP.  There was much 
scrambling to find a suitable television feed - for a time, the 
audience was treated to CNN coverage of the Tour de France - an 
Arabic language al Jazeera program broadcast the ruling live.  There 
was no celebration as the outlines of the ruling became clear, but 
no palpable disappointment either.  The SE departed Abyei for Meiram 
immediately after the broadcast ended. 
 
HAPPINESS ALL AROUND IN MEIRAM 
 
¶6.  (U) Within minutes of touching down on the football field near 
the market in Meiram, the helicopter carrying the SE and 
representatives of the SPLM and NCP wa surrounded by a throng of 
excited townspeople who certainly knew by then that this 
predominantly Misseriya settlement would become part of South 
Kordofan under the PCA ruling.  State Minister Bagi El-Jalani was 
the first person to address the crowd from the bed of a pick-up 
truck.   He introduced SE Gration and thanked President Obama for 
sending him to Abyei on this historic day, which triggered cheering 
and loud chant of "Obama!  Obama!" from the crowd.   Foreign 
Minister Deng Alor, spoke next to frequent roars of approval from 
the audience, and Minister Sokaya followed.  SE Gration delivered 
the final address to more ecstatic cheering from the crowd, and 
after forty minutes on the ground, the helicopter was airborne on 
the way to the town of Muglad in the Misseriya heartland to the 
north. 
 
FEAR AND LOATHING IN MUGLAD 
 
¶7.  (U) NCP Governor of South Kordofan Ahmed Haroun and two parked 
Mi-35 helicopter gunships normally stationed in either El Fasher or 
El Obeid were waiting at the airport to welcome the arriving 
delegation.  A motorcade whisked the party to the government complex 
where a crowd of approximately 100 Misseriya leaders was seated in 
the shade of a large tree.  Joined by Deputy Governor of South 
Kordofan, the SPLM's Abel Azeez El-Hilu, the delegates began a town 
hall of sorts with an audience best characterized as silent and 
sullen.  Haroun opened by introducing the visitors and welcoming 
them to Muglad.  Dr. Bagi El-Jalani followed, repeating the NCP's 
commitment to abide by the PCA ruling and emphasizing that the 
rights of the Misseriya to migrate south with their cattle and gain 
access to water points in the dry season would be respected.  No 
applause followed his presentation, and his mention of President 
Obama elicited only silence.  Deng Alor, a Ngok Dinka whose village 
of origin is south of Muglad,  spoke next, eliciting a few grudging 
laughs when he remarked that the Ngok and Misseriya had sat around 
under a tree instead of settling the contentions between them as 
they had in the old days, thus leading to the arbitration in The 
Hague.  He spoke at length on neighborliness and common ties.  Stony 
silence followed his remarks. 
 
¶8.  (U) SE Gration spoke next, pointing to the tree and its branches 
and remarking that it existed and provided food, shelter, firewood 
and shade only because it was solidly rooted in the earth.  The 
Misseriya and Dinka both needed to develop strong roots together if 
they were to grow the prosperous future that their descendants 
deserved.  Two Misseriya elders spoke next, the first flatly stating 
that the ruling had not been in favor of the Misseriya.  Despite 
this, he continued, they would accept it and seek to exist in 
harmony with their Dinka neighbors.  He harked back to the 
inter-communal comity of yesteryear and called for its revival.  He 
remarked, however, that it would be difficult to imagine much 
harmony if all of the resources committed to the region went to the 
Dinka in Abyei and the Misseriya in the north did not receive their 
fair share.  A second elder spoke in harsher, more agitated tones, 
 
KHARTOUM 00000868  003 OF 003 
 
 
sardonically congratulating Deng Alor for having carried the day, 
but also stating that the Misseriya were prepared to accept this 
outcome.  He warned, however, that the Misseriya would not hesitate 
to react if their rights were violated.  The next speaker was the 
local imam, who quoted a sura from the Quran on brotherhood, and 
then reminded the assembly that there grandfathers had lived beside 
and worked with and even intermarried with the Dinka.  The old ways 
had been good.  The Misseriya, he concluded, were people of peace, 
and they should seek peace as the way forward.  For the first and 
only time during the meeting, the Misseriya leaders applauded 
loudly.  Governor Haroun adjourned the meeting on that note; the 
delegation was off for the airport; and the day in Abyei was done. 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment:  Thanks to the high-level presence in both Dinka 
and Misseriya areas of Abyei and the successful pre-ruling 
arrangements by the UNMIS, the GNU, the JIU and local officials; the 
potentially-explosive ruling came off smoothly.  In an agreed joint 
statement, the NCP and SPLM again reiterated their readiness to 
abide by and implement the decision.  These were felicitous steps 
forward, but as Salva Kiir later commented in Juba, "the 
announcement in Abyei was not the final solution to the problems 
there."  Due to the nature of the ruling, which split petroleum 
resources and land in a compromise solution, neither side was 
entirely pleased with the outcome.  In sum, however, the Dinka 
appeared less unhappy about the outcome than the Misseriya, if the 
mood in Muglad was any indication.  The potential for clashes in 
Abyei and surrounding areas remains a real possibility over the next 
months, and especially with the advent of the dry season and the 
southward migration of the Misseriya herders.  The AEC will convene 
its plenary in Abyei on August 2 and 3 to keep a focus on the area. 
Additional high-level attention and additional resources will be 
needed to move this region toward January 2011 and what will be the 
next huge challenge - whether Abyei chooses to cast its lot with the 
South or retain its current special status in the North. 
 
The Special Envoy has cleared this cable. 
 
WHITEHEAD