VZCZCXRO2868
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0087/01 0321132
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O R 011132Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0111
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000087 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
INR FOR OPS/EPITTERLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/01 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM KDEM KPKO SU
SUBJECT: NCP: NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE, SEEK FREE AND FAIR ELECTION- 
C-AL9-02505 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Robert E. Whitehead, Charge D'Affaires; REASON: 
1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On January 28, poloff met with Ibrahim Ghandour, 
political secretariat chief of the National Congress Party (NCP) 
and a senior NCP member.  According to Ghandour, the NCP never 
asked the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to 
reconsider Yassir Arman's candidacy and talks between the parties 
are not breaking down.  The presidency is awaiting First Vice 
President Salva Kiir's signature on the Ad-hoc Technical Border 
Committee report to begin negotiating the remaining disputed 
sections of the border.  Ghandour has taken over the International 
Criminal Court file for the Presidency. The NCP has established 
political and technical committees for post-2011 discussions. Salah 
Ghosh, former director of the National Intelligence and Security 
Service (NISS), appears to be taking on a greater role in 
formulating NCP policy vis-C -vis negotiations with the SPLM, though 
Ghosh himself has not been prominently featured in the talks 
themselves. END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
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NCP: NO FREEZE ON SPLM DISCUSSIONS 
 
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¶2. (C) On January 25, poloff received word from the office of GOSS 
Vice President Riek Machar that the NCP had asked the SPLM to 
revoke the its candidate for President, Yassir Arman,  and further 
decided to end all talks to resolve the census conflict.   The 
NCP's Ghandour, however denied that that there had been any 
discussion of Arman's candidacy and the NCP had not asked the SPLM 
to withdraw his nomination.  According to Ghandour, despite 
Machar's departure and exaggerated media reports, the NCP feels 
that discussions on the census/elections issue are not off the 
table.  He noted that the latest source of conflict stems from 
Second Vice President Taha's stance that any additional 
parliamentary seats allocated to the South (to resolve the census 
issue) should be done after the election in April 2010. A proposal 
was given to Vice President Machar suggesting that after elections, 
a number of seats would be appointed, taking into account the 
number of votes each party gets. Ghandour insisted that the NCP 
wants to see some smaller southern parties get part of the 
appointments as a result. (Note: This is a position the SPLM has 
told the Embassy they agree with. End Note) Ghandour blamed the 
SPLM for going to the press and blowing up the issue.  The Embassy 
learned on January 31 that Second Vice President Taha is meeting 
with First Vice President Kiir to discuss these issues. 
 
 
 
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PRESIDENCY HAS NORTH-SOUTH BORDER DEMARCATION REPORT 
 
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¶3. (C)During the week of January 17, 2010, the Ad-hoc Technical 
Border Committee submitted its report to the Presidency with 80 
percent of the border demarcated and 20 percent still disputed. 
According to Ghandour, the Presidency is awaiting First Vice 
President Salva Kiir's signature on the report as it stands so that 
the Presidency can negotiate the remaining 20 percent of the 
disputed areas.  Ghandour stated that there is still no mechanism 
to resolve the contested border areas and he did not know of any 
timeframe within which this would be completed.  The SPLM seems 
similarly unconcerned about completing demarcation of the 
north-south border, a process which is years behind schedule. 
 
 
 
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NCP ESTABLISHES POST-2011 NEGOTIATION COMMITTEES 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
KHARTOUM 00000087  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶4. (C) According Ghandour, Sayed el Khatib, NCP Director of the 
Strategic Studies Center and member of the Presidency, and Luka 
Biong, Government of Southern Sudan Minister of Presidential 
Affairs met and agreed that each party should prepare technical 
committees to deal with post referendum discussions.  The NCP has 
created a post-referendum political committee (co-chaired by Dr. 
Ghazi Salahuddin, Advisor to the President, and Second Vice 
President Ali Osman Taha) along with technical subcommittees 
 
to deal with specific issues. According to Ghandour, Vice President 
Taha, Ghandour, and former National Intelligence and Security 
Service (NISS) Director Salah Gosh will be closely involved in the 
process and will be the "core negotiating team".  The GOSS 
established its own committees, but has yet to appoint members. 
Ghandour remarked that he thinks a "Naivasha II" type of 
negotiation may be the necessary structure to reach post-referendum 
agreements.  He feels the NCP is ready to begin post-referendum 
discussions and negotiations. 
 
