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Summary and Comment
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1. (SBU) In a heated meeting with Humanitarian Affairs
Commissioner Hassibo, Charge and USAID Farnsworth raised
the new NGO law, Egeland, NRC, fuel and the SOFA. Charge
noted the contrast between the constructive work being
accomplished in Abuja (with the energetic help of the
USG), and Sudan's very negative policies and actions vis-
-vis humanitarian aid. Today's UNSC meeting with
Egeland would not be pleasant for Sudan's public image.
Charge urged that some of these policies be reviewed and
changed. In his responses, Hassibo was somewhat flexible
in tone on some issues, but combative and rigid on the
issues of the NRC (they will never be let back in) and
Egeland (whose push to visit violated all norms of
respect for sovereignty). He said that the GNU had
formed committees to sort out whether the U.N. Status of
Forces Agreement (SOFA) applied to all U.N. personnel.
2. (SBU) During his more heated remarks, Hassibo surely
reflected an element of the NCP establishment that
resents what it considers the increased intrusiveness and
push of the international community. He repeated often
that recent international actions (sending a formal
letter on the NGO law, NRC misdeeds, Egeland) show a lack
of respect for Sudan's sovereignty and are simply
unacceptable to Sudan. His views no doubt represent
those of Sudan's leaders for whom pride and sense of
sovereignty are today outweighing the costs of increased
international opprobrium and isolation. End Summary and
Comment.
Hassibo instructed not to see "diplomats"
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3. (SBU) USAID FSN had preceded Charge and USAID
Farnsworth to the meeting with Humanitarian aid
commissioner Hassibo abdel Rahman, and called to say that
Hassibo had just told him he could not meet with
"diplomats," but only with USAID. As Charge was already
in the car with Farnsworth, they proceeded to the
meeting. In the event, Hassibo received us without
comment. (Hassibo is the hard-line NCP face of the HAC;
the SPLM Minister was not present.)
Contrasting GOS policies
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4. (SBU) Charge opened the meeting by noting that there
were two patterns of Khartoum's policies seemingly
pulling in opposite directions. For the first time in
seven rounds, it seemed that real progress was being made
in Abuja. The fact that VP Taha was in his second week
there, and Charge Hume in his fifth, was testament to the
hard work being done. It also illustrated the good will
on the part of the USG to help Sudan solve the Darfur
crisis. In contrast, however, were Sudan's systematic
and repeated attempts to obstruct humanitarian aid.
Prohibiting Egeland from visiting and kicking the NRC out
of Kalma camp were seen by the international community as
proof of Sudan's negative attitudes. In fact, Sudan
would be in for some very tough public critique later in
the day when Egeland addressed the UNSC. Aside from
harming the delivery of aid to those in need, and
violating international norms, these were self-inflicted
wounds, noted the Charge. Asked for his comments,
Hasibo said he would wait to hear our entire demarche.
NGO Law
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5. (SBU) In responding to our points on the new NGO law,
the Commissioner complained that the international
community's protest constituted interference in Sudan's
internal affairs. The Commissioner stated that many
donors have funded individuals who have no organization
and are not registered with the Humanitarian Aid
Commission (HAC), which is unacceptable. The GNU needs
to know where the money is going. The Commissioner
stated that civil society should approach government
directly to complain about the law; to date only the
international community has done so. The Commissioner
also complained that NGOs are engaged in "political acts"
when they ask Embassy representatives to intervene when
problems arise. (Note: According to the law, political
acts are grounds expulsion from Sudan. End note.) HAC
KHARTOUM 00000949 002.4 OF 003
avoided response to questions about backlogs in reviewing
proposals as stipulated under the new law, but stated
that HAC would welcome technical assistance, even from
USAID, to help implement the law appropriately. (We and
the UN will follow up.)
NRC
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6. (SBU) Before we could raise the issue of the
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the Commissioner
launched into a near tirade. He stated that there is no
chance for NRC to return to Kalma camp -- none. He was
scathing about their behavior, using words like
"intelligence" and "information gathering." He intimated
that NRC knew what it had done that so annoyed the GOS
and local authorities, but he would not elaborate with
us. He noted that more than 10,000 humanitarians work in
Darfur and 280 international NGOS are present in Sudan,
and asked why the international community made such a
"big deal" about NRC. From the GNU's perspective, NRC
had not acted properly in South Darfur. Moreover, NRC
was not implementing any activities in Kalma camp. (Note:
This is inaccurate; NRC implemented teacher-training
programs in Kalma.) The Commissioner emphasized that the
government has a right make such a decision. The Cabinet
of Ministers of South Darfur made the decision - even the
President cannot contest the decision. He did not, in
the end, however, discount the possibility for another
camp coordinator. We said a coordinator was essential.
Egeland
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7. (SBU) In another heated monologue, the Commissioner
stated that the GNU has the right to say no to Egeland's
visit because the timing was inconvenient. The
international community should not think it could do
whatever it wants. It was made clear, he said, that the
timing was wrong and Egeland flew into and around the
south without permission. Sudan's sovereignty could not
be violated in this manner.
Fuel
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8. (SBU) The Commissioner clearly did not want to
discuss this issue, saying only that local HAC offices
could facilitate special fuel movement requests, which
National Security must clear. These will be handled on a
case-by-case basis.
UN SOFA
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9. (SBU) The government agrees to the UNMIS limited
mandate, which is to assist the parties to implement the
peace process. UNMIS is allowed to operate in the agreed
upon areas and the military and civilian staff assigned
to UNMIS can benefit from the privilege of the SOFA
agreement. U.N. agencies operating under pre-existing
arrangements can only benefit from SOFA-type freedom of
movement if separately arranged through tri-partite
agreements. Pronk's role as overall coordinator of the
U.N. system does not cancel other GNU-U.N. agreements.
In Darfur, the role of the mission is to support AMIS;
SOFA should not apply to all U.N. agencies in Darfur.
The GNU has created cabinet-level committee of ministers
from Humanitarian Affairs, Justice, Internal Affairs,
Federal Affairs, and Defense to sort out the issue. The
Commissioner is heading a separate technical committee.
The GNU position is to allow U.N. agencies to continue
working while the SOFA is discussed; however, this means
that U.N. staff would need travel permits.
A Parting Shot
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10. (SBU) In closing the meeting, the Commissioner
reiterated that HAC would welcome USAID technical
assistance. The Commissioner stated that the new NGO law
meant that organizations like USAID would now need
technical agreements with the Ministry of Humanitarian
Affairs, just as NGOs have technical agreements with
ministry partners. The unstated implication is that this
would permit the HAC to regulate whom USAID funds. We
reminded him that our technical agreement dating from
1958 is with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but he said
this will now have to change with implementation of the
NGO law. The Commissioner has raised this previously.
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STEINFELD