VZCZCXRO4755
RR RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHKUK RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0269/01 1830858
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020858Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7065
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000269 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
TRIPOLI FOR SE GRATION 
STATE FOR AF/C, S/USSES 
NSC FOR GAVIN 
LONDON FOR POL - LORD 
PARIS FOR POL - KANEDA 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR AU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PREF PGOV MOPS SU LY CD
SUBJECT: SE GRATION SEES SLA/AW CAUTIOUS AND JEM INTRANSIGENCT ON 
DOHA PROCESS 
 
REF: (A) NDJAMENA 267, (B) NDJAMENA 264 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU)  Darfur's rebel groups will continue to oppose the Doha 
process for different reasons, representatives from Sudan Liberation 
Army/Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW) and the Justice Equality Movement (JEM) 
told Special Envoy Gen. Scott Gration, separately, on May 27 in 
N'Djamena.  SLA/AW's main commanders vowed they are committed to 
peace in Darfur, and the movement has formed a strategy committee to 
reach a consensus on negotiations and engagement with the 
international community.  SLA/AW commanders reaffirmed to SE Gration 
that they would support a U.S.-led initiative and are interested in 
convening a wider SLA meeting in either Darfur or Juba.  However, 
JEM sees the Government of Sudan (GOS) as a bad-faith negotiator, 
Suleiman Jamous told SE Gration, and the breakdown of the Doha talks 
has compelled JEM to continue its fight in Darfur.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------- 
SLA/AW WELCOMES SE'S EFFORTS 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  SLA/AW rebel commanders told SE Gration on June 28 that 
their movement's strategic goal is building a sustainable peace in 
Darfur.  Although the commanders remain steadfastly opposed to 
negotiations in Doha, they welcome the SE's attention to Darfur, and 
they will participate in any U.S. initiative that aims to bring 
peace to Darfur.  The commanders quizzed SE Gration on what a 
non-Doha track of negotiations would look like, and said they would 
consider discussions in either Darfur or Juba.  According to Nimir 
Mohamed, one of the movement's 20 commanders temporarily marooned in 
N'Djamena, SLA/AW commanders are in regular contact with rebels from 
other SLA movements, including Minni Minnawi and his commanders, and 
they would support any effort to reunite the scattered SLA factions. 
 SLA/AW commanders see Khalil Ibrahim's Justice and Equality 
Movement (JEM) as a distinctly separate movement, but they recognize 
that JEM should be included in the Darfur peace process.  Jaber 
Hasabala, a former colonel in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a 
member of the Zaghawa tribe, told SE Gration, "We can sit with JEM 
and talk about an alliance, but we won't combine our movements." 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  In meetings with Abdul Wahid in May in Geneva, SLA/AW 
commanders successfully persuaded their chairman to form a 22-member 
strategy committee comprised of two commanders and 20 Darfur-based 
civilian leaders, according to what they told SE Gration on June 28. 
 The commanders were optimistic that within six months the committee 
would guide the movement towards peace negotiations and engagement 
with the international community.  SE Gration counseled them that 
their committee would have to work faster, but the commanders said 
they intended to return to Jebel Marra soon and begin the 
committee's consultations with IDPs and SLA commanders.  Regarding 
their erratic Parisian leader, Jaber Hasabala said, "Abdul Wahid 
cannot impose a decision on us.  All the commanders will support the 
committee.  Do not fear that Abdul Wahid would block anything." 
Silent through most of the meeting, SLA/AW Deputy Commander Terrada 
thanked SE Gration for his visit, and added, "You support us.  This 
is our speech, and we would like all of us to collaborate and then 
go to peace." 
 
------------------------ 
JEM REMAINS INTRANSIGENT 
------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) JEM will continue fighting against the GOS in Darfur, a 
cantankerous and argumentative Suleiman Jamous told SE Gration on 
June 28.  Acting as JEM's Secretary of Humanitarian Affairs since 
April 2009, Jamous claimed that JEM now occupies significant 
territory in North Darfur, and has captured the hearts and minds of 
all Darfuris not aligned with the Khartoum regime.  "There are only 
two groups of Darfuris, those who are with JEM and those who are 
with the government," he said.  He also stated that other than the 
wounded in Amdjarras, they are not in Chad.  The Sudan People's 
Liberation Movement (SPLM) and JEM "must join forces to dismantle 
the center," according to Jamous, and JEM intends to use force to 
forge a "durable and respectful peace" in Darfur.  Jamous accused 
his nephew Minni Minnawi of ambushing JEM forces in Um Barro in May 
prior to their assault of SAF garrisons in North Darfur, and he 
denied that JEM receives money or supplies from the Government of 
 
NDJAMENA 00000269  002 OF 002 
 
 
Chad.  "We don't need their trucks, and they don't give us money," 
he said.  When asked if JEM steals equipment in Darfur, Jamous 
boasted, "Stealing, no.  Capturing, yes." 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The breakdown of the talks in Doha was "not our fault," 
Jamous said, and JEM will continue to view the GOS as a bad-faith 
negotiator as long as the international community cannot compel the 
regime to abide by the agreements it signs.  Jamous insisted that 
the GOS undermined the Doha process by not releasing JEM prisoners 
immediately after the signing of the February 17 Agreement. (NOTE: 
JEM and the GOS did not agree to exchange prisoners as part of the 
February 17 Agreement. END NOTE.)  After brushing aside SE Gration's 
counsel that peace in Darfur could be achieved before the end of the 
year, Jamous said that the international community must convince JEM 
not to return to conflict, and he offered no promises that the group 
would not begin fighting soon.  After repeating that JEM intends to 
"dismantle" the GOS's grip on Darfur, Jamous vowed, "If you want to 
make peace in Darfur, it will be difficult without JEM."  Jamous 
ended by saying that JEM would go back to Doha, but not before the 
Government of Sudan releases at least some JEM prisoners and allows 
humanitarian aid to reach the Darfuris who are out of reach and 
still suffering.  SE Gration concluded the meeting by pressing JEM 
to, yet again, lay down its arms, become a political movement, and 
enter a new phase of inclusive peace talks based on the 2005 
Declaration of Principles from Abuja. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) SE Gration cleared on this cable prior to its 
transmission. 
 
¶7.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
NIGRO