VZCZCXRO7363
OO RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHKUK RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0306/01 2081513
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271513Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7130
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000306 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/C AND S/USSES 
NSC FOR GAVIN 
LONDON FOR POL - LORD 
PARIS FOR POL - KANEDA 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR AU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS PHUM PREF LY SU CD
SUBJECT: REBEL LEADER SOUBIANE RALLIES TO THE GOC AND 
RETURNS TO CHAD, STRENGTHENING DEBY'S HAND 
 
REF: A. NDJAMENA 283 
     ¶B. NDJAMENA 259 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU)  Chad's official press reported July 27 that Ahmat 
Hassaballah Soubiane, leader of a major Chad rebel group, 
returned to Chad July 26, along with two allied rebel group 
leaders, after having reached agreement with GOC 
representatives, led by National Mediator Abderaman Moussa, 
along the lines of the 2007 Sirte Accord, in Tripoli. 
Soubiane's return to the fold is a major victory for the Deby 
Government and a major success for its patient and serious 
"intra-Chadian diplomacy."  We understand that Soubiane and 
President Deby were meeting today at a local hotel. 
Soubiane's defection to the GOC is politically significant: 
An Arab, he represents an ethnic group that might constitute 
a quarter of the Chadian population and is present in many 
areas of the country.  Reconciliation of one of the most 
credible figures among the leaders of the rebellion weakens 
the remaining warlords as it strengthens the Chadian 
government.  We hope that this defection from the armed 
rebellion will lead to others, reducing the strength of 
Sudan's proxy forces and enabling Chad to reduce its 
attachment to its own JEM proxies.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Chad's official press reported July 27 that Ahmat 
Hassaballah Soubiane, leader of a major Chad rebel group, 
returned to Chad July 26, along with two allied rebel group 
leaders, after having reached agreement with GOC 
representatives, led by National Mediator Abderaman Moussa, 
along the lines of the 2007 Sirte Accord, in Tripoli.  We 
understand that Soubiane and President Deby were meeting 
today at a local hotel. 
 
¶3.  (U) Soubiane, who was accompanied to Chad from Tripoli by 
CEN-SAD chief Madani Al-Azhari and was greeted at the 
N'Djamena airport by FORMIN Moussa Faki Mahamat and Libyan 
Ambassador Saleh Green, had broken with Deby in 2003 and had 
led since 2006 the Front for the Salvation of the Republic 
Movement (FSR), which conducted armed rebellion against Chad 
from bases in Sudan and with Sudanese government support. 
Soubiane had been a close associate of Chad President Deby 
after supporting the latter's seizure of power in 1990, 
serving as Interior Minister and Ambassador to the United 
States.  Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa was also 
involved in the negotiations in Tripoli. 
 
¶4.  (U) Two other minor rebel leaders, associated with 
Soubiane for the past few months as the National Movement 
coalition, Issa Moussa Tamboule of the UFDR, and Mahamat 
Ahmat Hamit, of the MNR, also signed up to return to Chad 
under Sirte Accord arrangements. 
 
¶5.  (U) Soubiane was quoted as saying:  "It is an ordinary 
accord, a peace accord, that puts an end to hostilities.  I 
returned without preconditions...I am most of all happy to 
return to my country...I will speak of the accord soon 
enough.  But first I owe my respects to the President of the 
Republic." 
 
¶6.  (U)  Abderaman Moussa was quoted as saying:  "The 
President's hand remains open and extended to all exiled 
Chadian political figures." 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7.  (SBU) Soubiane's return to the fold is a major victory 
for the Deby Government and a major success for its patient 
and serious "intra-Chadian diplomacy."  His defection to the 
GOC is politically significant:  An Arab, he represents an 
ethnic group that might constitute a quarter of the Chadian 
population and is present in many areas of the country. 
Reconciliation of one of the most credible figures among the 
leaders of the rebellion weakens the remaining warlords as it 
strengthens the Chadian government.  We hope that this 
defection from the armed rebellion will lead to others, 
 
NDJAMENA 00000306  002 OF 002 
 
 
reducing the strength of Sudan's proxy forces and enabling 
Chad to reduce its attachment to its own JEM proxies. 
 
¶8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
NIGRO