VZCZCXRO2850
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0330/01 0560850
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 250849Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0277
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0003

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000330 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KPKO MARR EAID SU
SUBJECT: SE GRATION VISITS SPLM-ADMINISTERED REGION OF SOUTHERN 
KORDOFAN 
 
REF: KHARTOUM 222; KHARTOUM 308; KHARTOUM 218 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On February 18 U.S. Special Envoy (SE) to Sudan, 
General Scott Gration traveled to Kauda. Although h located in the 
north, Kauda is an area of Southern Kordofan State that is 
administered by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).  SE 
Gration attended a meeting to discuss efforts to integrate Kaduna 
into Southern Kordofan's government.  He also attended meetings on 
preparations for popular consultations in Southern Kordofan, and to 
learn about the initiatives of the Reconciliation and Peaceful 
Coexistence Mechanism (RPCM), an independent committee tasked with 
defusing violence in Southern Kordofan.  In addition, he attended 
briefings in a newly-constructed camp for conducting disarmament, 
demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) in Kauda, and also went to 
an active demining camp where UN and international NGOs described 
demining progress in the region.  Kauda, one of the areas most 
devastated by the north/south war, clearly has a long road to 
recovery, but many people there who spoke to SE Gration expressed 
hope about the tentative first steps to recovery that have recently 
been achieved there.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Integration Efforts Require Assistance 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On February 18 SE Gration met with state and local 
officials in Kauda to discuss progress toward the integration of 
the civil service and police there.  Despite being located in the 
north, Kauda is an area that is a part of Southern Kordofan due to 
its being held by the SPLA during Sudan's civil war.  It remains a 
"selected area" administered by the SPLM.    Kamal Al Nour, 
Commissioner of Heiban Locality, told SE Gration that integration 
is one of the most important requirements of the Comprehensive 
Peace Agreement (CPA), but that progress is slow, and that in 
effect Kauda is still administered by the SPLM despite recent 
efforts to integrate it into Southern Kordofan.  (Note: Khartoum 
officials note that efforts at integrating local civil servants 
from selected areas such as Kauda into the Sudanese civil service 
are hindered because these local officials are frequently not 
trained or qualified for the positions they currently hold.  End 
Note.)  State officials noted that approximately 2000 civil 
servants, including 700 teachers, have been indentified for 
integration, but that intensive training for them is needed, and 
called on USAID to support these efforts. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
Preparations Underway for Popular Consultations 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
- 
 
¶3. (SBU) SE Gration met with Neroun Phillip, SPLM co-chair of the 
Presidential Assessment and Evaluation Commission and member of the 
Popular Consultations Steering Group.  Phillip stated that initial 
efforts were already underway in Southern Kordofan to "ascertain 
the views of the people", as dictated by the CPA (Ref A).  Phillip 
stated that while it might not be possible to reach all the people 
of the state in this process, at least all state localities and 
most administrative units will be canvassed.  He said that plans to 
raise public awareness and build capacity are also being addressed, 
though the primary responsibility for the process will rest with 
the elected legislature of Southern Kordofan and its designated 
commission.  Phillip acknowledged that an SPLM boycott of elections 
in Southern Kordofan would create serious issues regarding the 
timing and conduct of popular consultations (Ref B), but said that 
work on popular consultations will continue with the assumption 
that election issues can otherwise be settled. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
-------- 
RPCM - An Innovative Approach to Conflict Mitigation 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
--------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) SE Gration met with members of the RPCM, a task force 
created by Southern Kordofan Governor Ahmed Haroun in June, 2009, 
to rapidly address and defuse violent situation in Southern 
Kordofan, and to prevent future conflicts based on ethnicity, 
resource use, and historic animosity.  Osman Gadim, Chair of the 
RPCM, told SE Gration that the RPCM is an independent task force 
consisting of eight members of diverse ethnic and professional 
 
KHARTOUM 00000330  002 OF 002 
 
 
background with high levels of influence in the state and their 
communities.  Gadim noted that the RPCM explores innovative 
approaches to conflict mitigation focusing on timely intervention 
and early warning systems to address volatile situations.  He said 
the RPCM succeeds in part because it receives support from both CPA 
partners and from the state and federal government.  Gadim did note 
constraints on the effectiveness of the RPCM, including resource 
constraints and the lack of strong state level counterparts in 
neighboring states to address issues such as cross border 
migration. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
New DDR Site Ready for Launch in March 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) SE Gration visited a newly completed DDR site in Kauda 
where Colonel Karlo Trille Kuku (SPLM), Deputy Commissioner of the 
Joint DDR Commission, told him that the processing of 7000 DDR 
candidates, primarily old and disabled former combatants, will 
begin in March.  Kuku noted that 20,000 candidates are scheduled to 
receive DDR in Southern Kordofan, with 3000 candidates in Julud and 
8000 candidates in Kadugli having already been disarmed and 
demobilized, but awaiting reintegration benefits.  Kuku said that 
these delays are caused by financial constraints and blamed these 
problems on what he claimed was the international community's 
failure to fulfill its financial commitments to DDR.  (Note: 
Findings of mismanagement and corruption in a November 2009 
assessment of the program have contributed to donor reluctance to 
contribute funds until these problems are resolved (Ref C)  End 
Note.)  He asked SE Gration to push the international community to 
fulfill its DDR funding commitments, so that DDR candidates in 
Kauda can receive reintegration benefits promptly after having been 
disarmed and demobilized. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Demining Process Improved 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) SE Gration visited a demining camp near Kauda where United 
Nations Mine Action personnel and international NGO partners told 
him that progress on demining has undergone rapid progress recently 
due to improved techniques and technology.  With respect to 
techniques, demining personnel explained that, because mine fields 
were not mapped in Sudan, demining was overly reliant on local 
knowledge and the memory of former combatants to choose locations 
to search for mines.  This information was typically inaccurate and 
resulted in a large search for a limited number of mines.  Recently 
demining personnel have codified methods to reliably survey a large 
area to quickly determine the actual mined area.  Demining 
personnel also displayed a recently-acquired device for subsurface 
mapping that triples the area that can be searched per day over 
previous methods.  With these improvements, demining personnel said 
they have achieved more in the previous five months than they had 
in the last five years. They noted that most unexploded ordinance 
has been removed in Southern Kordofan, but that 70% of the mine 
threat remains. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment.  Kauda, one of the areas most devastated by the 
north/south war, clearly has a long road to recovery, but many 
people who spoke to SE Gration expressed hope about the tentative 
first steps to recovery that have recently been taken  there. 
Local officials did not expressly credit Governor Haroun with 
progress in the state, but several officials noted that progress 
had begun "recently" or "in the last nine months" (Note. Haroun was 
appointed Governor in May 2009. End Note.)  Lasting peace in 
Southern Kordofan cannot be assured until people in Kauda and other 
"selected areas" perceive themselves as citizens of their state and 
northern Sudan.  End Comment. 
 
¶8. (U) This cable has been cleared by the Office of the Special 
Envoy. 
ASQUINO