VZCZCXRO3042
OO RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHKUK RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0399/01 2591206
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161206Z SEP 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7233
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000399
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR AF/C AND S/USSES
NSC FOR GAVIN
LONDON FOR POL - LORD
PARIS FOR POL - BAIN AND KANEDA
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR AU
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF SU PHUM LY QA CD
SUBJECT: FORMIN FAKI SAYS CHAD ACTING RESPONSIBLY ON JEM,
CHAD-SUDAN, NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, AND CHILD SOLDIERS
REF: A. NDJAMENA 362
B. NDJAMENA 355
C. NDJAMENA 353
D. NDJAMENA 311
E. NDJAMENA 306
F. NDJAMENA 283
NDJAMENA 00000399 001.2 OF 002
1. (U) ACTION MESSAGE: This is an action message: See para
8.
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SUMMARY
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2. (SBU) Chad FORMIN Faki told Ambassador September 16 that
he was looking forward to representing Chad as Head of
Delegation at the UNGA and afterwards in Washington. Faki
said that Chad had continued to implement a coherent policy
regarding JEM, normalization of Chad-Sudan relations, and
reconciliation with Chad rebels, including child soldiers.
Chad had continued to act in good faith with its friends in
the international community as well as in Chad's own best
interests. The GoC had: Continued to press JEM to reach a
political solution in Darfur because "no military solution
was possible;" been talking to Sudan bilaterally on
normalizing relations, welcomed the idea of a Sudanese
delegation to Chad and bilateral meetings at UNGA and was
willing to go to Khartoum for the next meeting of the Dakar
Accord Contact Group; continued to welcome defectors from
Chad rebel groups and former opposition leaders back to Chad
(he cited Soubiane and Goukouni); and was working
increasingly closely with UNICEF with the goal of eliminating
child soldiers on Chadian soil. Faki said he looked forward
to talking to USG representatives in NY and that he would be
happy to consider meetings in the Department after his UNGA
duties were finished.
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CHAD-JEM
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3. (SBU) Faki said the GOC had continued to tell JEM that
there was "no possible military solution" to the Darfur
crisis, and to press Khalil Ibrahim to negotiate seriously
and rationally on all key issues, including sequencing
prisoner-release until after a cease-fire and giving up its
pretensions to be the "only actor" representing Darfur (Ref
E). Faki said that the GOC had "pressured" JEM to go to
Libya and work closely with Libyan mediators, as well as with
SE Gration's efforts.
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CHAD-SUDAN
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4. (SBU) Faki said that Chad remained open to nearly all
efforts to normalize its relations with Sudan. Most recently
Faki had discussed bilateral relations in Libya September 1
with Razi Saladdin, who had protested Sudanese good faith in
seeking rapprochement with Chad. Faki had told Razi that
Chad still had its doubts and that "the ball was still in
Sudan's court" regarding concrete steps toward a
rapprochement: Sudan to stop supporting Chad rebels, canton
them, and permit any who wished to return to Chad to do so.
Faki said that President Deby had agreed in Tripoli to a
Sudanese proposal to send a Razi-led delegation to N'Djamena
and that, despite that delegation never materializing, Faki
himself had agreed to meet with Razi in NY during the UNGA.
Faki said Chad welcomed the apparent decision of the Dakar
Accord Contact Group co-chairs Congo B and Libya to re-launch
efforts to implement the accord, and Faki was willing to
Khartoum, where the next Contact Group meeting should be held
(Refs D and F).
5. (SBU) The only things Chad would not/not do regarding
Sudan were: (A) Agree to a Bachir-Deby summit before/before
Chad-Sudan relations were fully normalized and guaranteed by
mediating powers; and (B) Renounce its position on the ICC's
indictment of Bachir. The former would hand Sudan a media
and diplomatic victory with no quid-pro-quo for Chad and the
latter would violate Chad's adherence to the ICC and its
NDJAMENA 00000399 002.2 OF 002
values. Apart from those conditions, Chad was willing to
discuss anything and everything regarding Chad-Sudan
relations.
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CHAD REBELS AND
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION
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6. (SBU) Faki said that the Chad rebel situation seemed to
be "calming down," with the defection of Ahmat Soubiane from
rebel ranks and the return to Chad of ex-President Goukouni
Oueddei marking significant progress (Refs B, C, and E).
Faki said that many rebels had defected individually and in
groups, and that Sudan had forcibly prevented the defection
August 30-31 of a large group of Mahamat Nouri's fighters,
and may have killed some of them. Faki noted renewed GOC
efforts to eliminate child soldiers on Chadian soil and
increased cooperation with UNICEF on this issue (Ref A).
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FAKI IN DC
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7. (SBU) Faki said he looked forward to talking to USG
representatives in NY and that he would be happy to consider
meetings in the Department after his UNGA duties were
finished. In DC he said he would participate in the Congo
Basin Forest meeting on the Hill and that he would dedicate
the new Chadian Embassy towards the end of this month.
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ACTION REQUEST
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8. (SBU) That the Department consider meetings in DC as
well as in NY for Faki, and that USG goals in all such
meetings reflect the totality of our interests in Chad and
the region. (We do not suggest that Faki ought to see the ame
USG officials he saw in July, but that some consideration of
other useful meetings for him would be a good idea.)
9. (U) Minimize considered.
NIGRO