Cablegate: Sudan: Alleged Saf Attacks Outside of Juba
VZCZCXRO2017
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2560 3001017
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271017Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5034
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS KHARTOUM 002560
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
FOR AF/SPG
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV MCAP SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN: ALLEGED SAF ATTACKS OUTSIDE OF JUBA
1. (SBU) Summary: Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA)
sources say they have arrested 16 persons in connection with
alleged Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)-related attacks near
Juba that killed over 40 people in the last week. The
Secretary General of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation
SIPDIS
Movement (SPLM) publicly accused the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)
of fomenting the violence. Other Government of Southern
Sudan (GoSS) and SPLA officials acknowledge that the LRA
played a role in the recent violence, but increasingly point
to SAF. End Summary.
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SPLA Arrests 16 Suspects
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2. (SBU) SPLA troops deployed in the village of Gumbo, just
across the Nile from Juba, and arrested sixteen persons
October 21. According to several GoSS officials, the
detainees participated in two nights of violence in Gumbo
that left 5-10 people dead. Some asserted that the detainees
were also responsible for other attacks in the Juba region
that left a total of over 40 people dead.
3. (SBU) All but one of those detained was Sudanese,
according to a government source, and none were ethnic
Acholi. Although the majority of LRA captives and combatants
are ethnic Acholi from Uganda, their ranks also include
Sudanese and Ugandans of other ethnicities. Some of the
detainees, who reportedly were all picked up in the vicinity
of Gumbo, were said to hold SAF identification cards. A
senior government official offered to show us the
identification card and a "SAF uniform" from one of the
detainees. The sole female detainee, described by one
official as a "captive," was released October 21.
4. (SBU) Eyewitnesses to some of the attacks say they were
carried out by males and females in dreadlocks and shabby
clothing. Others saw attackers in combat fatigues. The
detainees picked up in Gumbo are all clean-shaven, according
to a journalist who saw them. Others familiar with the
situation in Gumbo said the SPLA had used heavy-handed
tactics in searching the area and questioning residents. The
detainees include a local chief and his son, who was
reportedly wearing fatigues. Guns were found in the chief's
house. Both guns and fatigues are not uncommon in the area.
Journalists have pressed the GoSS to issue a definitive
statement about who carried out the spate of attacks.
5. (SBU) Both the political and military leadership of the
GoSS have been in protracted internal consultations about how
to respond to the violence. While GoSS sources assert
privately that both the LRA and the SAF had a role in the
recent events, CG Juba has only heard one official accuse the
SAF publicly, Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)
Secretary General Pagan Amum, who made the charge in remarks
SIPDIS
broadcast over FM radio in Juba.
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Transportation Interrupted
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6. (SBU) Road transportation from Juba to Kenya and Uganda
along routes east of the Nile remained all but shut down
October 21 because of the recent attacks. SPLA convoys
reportedly escorted several vehicles along the Juba-Nimule
road. Officials also shut down air traffic in and out of
Juba's airport for the Museveni visit (septel). Museveni
sent his presidential plane to Juba, but traveled separately
in a helicopter. He was also accompanied by three Ugandan
helicopter gunships.
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