VZCZCXRO4067
PP RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHKUK RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN
RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0888/01 2141042
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021042Z AUG 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4173
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000888 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S, AF/C, AF/E, DRL 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2011 
TAGS: MOPS ODIP PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI UN AU CD SU
SUBJECT: SUDANESE DIPLOMATIC POTPOURRI: CHADIAN REBELS, 
HUMAN RIGHTS, AND DIPLOMATIC TRAVEL 
 
REF: KHARTOUM 870 
 
KHARTOUM 00000888  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: CDA Robert E. Whitehead for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  Charge d'affaires (CDA) met with Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs Under Secretary Dr. Mutriff Sidiq on July 
30 to review a range of issues.  CDA requested information on 
the current location of Chadian rebel leaders in Sudan as 
well as the disposition of their forces, to which Mutriff 
replied he was not in the loop.  He provided information on 
two Sudanese properties confiscated by the Government of Chad 
(GOC) and charged that there had been two recent Chadian Army 
(ANT) incursions into Sudan, one of which we have since 
confirmed with the United Nations/African Union Mission in 
Darfur (UNAMID).  Charge next raised the case of a Sudanese 
woman who is at risk of flogging for wearing pants.  Other 
business items in the 30-minute meeting were progress on a 
child abduction case, an embassy problem with obtaining 
travel permits in a timely fashion, and GOS interest in the 
USG position on language in the United Nations Security 
Council (UNSCR) resolution on extension of the UNAMID 
mandate.  Some of these same subjects came up in subsequent 
conversations with other GOS and UN officials.  End Summary. 
 
CHADIAN REBELS, RAIDS AND CONFISCATION 
 
¶2.  (C) Charge asked Mutriff for current information on the 
location of top Chadian rebel leaders based in Sudan, whether 
they were presently in Khartoum, and the disposition and 
location of their forces in the field.  We remained 
interested in ensuring that both the GOC and GOS were meeting 
their ends of the bargain to stop proxy cross-border 
activities.  Mutriff looked blank and claimed that he was 
unaware of this issue and had no up to date information. 
(Note.  If true, this would indicate that GOS is keeping this 
issue very close hold, probably within the confines of the 
NISS and the Presidency.  Dr. Mutriff comes from the 
intelligence side, is the National Congress Party (NCP) 
insider watchdog in the MFA, and is almost always in the 
loop.  End note.)  He suggested that CDA raise this issue 
with the General Director of NISS. 
 
¶3.  (C) Charge showed Mutriff July 30 press reports about 
cross border raids into Sudan from Chad and asked if he had 
details on these allegations.  Mutriff responded that on July 
28 the ANT and Sudanese rebels (presumably JEM) from Chad 
staged two attacks on a village on the Sudanese border 10 
kilometers south of Kulbus (100 kilometers north of El 
Geneina).  He said the raiders came in 15 to 20 vehicles but 
found that nearly all the adults in the village were 
cultivating their fields.  There were no casualties and the 
ANT force and its allies returned home.  We have confirmed 
with UNAMID a reported ANT incursion into Arwa village on 
July 27.  Troops in six APCs and 44 other military vehicles 
reportedly looted property, including 15 weapons, and 
kidnapped two soldiers, one from the Public Defense Force and 
one from the Central Reserve Police.  The two were released 
following a request by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) but 
the ANT has not returned seized weaponry.  Neither Mutriff 
nor UNAMID could supply a motive for the incursion. 
 
¶4.  (C) Charge asked if Mutriff could provide any further 
details on Sudanese properties in Chad reportedly confiscated 
by the GOC -- our queries in N'djamena had not confirmed that 
any properties had been taken.  Mutriff said that the 
Sudanese Embassy in Chad received a letter from the GOC 
informing that a Sudanese school in N'djamena and a second in 
Abeche had been closed and were to be confiscated by the GOC. 
 The Chadian Foreign Minister subsequently phoned the 
Sudanese Ambassador and told him to ignore the confiscation 
letter.  To date no written GOC confirmation had followed. 
 
WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN SUDAN? 
 
¶5.  (C) Charge presented Mutriff a sheath of articles from 
the international media on the case of Lubna Ahmed 
al-Hussein, a journalist and press officer at the United 
Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).  She had been arrested with 
eight other women by police in an early July raid on a 
Khartoum cafe; subsequently, they were charged with breaching 
Islamic law due to their dress, which included wearing pants, 
and dancing in public with men (reftel).  Several of the 
women received lashes as punishment.  For her part, 
al-Hussein demanded a trial, then resigned from UNMIS and 
 
KHARTOUM 00000888  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
waived her UN immunity so that the case could be publicly 
resolved.  Some Sudanese women's groups and newspapers have 
rallied to her defense, and the case has been adjourned until 
August 4.  The Charge told Mutriff that the entire affair had 
been a public affairs embarrassment for Sudan and a blot on 
its human rights copybook.  He advised that a rational 
cost/benefit analysis would indicate that the best course of 
action would be to drop the case and avoid future 
repetitions.  Mutriff said he had already spoken with the 
al-Hussein's father in an attempt to resolve the case out of 
court.  Charge repeated that it was not in the GOS interest 
to pursue such affairs. 
 
TRAVEL AND VISITATIONS 
 
¶6.  (C) Charge noted that the US Embassy has recently 
encountered problems with travel permits to areas outside of 
Khartoum.  Last week, three USAID staff did not receive 
permission to visit Darfur and were forced to postpone their 
mission.  The Charge had not yet received a permit 
authorizing travel to Abyei as part of an Assessment and 
Evaluation Mission, and neither had a TDY staffer from 
Washington.  Mutriff gave the usual song and dance -- the 
permit was to ensure our security in areas suffering unrest 
-- but said that he would speak with the MFA Director General 
about the problem.  (The DG later phoned to say that Charge's 
permit was ready but apologized that TDY staffer's was not. 
He admitted that the MFA channels embassy travel requests to 
"the central authority," which we read to be the Ministry of 
Interior and NISS.)  The conversation moved to brief 
discussion of a child abduction case and the visitation 
rights of the American citizen mother.  Mutriff closed by 
expressing GOS surprise that the US was supporting UK 
language in the UNSCR on extension of the UNAMID mandate that 
condemned Sudan for its expulsion of 13 humanitarian group. 
Charge admitted that he had not details but said that he 
would inform himself. 
 
OTHER ASIDES 
 
¶7.  In a following meeting with UNAMID JSR Rudolphe Adada, 
Charge asked about the removal of Chadian rebels forces from 
the border area.  Adada said that some had moved back but 
"some of the forces are still there."  He could not provide 
details on who and where.  Charge encountered Minister of 
International Cooperation Tijani al Faidal as a national day 
reception and queried the minister -- who is from Darfur -- 
about the situation with the rebels there.  Tijani said that 
he did not know but hoped that the USG could find a solution. 
 He lamented that the Sudanese approach to politics, 
international relations and even its  economy was tactical. 
Saving face and gaining momentary advantage often counted for 
more that finding a real solution to problems at hand. 
 
 
 
WHITEHEAD