INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Unmis Granted 14-Day Authority to Patrol Outside of Abyei

Published: Tue 8 Apr 2008 02:31 PM
VZCZCXRO6442
PP RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0543 0991431
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081431Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0504
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000543
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF S/E WILLIAMSON, AF/SPG
NSC FOR HUDSON AND PITTMAN
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO UN SU
SUBJECT: UNMIS GRANTED 14-DAY AUTHORITY TO PATROL OUTSIDE OF ABYEI
REFS: A. KHARTOUM 508
B. KHARTOUM 524
1. (U) On April 7, UNMIS Force Commander LTG Jasbiri Singh Lidder
announced that both Sudan's National Congress Party (NCP) and the
Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) have granted UNMIS
Authority to patrol freely within the Abyei area for 14 days.
Previously, UNMIS had been restricted to the town of Abyei by both
SAF and SPLA checkpoints on its outskirts and unable to patrol the
surrounding countryside. UNMIS now will be able to monitor and
report on any troop deployments throughout the Abyei region.
2. (SBU) Tensions have been rising in Abyei since the SPLM's
unilateral appointment of Edward Lino as SPLM Coordinator/Abyei
"Administrator." They sharply increased when Lino arrived in town
with a company-sized SPLA force and delivered an anti-Miseriyya
address to the Ngok Dinka community. They escalated further when
the SAF responded by deploying a reportedly-330 man force to the
town on March 31. There have been widespread, but unconfirmed,
rumors of an even larger SAF troop buildup to the north of Abyei
town and additional SPLA units moving into the area.
3. (SBU) COMMENT: During his April 2-3 visit to Abyei (refs), a
variety of contacts told CDA Fernandez that the greatest immediate
threat of violence stemmed from unsubstantiated rumors of ethnic
violence following the SPLA and SAF troop deployments and the
growing anxiety among the population. It is too early to determine
whether UNMIS will have the open access LTG Lidder claims, since
local commanders often restrict movement despite clearances given in
Khartoum. However if UNMIS is able to exercise its new authority,
even if only temporarily, it will provide a new measure of
transparency to the region's security situation and a check on
public hysteria. This will be even more significant if the two sides
fail on April 9, once again, to achieve a compromise on the troubled
region's borders.
FERNANDEZ
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