VZCZCXRO1245
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHDS #2895 3430948
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090948Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7090
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEWMFD/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7989
RUEPADJ/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 002895
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO,AF/E,AND S-USSES
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SU SO ER AU
SUBJECT: USAU MEETING WITH SOUTH SUDAN'S REPRESENTATIVE IN
ETHIOPIA
THIS MESSAGE IS FROM USAU AMBASSADOR BATTLE.
1. (SBU) On December 8 USAU Ambassador Battle and the U.S.
Charge to Ethiopia Mushingi attended a lunch hosted by the
French Ambassador to the African Union and Ethiopia,
Ambassador Jean-Christophe Belliard, and attended by
Ambassadors from the AU Partner Nations and the Sudan Head of
Mission for the Government of Southern Sudan in Addis Ababa,
Arop Deng Kuol.
2. (SBU) The intent of the meeting was to receive a report
from Kuol on the situation in Sudan in light of the
demonstrations held in Sudan on December 7, and the arrest of
Members of the Parliament (MP) and their subsequent release.
3. (SBU) Kuol stated that another demonstration is planned
for December 10,that will be supported by all political
parties to express the rights of the people to peacefully
demonstrate and to show displeasure with the unconstitutional
arrest of MPs. Other key points made by Kuol included:
-- dismay that the Government arrested MPs and that the
arrests had been ordered by the Attorney General;
-- dismay that it took two hours of conversation to convince
President Omar El-Bashir to release the arrested MPs;
-- dismay that a MP was assaulted during his arrest;
-- that there is a limited time for the current Parliament to
enact legislation that will enable a constitutional
democratic transformation. The deadline for enactment of
legislation is December 31,2009 otherwise all subsequent
action would be unconstitutional;
-- desire to repel the Laws on National Security as a
precondition for elections;
-- insistence that partner nations trust Sudan with its own
future to include the right for the South to break from the
North.
4. (SBU) It is important to note that Kuol supports the
African Union's participation in the implementation of the
CPA as long as the AU works in concert with IGAD.
5. (SBU) Kuol expressed that Ethiopia is the only African
nation with a vested interest in the success of both the
North and the South of Sudan and therefore has the confidence
of both the North and the South.
6. (SBU) Ambassador Belliard, who has served in Khartoum,
repeatedly stated that in the French perspective, Sudan is
the most pressing issue on the continent of Africa. He feared
an implosion. Kuol agreed that Sudan was the most pressing
issue on the Continent but he did not share the fear of an
implosion. The general consensus of the meeting was that the
elections will take place in 2010 and that the South will
break away after the referendum in 2011.
Eritrea Sanctions
-----------------
7. (SBU) The issue of U N sanctions on Eritrea was raised by
USAU Ambassador and the French Ambassador brushed off all
references to Eritrea by throwing both hands in the air.
MUSHINGI