Cablegate: Unamid Convenes Roundtable Forum On Dpa Implementation

VZCZCXRO9161
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0969/01 2351512
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 231512Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4298
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000969

NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PREL MOPS AU UNSC CH SU
SUBJECT: UNAMID CONVENES ROUNDTABLE FORUM ON DPA IMPLEMENTATION

1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On August 19 UNAMID convened a roundtable meeting
on implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in El Fasher.
Though billed as a discussion of DPA implementation and challenges,
the meeting served primarily as a forum for representatives of
SLA/Minni Minnawi (MM) to air their grievances on the lack of DPA
implementation. They chastised the GOS, international community and
UNAMID in equal measure for perceived indifference and lack of
commitment to the DPA. UNAMID Joint Special Representative (JSR)
Rodolphe Adada later proposed a mechanism be set up under the
auspices of UNAMID to monitor DPA implementation modeled after the
Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC) established by the CPA.
The move was welcomed by SLM/MM; representatives of the GOS and the
international community largely refrained from comment. END
SUMMARY.

2. (SBU) Senior Assistant to the President Minni Minnawi led a large
SLM/MM delegation to the August 19 meeting, while the GOS was
represented by Dr. Omar Adam Rahama of the Presidency. (NOTE:
Minnawi openly questioned why the GOS official ostensibly charged
with the Darfur portfolio, Dr. Ghazi Salaheddin, was in fact on his
way to Juba for SE Gration's Trilateral Talks instead of UNAMID's
DPA roundtable -eeting. END NOTE.) Also in attendance were
representatives from the various obscure factions who signed
Declaration of Commitment (DOC) to the DPA, including SLM/Free Will,
JEM/Peace Wing, SLM/Peace Wing, SLM/Mother, and the Popular Force
for Rights and Democracy (PFRD). Representatives from the
international community included Ambassadors from the African Union
(AU), League of Arab States, and Nigeria; Egypt's Special Envoy to
Sudan; and poloffs from the EU, Netherlands, UK and"USG. The JMST
was represented by Deputy Joint Chief Mediator Azouz Ennifar, and
the meeting was chaired by UNAMID JSR Rodolphe Adada.

3. (SBU) The meeting got off to an inauspicious start when SLA/MM's
Head of DPA Implementation, Mohamed El Tijani, expressed his
dissatisfaction with the agenda. When gently rebuked by JSR Adada,
he retorted that SLA/MM had been trying to get UNAMID to host such a
meeting for two years without success, and that it deserved a chance
to be heard. Several hours of haranguing followed as members of
SLA/MM and the DOC parties successively berated the GOS for its lack
of sincerity, UNAMID for its lack of purpose, and the international
community for its lack of commitment to the DPA.

4. (SBU) A largely unstructured discussion followed in which a
central point was the need for the DPA to be incorporated into
Sudan's Interim Constitution. SLA/MM representatives complained that
this had yet to take place despite the issuance of a Presidential
Decree on the matter; GOS Representative Dr. Rahama retorted that
the issue had in fact been transferred to the National
Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC), where it was currently
being reviewed. He added that questions remain whether the DPA in
its entirety conforms to the Interim Constitution, or whether some
provisions would have to be excluded or modified. SLA/MM Member of
Parliament Ali Traio disputed this notion, arguing that it was a
simple question of political will and noting that the CPA had not
faced such difficulties.

5. (SBU) Deputy Joint Chief Mediator Azouz Ennifar later provided an
update on the current peace process in attempt to lead a discussion
on the role of DPA signatories in this process going forward. SLM/MM
representatives responded largely with disdain for the current peace
process, and insisted that the DPA be formally declared the basis
for any new peace agreement. While agreeing that the DPA was an
important document, both Ennifar and Adada steadfastly refused to
link it with ongoing peace process.

6. (SBU) In attempt to bring the meeting to closure, Adada stated
that while progress has been achieved on DPA implementation,
numerous challenges remain. He noted that while the day's meeting
had been useful, a more formal mechanism was needed to address DPA
implementation. He therefore proposed a mechanism modeled after the
Assessment and Evaluation Committee (AEC) established by the CPA,
comprised of three representatives from the GOS; two from SLA-MM;
one each from0the DOC signatories; international partners of the
DPA; and UNAMID. He proposed that the mechanism would be chaired by
one of the international partners. (NOTE: Representatives from the
EU, Netherlands, UK and USG refrained from comment. END NOTE.)

7. (SBU) COMMENT: While the DPA is by and large a good document, its
lack of inclusiveness has proved to be its fatal flaw. With SLM/MM
politically and militarily weaker than ever before, the GOS has very
little incentive to implement the DPA at this point; it further
needs save its political capital to expend at negotiations in Doha.
The utility of an AEC style mechanism to monitor DPA implementation
is thus highly questionable, though the role of SLM/MM in the peace
process going forward and the status of the DPA in that context are
important issues that need to be addressed. END COMMENT.

KHARTOUM 00000969 002 OF 002

WHITEHEAD

© Scoop Media