VZCZCXRO1804
RR RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHNJ #1378/01 3331958
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291958Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4627
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 0044
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 001378
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
LONDON AND PARIS OR AFRICA WATCHERS
E.O. 12958 N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PREF CD SU
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT DEBY ON INTERNATIONAL FORCE ON CHAD
BORDER
REF: A. SECSTATE 191795
B. NDJAMNA 1368
C. PARIS 7541
1. (SBU) Summary. Meeting with the Ambassador, President
Deby stressed that he was not against an international force
in eastern Chad, but needed to know the composition, mandate
and authority before taking a decision. He reminded the
Ambassador that Sudan would use any excuse to place a
"pro-Arab" regime in N'djamena. The Government of Chad has
proposed moving the Sudanese refugee camps further away from
the border with Sudan in order to protect the refugees and to
put an end to allegations that the camps were being used as
bases by Sudanese rebels. End summary.
2. (SBU) The Ambassador met with President Deby November 29
for a forty-five minute discussion of security in Chad,
including the situation of refugees in eastern Chad and
Sudan's support for Chadian rebels. The Ambassador had
requested the meeting. Foreign Minister Allam-mi, and three
other presidential advisers were present.
3. (SBU) Referring to the recent visit of Foreign Minister
Allam-mi to Washington, the Ambassador expressed his hope
that there would be other high-level exchanges. President
Deby responded that this was his hope as well, noting the
importance of exchanging views given the current situation in
Chad. The Ambassador shared with President Deby sections of
the Department's most recent press guidance (reftel A) which
states that the United States supports the established
government of Chad, led by President Deby, condemns the use
of violence to achieve political goals, and urges all
Chadians to engage in dialogue to address political
grievance. He then turned to border issues, and stressed
that threats to Chadians, Sudanese refugees and humanitarian
workers were of deep concern to the United States Government
(USG). The Ambassador continued that it was important to put
in place an effective security force and requested the
President's views on such a force in light of the recent
declaration of a "state of war" with Sudan. The Ambassador
also queried the President as to whether it was possible to
encourage a dialogue to resolve conflicts, including with the
political opposition.
THREAT FROM DARFUR
-------------------
4. (SBU) President Deby commented that these were all
timely questions. Concerning political dialogue, he noted
that this issue had been discussed with Ambassador Yamamoto
during his recent visits. President Deby thanked the
Ambassador "from the bottom of his heart" for the information
contained in the press guidance and reminded him that Chad
had - since 2004 -- been trying to call to the attention of
the international community the threat that it faced from
Sudan. He noted that he had been the first African president
to welcome a UN force in Darfur. He had also early on asked
that the Darfur dossier be moved from the African Union (AU)
to the UN in view of the AU's failure to resolve the
situation (despite the AU's unhappiness with his position.)
Nonetheless, the Darfur crisis was still not resolved and
Sudan refused to allow UN forces into Darfur. Given that
Sudan had refused, UN forces could go through Chad and the
Central African Republic (CAR), but would that not be an
invitation to Sudan to seek "regime change" in Chad and CAR?
And, President Deby continued, would this not give the upper
hand to the "wahabists" who were the origins of the war in
Afghanistan and currently spilling blood in Iraq? Sudan, he
claimed, sought to put in place a pro-Arab regime in Chad and
then seek to resolve the Darfur crisis by force.
SUDANESE AGGRESSION - NOT A CHADIAN REBELLION
--------------------------------------------
5. (SBU) President Deby continued that he had little
patience for discussion of Chadian rebels. During the April
13 attacks the "chiefs" were Chadian, but the soldiers were
Sudanese or from other countries. How could one say that
this was a Chadian rebellion, given the nationality of the
soldiers, the origin of the weaponry and the uniforms? He was
willing to speak with the "political class" -- if they were
serious and had the best interests of the Chadian people at
heart. He had never refused dialogue with the political
opposition, but would not dialogue with mercenaries that
Sudan was placing in the east. President Deby commented that
Chad had experienced a similar situation in the eighties,
when the international community failed to recognize that
Chad was being occupied by Libya. He himself had traveled