 
 
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GHANDOUR TAKES OVER THE ICC FILE 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) Ghandour stated that he was recently given  responsibility 
for the ICC file.  Ghandour was non committal about whether or not 
the NCP would use the ICC indictment as a leading campaign 
mechanism for Bashir's election campaign, although he hinted that 
such a national issue would likely be taken up by supporters. 
 
 
 
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NCP WANTS A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION 
 
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¶6. (C) Ghandour stated that the NCP wants to see free and fair 
elections. In response to complaints over the content of the 
National Security Act, he reports that the NCP tells other parties 
that "it is the practice that matters." He hopes that parties will 
obtain proper permits and take necessary steps like telling 
authorities specific procession routes for planned political 
rallies.  Ghandour went on the emphasize that Sudanese media is the 
NCP's biggest enemy.  "It portrays us in too good of a light" 
Ghandour stated.  Ghandour indicated that the NCP was interested in 
getting a more critical press so that they would have the chance to 
prove how strong their support really is.  "Sudanese agree with the 
way we do business" he said. Ghandour further noted that despite 
opposition parties complaining about a lack of money for 
campaigning, he thinks the government cannot do anything about this 
in the short-term. The NCP is allying with some parties and giving 
them support, he said. 
 
 
 
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SALAH GHOSH TAKES ON ADVISOR ROLE 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (S) Ghandour continuously referred to Salah Ghosh's involvement 
in political discussions.  It is clear that since Ghosh's removal 
from the NISS, he has been actively engaged in internal NCP 
politics in a predominately influential supporting role. In rare 
cases, Ghosh has been negotiating with the SPLM directly but direct 
negotiation is usually left up to other senior NCP officials. Ghosh 
is often the representative who is involved in negotiations with 
other senior NCP officials such as Vice President Taha, Ghandour 
and other members of the Presidency.  Ghandour noted that Ghosh was 
 
KHARTOUM 00000087  003 OF 003 
 
 
specifically selected to go to Kassala to resolve a dispute over 
the nominee for governor due to his past connections to the East. 
According to accounts from officials on the ground, Ghosh offered a 
series of incentives to pay off officials who felt left out of the 
election candidate nomination process.  According to Ghandour, 
Ghosh will be part of the central negotiation team for post-2011 
issues. Ghandour and Ghosh will report directly to Vice President 
Taha. 
 
 
 
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BIO INFORMATION 
 
--------------- 
 
 
 
8.(S) Ghandour is chief of the NCP political secretariat, chairman 
of the NCP caucus of the National Assembly, Chairman of the 
Sudanese Workers Trade Union Federation (SWTUF) and a member of the 
Pan-African Parliament. Ghandour is a hardliner, although 
considered to be very close to Vice President Taha, and is a 
central negotiator on critical issues due to his known talent of 
effective negotiation.  Ghandour insists that he is purely a 
political man and is not interested in a formal role in the 
government. Ghandour will run for a National Assembly seat for a 
geographic constituency in Khartoum North that is a Popular 
Congress Party (PCP) stronghold. During meetings Ghandour is coy 
and suspicious of American intentions, but clever and cunning in 
his remarks.  He tends to make jokes underhandedly criticizing U.S. 
policy toward Sudan.   Ghandour is a dentist by training and only 
recently gave up his dental practice in Khartoum which his children 
took over.  He has three wives, one of whom is very politically 
active. 
 
 
 
¶9. (S) COMMENT: Ghandour's comments regarding relations with the 
SPLM likely reflect Taha's sentiments toward the situation, since 
Ghandour told poloff that he received a direct readout from Taha. 
The central role of Ghandour and Ghosh, both considered to be NCP 
hardliners, in negotiations could indicate that they are present to 
keep Vice President Taha in check (Note: Vice President Taha is 
know to be optimistic, more open to foreigners and willing to 
compromise more readily with the SPLM. End Note).  Ghandour is 
often employs negotiation techniques that take advantage of the 
SPLM's lack of capacity.  For example, Ghandour was one of the most 
important members pushing to make amendments to the Southern Sudan 
Referendum Law that was passed without SPLM consent in December 
¶2009.  From Ghandour's comments regarding consultations on various 
negotiations, we judge that Ghandour represents the more 
conservative/hardline faction of the NCP and may seek to advance 
their interests in negotiations with the SPLM. END COMMENT 
WHITEHEAD