VZCZCXRO2038
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #1067/01 2660528
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 230528Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4434
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001067 
 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PBTS KDEM KPKO SU
SUBJECT: Abyei Border Demarcation Committee Facing Hurdles; Will Not 
Meet Deadline 
 
REF: Khartoum 862 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Poloff met with members of the Abyei Border 
Demarcation Committee on September 7 and again on September 12 to 
introduce a U.S. demarcation expert tasked with providing technical 
assistance to the Committee, and to discuss the Committee's needs 
and readiness.  Committee members in attendance expressed readiness, 
but significant technical and political hurdles exist.  It is near 
certain that the initial deadline to complete demarcation will be 
missed by a wide margin.  End Summary. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Difficulty Meeting NCP Committee Members 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The six member Abyei Border Demarcation Committee was 
formed by Presidential decree on August 27 to implement points of 
agreement signed by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) 
and National Congress Party (NCP) on August 14.  The Committee was 
given thirty days to demarcate the boundary of Abyei as described by 
the July 22 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The 
Hague (Ref).  At the request of U.S Special Envoy for Sudan, Scott 
Gration, demarcation expert John Gates met with Deputy Chair Kuwal 
Beyong (SPLM) and Committee members Ring Kuol Arop (SPLM) and 
Valintino Molweev (SPLM) on September 7.  The three NCP members of 
the Committee, including the Chair, were not available to meet Gates 
during the week of September 7, despite numerous requests by U.S. 
Embassy staff in the days prior to and after the September 7 
meeting.  Committee Chair, Abdel Rahman Adel Wahab, refused to meet 
without direction from the Presidency.  U.S. Embassy staff contacted 
more senior government officials, and on September 12 Gates met with 
two of the Committee's NCP members. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Committee's Technical Ability Weak 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Deputy Chair Beyong stated that he has no experience 
demarcating boundaries, while the two other SPLM members are 
engineers with experience setting boundaries for residential 
property.  When discussing whether a line of longitude on the ground 
needs to curve to account for the curvature of the earth, Committee 
members at the September 7 meeting initially disagreed with Gates' 
advice that a curved line is required.  They ultimately left the 
question unresolved.  At the September 12 meeting, the NCP members 
of the Committee stated that they had experience demarcating Sudan's 
state boundaries.  After the September 12 meeting, Gates assessed 
the technical capability of the NCP members as weak, but better than 
that of the SPLM members. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Demarcation To Start at Heglig Oil Field 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Deputy Chair Beyong said the Committee planned to fly to 
the facilities at Heglig oil field on September 10 to begin their 
work.  Beyong stated that the plan was to fly around the proposed 
boundary in a United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) helicopter on 
September 11 and begin demarcation a day or two later.  Beyong was 
not concerned that, in the past, UNMIS helicopters had not been 
allowed to land at Heglig, stating that in this instance it had been 
arranged and would not be a problem.  Regarding the suggestion that 
Abyei town or Kadugli might be a better base from which to receive 
support from UNMIS, Beyong replied that the demarcation team will 
not have a base, instead remaining in mobile tent camps.  He added 
that the 60 person demarcation team, aside from the Committee 
members, had already left for Heglig. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Boundary To Be Marked in Concrete, Steel 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Beyong told Gates that the Committee was considering 
marking the border by clearing a path with a bulldozer, but 
acknowledged that this could create concern in the local 
communities.  He said the Committee was not wedded to this idea.  He 
stated that physical demarcation of the boundary will consist of one 
concrete pillar every 10 kilometers and one steel post every 
kilometer.  He stated that the materials had already been procured, 
and that the Committee has all the equipment that it needs.  Beyong 
said that the SPLM members of the Committee want the pillars to be 
placed with an accuracy of within two millimeters, and that the 
posts should have an accuracy of within two centimeters.  Gates 
noted that this would be a stricter demarcation standard than that 
used for any other border on which he had worked.  When asked how 
 
KHARTOUM 00001067  002 OF 002 
 
 
the team would travel along the border to do their work during the 
current rainy season, Beyong agreed it would be very difficult, but 
indicated he was hopeful of being given access to track vehicles by 
someone, perhaps Greater Nile Oil Company.  (Note: The rainy season 
in Abyei ends in October, but mud remains until the end of November, 
making vehicular travel impracticable.  End Note.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
NCP Members Acknowledge Deadline Will Not Be Met 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The September 12 meeting was attended by Committee members 
Mohamed El-Nour Yagoub (NCP) and Bakhiet Mohamed Musa (NCP), as well 
as Dr. Mohamed El Mukhtar Hassan (NCP) from the office of the 
Presidency.  Although expected, the Chair of the Committee never 
arrived at the meeting.  Dr. Hassan stated that the oversight 
committee called for in the points of agreement was unnecessary, as 
demarcation disputes could be submitted to the Presidency.  The 
Committee members from the NCP stated that they would fly to Heglig 
on September 14 or 15 and start work soon after.  Dr. Hassan 
acknowledged that half of the thirty days allocated for demarcation 
had already passed.  He did not dispute Gates' assertion that 
demarcation would necessarily continue well into 2010. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Concerns About Misseriya Reaction to Demarcation 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Dr. Hassan expressed concern about the intention of the 
SPLM members of the Committee to place a steel post every one 
kilometer along the boundary.  He said that placing a post every 
kilometer will create tension with the Misseriya, who would view it 
as the first step to creating a border fence.  He said that if this 
plan is implemented, he expects that the Misseriya will gather and 
obstruct the work.  When asked by Poloff about security arrangements 
for the demarcation team, Dr. Hassan stated that security would be 
provided by forces from the Joint Integrated Unit in Abyei.  He 
rejected the idea of UNMIS providing security. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
UNMIS Demarcation Expert Anticipates Delays 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) UNMIS border demarcation expert Sokol Kondi met with Gates 
and Poloff on September 7.  Kondi and Gates agreed that the most the 
demarcation team can reasonably hope to achieve prior to the 
Misseriya's annual migration is an air reconnaissance of the 
proposed border and the insertion of the two northern pillars of the 
border via helicopter.  Mr. Kondi said that UNMIS is willing and 
able to provide security for the operation, but that he was not 
aware of such a request.  He said UNMIS had already agreed to 
dedicate a helicopter for a month and to provide two trucks and some 
cars in Abyei town.  He said UNMIS had also provided satellite maps 
of the proposed boundary to the Committee.  (Note: Committee members 
in both meetings told Poloff that they had not received any maps, 
were not aware of any vehicles provided by UNMIS, and did not intend 
to use Abyei as a base of operations.  End Note.)  Kondi expressed 
doubt that the Committee already had the materials and equipment 
needed.  Kondi said the Misseriya do not want the demarcation to 
start before December, when they will have migrated into Abyei, and 
that the Presidency was under pressure to delay starting until 
then. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment: Demarcation of the Abyei boundary will be 
technically challenging given the remote location and seasonal 
impassibility.  These meetings also raise concern as to the 
organizational and technical ability of the Committee.  The greatest 
hurdles, however, appear to be political.  The NCP and SPLM members 
of the Committee do not appear to have a coordinated approach.  The 
political sensitivity of Abyei to the northern and southern 
governments, and their constituents, the Misseriya and Ngok Dinka, 
respectively, threatens to make the demarcation process difficult 
and contentious, and bodes ill for the much larger task of 
demarcating the North/South border.  End Comment. 
 
WHITEHEAD