VZCZCXRO2433
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #1261 3120625
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 080625Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4703
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001261 
 
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 PINR AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: WILL THE GOS REVIVE THE SUDAN PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE? 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 1166 
B) 08 KHARTOUM 1549 
C) 08 KHARTOUM 1532 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Sudan People's Initiative (SPI) civil society 
forum may soon be revived pending approval from the Presidency, SPI 
Chief Drafter and University of Khartoum Professor Attayeb Hajj Atia 
told poloff in a meeting on October 26. Revival of long-dormant 
forum, which in the past produced a series of generally 
well-received recommendations but no tangible results, is being 
conceived as mechanism for civil society involvement in the Darfur 
peace process, he said. This is in large part due to the perceived 
failure of United Nations-African Union Joint Chief Mediator Djibril 
Bassole to produce a credible civil society forum in Doha. Atia was 
guarded in his optimism that a revival of the SPI could help move 
the peace process forward, however, given the regime's long history 
of empty promises. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On October 26, poloff met with Professor Attayeb Hajj Atia, 
Director of the University of Khartoum's Peace Research Institute. A 
respected academic and sometime critic of the regime, Atia was 
chosen by President Omar Al Bashir to serve as Chief Drafter of the 
Sudan People's Initiative civil society forum in Kenana in October 
2008 (reftels). He recalled how the SPI's recommendations--on land 
rights, compensation, the protection of IDPs and so forth--were to 
be used by the GOS to develop a proposal for political settlement of 
the Darfur crisis. Following the conclusion of the forum, Atia was 
granted a headquarters in for the SPI in Khartoum, a modest budget 
and full time staff of three, but he failed to achieve any political 
support that would have allowed him to actually implement the 
forum's recommendations, rendering the SPI impotent. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The lack of political will to use the SPI may have changed 
now that influential Presidential Advisor Dr. Ghazi Salaheddin is 
firmly in control of the Darfur file, said Atia. (Note: In an 
October 22 meeting with CDA Whitehead, Dr. Ghazi declared his 
intention to revive the SPI. End Note.) According to Atia, other 
high level GOS officials, including Vice President Ali Osman Taha, 
are also supportive of reviving the forum. They reason that there 
are currently no mechanisms for civil society to drive the peace 
process, he explained, and then dismissed the efforts of Joint Chief 
Mediator Djibril Bassole. (Note: Since July 2009, members of 
Bassole's Joint Mediation Support Team (JMST) have told poloffs they 
plan to hold a civil society conference in Doha, which has yet to 
materialize. Following an "Experts Panel" discussion in Doha on 
October 12-14, the JMST now plans to hold civil society 
consultations in Doha later this month. End Note.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) The SPI has already reconstituted some working level 
committees, said Atia. He noted he has proposed to reconvene the SPI 
Presidential Council, the forum's highest ranking body. (Note: The 
Presidential Council is chaired by President Bashir, key opposition 
party leaders, and the chairmen of the SPI's eight working 
committees. End Note.) Atia is still awaiting buy-in from the 
President Bashir, however. Atia noted that in recent conversation 
with Bashir, the President declared that he liked to think of the 
SPI as a "strategic reserve, "noting that he supported the 
initiative but was waiting for "the right time" to revive it. Atia 
believes this time will be in the "near future", he said. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The success of a revived SPI hinges on two factors, 
according to Atia. The first is buy-in and representation from a 
broad spectrum of Darfurian civil society. He noted that the 
selection of delegates was bound to cause discord, but that "a 
reasonable degree of consensus needs to be reached" on who should 
represent Darfurians. The second requirement, according to Atia, is 
the successful integration of the Northern opposition parties into 
the forum. This may prove to be a difficult task, given the 
perception that the heads of Northern opposition parties, as well as 
First Vice President Salva Kiir and Assistant to the President Minni 
Minnawi, were paraded out at the first SPI but saw no results from 
their participation. "We all got taken for a ride," joked Atia. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: (SBU) While there is a chance a revived SPI may 
succeed in producing another series of credible recommendations, 
whether these will actually be implemented is another story. Given 
the regime's long history of empty promises and hollow spectacles 
like the SPI, we will wait and see. 
 
 
WHITEHEAD