VZCZCXRO1479
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1007 1900517
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 080517Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1257
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001007
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: ADMINISTRATOR FOR ABYEI STILL TO BE DETERMINED
1. (SBU) Summary: Consul General Juba paid an office call on Arop
Moyak Monytoc, Chairman of the Southern Sudan DDR Commission and
potential new Abyei Administrator. Moyak confirmed that GOSS
President Salva Kiir had called him to discuss his willingness to
take on the job, but indicated that it had not yet actually been
offered to him. Moyak himself said he favored the selection of
incumbent Edward Lino for the position, although he told Kiir he
would accept the appointment if offered. He further said that it
was not the NCP who opposed Lino, that there is bad blood between
Kiir and Lino, and that many in the SPLM, with the exception of
Moyak himself and FM Deng Alor, are opposed to a Lino appointment.
End Summary
2. (SBU) On July 7 ConGen met with SSDDRC Chairman Arop Moyak
Monytoc to discuss the rumor that he might be named the new
Administrator for Abyei. Moyak confirmed that GOSS President Kiir
had called him to discuss the job, but he had not actually been
offered it yet.
3. (SBU) Moyak described the Administrator's position as a difficult
challenge. Originally from Abyei himself, he said the people there
are losing confidence in the CPA, and they felt the GOSS had let
them down. In addition, "UNMIS has no teeth and no one recognizes
their authority." Critical to turning this situation around, he
said, is reestablishing security in Abyei. The SPLA is already
almost entirely out of the region, and the SAF is slowly starting to
leave. Before an Administrator could take up his role, however, the
SAF had to finish their evacuation and the town needed to be
demined.
4. (SBU) Asked about the possibility of a Misseriya taking on the
Deputy Administrator slot, Moyak answered emphatically that was not
possible. "They are not a part of Abyei," he said. "None of them
are native to Abyei." There were many Arab traders with long
standing ties to the town, whose children had been born there, and
they were welcome to participate in the community and the
government. The Misseriya were not, although they were welcome to
continue to drive their cattle through the region unmolested, as
they had always done, on the way to their seasonal grazing fields to
the south.
5. (SBU) Moyak continued that he was by no means the only candidate
for the Administrator's position. Edward Lino was still in the
running, and he, Moyak, personally supported his selection. He said
he had suggested him to Kiir, but that Lino was now unpopular in the
region and with many in the SPLM because it was thought he had
created the situation that led to the fighting in May. Further, he
said that there was bad blood between Lino and Kiir, he was not sure
why, but he thought it went back to something that had happened
between them many years before. It was only the intervention of FM
Deng Alor that had convinced Kiir to make Lino the Administrator for
Abyei previously. He (Moyak) and Deng Alor still do support his
selection, however, Moyak said.
6. (SBU) Comment: We have heard previously that Lino had lost favor
in the SPLM. Although Moyak would seem to be a natural choice to
replace him in Abyei, Presidential Minister Luka Biong Deng just two
days ago indicated that he did not believe Moyak would get the nod.
Given FM Alor's advocacy for Lino, there appears to be a struggle in
the SPLM itself over who to choose that could be more bruising than
any difference with the NCP over the subject. However, if an
Administrator is not selected soon, the Abyei Road Map Agreement
schedule will slip dangerously further than it already has,
increasing the potential for near term conflict. We will continue
to encourage the parties to seek creative solutions to this impasse
on the question of the Abyei deputy administrator.
FERNANDEZ