Cablegate: Chad: Report From Bahai As Un Staff Draw Down
VZCZCXRO9538
RR RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHNJ #1405/01 3412015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 072015Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4672
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0884
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 001405
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PREF PHUM SU PGOV CD
SUBJECT: CHAD: REPORT FROM BAHAI AS UN STAFF DRAW DOWN
REF: NDJAMENA 1215
1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Typically an area of activity between the
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the National Redemption
Front (NRF) rebels, Bahai was eerily quiet December 5-7, as
the town and nearby Oure Cassoni refugee camp prepared for
the December 7 departure of United Nations essential staff.
NRF rebels maintained an uncharacteristically low profile
both in Bahai and in Oure Cassoni amidst rumors that they
were reinforcing a column of Chadian National Forces (ANT)
moving toward Tine. At least 16 ANT vehicles were observed
December 7 from Abeche in the direction of Biltine, which
UFDD rebels are reportedly occupying. UNHCR Abeche
speculates, however, that the Chadian rebels are continuing
their trend of drawing the ANT around eastern Chad, likely
toward Am Zoer and Guereda, in an effort to tire them out so
that rebels could eventually reach N'Djamena. UNHCR Abeche
assesses there is no real threat to Abeche in the next 24
hours. END SUMMARY.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NRF KEEPING LOW PROFILE IN BAHAI
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2. (SBU) Normally a mainstay of the population of the
northern town of Bahai on Chad's eastern border, as well as
of the refugee camp Oure Cassoni, NRF rebels were few and
far between from December 5-7. Poloff observed a small
group of NRF with family members in Oure Cassoni December 5
and a larger group visiting a comrade in Bahai Hospital
after having been wounded in fighting around Lake Kariyari
in early October. UNHCR Bahai agreed the NRF presence had
diminished in the city since the attacks last month in
Abeche and in recent weeks in Guereda, and speculated that
this absence was connected to a reinforced ANT presence most
recently seen in a column moving toward the strategic market
town of Tine.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NO IMMEDIATE DANGER TO ABECHE, SAYS UNHCR
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3. (SBU) Poloff observed a column of at least 16 ANT
vehicles on the road from Abeche to Biltine on the morning
of December 7; more ANT trucks and forces were observed
later in central Abeche, having just arrived from Adre en
route to Biltine. UFDD rebels reportedly occupied Biltine
but were alleged to be moving from the city southwest in the
direction of Oum Hadjer, which would provide them easier
access to their re-supply bases around Am Dam and Goz Beida.
UNHCR Abeche received a report December 7 that Chadian
rebels (possibly RAC) were leaving Biltine for Guereda, from
which ANT forces were allegedly vacating in the direction of
Am Zoer; UNHCR Guereda staff still in the town were
contemplating evacuation by road from the city. UNHCR
Abeche told Poloff that Mahamat Nouri informed the Abeche
office his rebel group had no plans to re-occupy Abeche, and
UNCHR assessed that there was no immediate threat to the
town.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BAHAI BRACED FOR HUMANITARIAN DRAWDOWN
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
4. (SBU) Upon orders from Geneva and New York Headquarters,
UNHCR Bahai reduced its staff from 17 to four as of December
7. Refugees in Oure Cassoni camp were unfazed by the move,
with camp leaders going so far as to invite the humanitarian
community into Oure Cassoni itself if they were in need of
protection, adding that the camp (with its base of NRF
protectors) was the safest place for the humanitarians to
be. The Chadian refugee agency (CNAR) assured that Oure
Cassoni operations would continue unchanged, despite the
reduced humanitarian presence (NOTE: ACTED and IRC continue
to maintain a presence in Bahai. END NOTE). CNAR, however,
was noticeably absent on the opening day of food
distribution in Oure Cassoni on December 5 and refused to
assist with the continuation of distribution on December 6,
arguing it was not CNAR's responsibility to do so, despite
the reduced humanitarian presence. Distribution
nevertheless proceeded without major incident through
December 7, with only one last-minute change in the method
of doling out rations to families.
- - - - - - - - - -
SAF WANTS TO GO HOME
- - - - - - - - - -
5. (SBU) During a December 6 visit to Bahai Hospital,
Poloff spoke with the approximately 30 SAF soldiers still
recuperating from injuries sustained during October 7
NDJAMENA 00001405 002 OF 002
fighting around Lake Kariyari (reftel cited above). All SAF
with whom Poloff spoke were unanimous in their desire to
return to Sudan and to get word back to their families in
Sudan of their status, noting that they had had no such
contact for the two months of their incapacitation. They
were also unanimous in their disillusionment with the
Sudanese Government of National Unity, which, some
contended, was "corrupt" and responsible for perpetrating
the war in Darfur, most recently in dispatching the
Janjaweed against rebels of the Sudanese Liberation Movement
faction of Mini Minnawi in El Fasher. IRC administrators of
the Bahai Hospital confirmed an absence of animosity or
incidents among SAF and NRF patients sharing rooms, due
perhaps to a shared disenchantment with the Khartoum regime.
6. (U) Tripoli minimize considered. WALL