VZCZCXRO9617
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0119 0531247
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 221247Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0246
INFO DARFUR COLLECTIVE
IGAD COLLECTIVE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 000119 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/22 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SU
SUBJECT: MBEKI DISCUSSES AUPD ROLE IN DARFUR, POST-2011 ISSUES WITH 
SE GRATION 
 
REF: 10 KHARTOUM 126 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Robert E. Whitehead, Charge d'Affaires; REASON: 
1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In a February 20 meeting with SE Gration, former 
South African President and current Chairman of the African Union 
High Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) Thabo Mbeki expressed extreme 
dissatisfaction with the approach of Joint Chief Mediator Djibril 
BassolC), whom he criticized for having squandered numerous 
opportunities to advance the Darfur peace process. Due to BassolC)'s 
failure to create a credible civil society forum, Mbeki said, the 
AUPD will be organizing its own civil society conference in Darfur 
from March 15-16 at the urging of Darfuri civil society leaders. 
Mbeki also addressed his potential role as a facilitator for 
discussions between the NCP and SPLM on issues of CPA 
implementation and post-2011 scenarios, noting that while both 
parties appear eager for his engagement on these issues, neither 
has articulated how they would like him to proceed. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) On February 20, SE Gration met former South African 
President and current AUPD Chairman Thabo Mbeki in Khartoum. Mbeki 
noted that both Chad and Sudan appear to be approaching their 
January 15 normalization agreement very seriously. He stated that 
Chadian President Deby assured him that he had told the Justice and 
Equality Movement (JEM) to leave Chadian territory and that they 
had in fact done so. Mbeki said that while the AUPD had not yet 
been able to verify this, "clearly there has been some movement." 
He further expressed optimism about discussions between GOS 
Presidential Advisor Dr. Ghazi Salaheddin and JEM Chairman Khalil 
Ibrahim in N'Djamena (septel). 
 
¶3. (C) Mbeki was decidedly less sanguine about the prospects for 
the Doha peace talks led by Joint Chief Mediator Djibril BassolC). 
BassolC) and GOQ Foreign Minister Al Mahmoud "continue to proceed in 
a way that is not going to produce results," he asserted, 
characterizing their approach as continually re-inventing the 
wheel. Noting that he has been attempting to set up a meeting with 
BassolC) since October 2009, Mbeki said he has spoken to AU and UN 
leadership to urge him to change his approach, to no avail. 
 
¶4. (C) Mbeki stated that due to the failure of BassolC) and Al 
Mahmoud to create a credible civil society forum, numerous Darfuri 
civil society leaders have approached the AUDP about the need to 
convene a conference on the ground in Darfur. Mbeki is spearheading 
this effort, with a target date of March 15-16. The forum would be 
constructive, he said, because it's clear that there is consensus 
on major issues for most Darfurians, including IDPs, civil society, 
refugees, native administration, and others. Agreement on a wide 
range of issues by a broad swathe of Darfurians should feed into 
the Doha process, but "due to BassolC)'s approach this seems 
impossible," he said, noting that BassolC) is apparently trying to 
bring a selection of Darfurian civil society figures to Doha for 
additional consultations on March 28. 
 
¶5. (C) Mbeki also addressed his potential role as a facilitator for 
discussions between the NCP and SPLM, on issues of CPA 
implementation and post-2011 scenarios. Noting that both parties 
appear eager for his engagement on these issues, he has nonetheless 
received no satisfactory answer of each would like him to proceed 
(reftel), and what his point of entry to the discussions should be. 
He noted that that SPLM's response was to defer to Mbeki on what 
he'd like to do, while the NCP was still discussing internally how 
it would like him to facilitate. "Our biggest problem is that the 
two principals have not responded to a very simple question," he 
said. Mbeki noted that whatever his role, he will have to work with 
newly appointed UN Special Representative of the Secretary General 
(SRSG) Haile Menkerios. "I talked to Haile and we agreed to work 
together," he said, noting that one cannot deal North-South issues 
without cooperating with UNMIS. Similarly, the work of the 
Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC) cannot be ignored, he 
said. 
 
¶6. (C) Comment: With Mbeki's AUPD, UNMIS' Menkerios and the AEC, 
not to mention the Troika (US, UK and Norway) and IGAD, the 
mechanism for international community involvement in post-2011 
Sudan is more muddled than ever. Until the parties determine and 
express their preferences for international engagement, it seems 
likely it will remain that way. 
 
¶7. (U) This cable has been cleared by the Office of the Special 
Envoy. 
WHITEHEAD