From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Oct 01 2009 - 10:43:25 EDT
A Cold War Man, a Hot War and a Legal Gray Area
Reagan Aide's Dealings Raise Questions on Americans' Involvement With Sudan
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The government of Sudan, eager to curry favor with a U.S. government that
accused it of genocide, sought help last fall from an unlikely source: a
former Reagan administration official known for his role in the Iran-contra
scandal.
The approach by Sudanese officials led to a $1.3 million contract for former
national security adviser Robert "Bud" McFarlane, who went on to meet with
two of the Obama administration's top policymakers on Sudan and its
strife-torn Darfur region, according to documents and interviews.
The unusual talks between Sudan and McFarlane featured meetings in Middle
Eastern capitals, clandestine communications with Sudan's intelligence
service and a final agreement with the government of Qatar, which is
employing McFarlane as part of its peacemaking role in the eastern African
region.
The episode puts an old Cold War hand in the middle of the volatile
21st-century conflict in Sudan, whose president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir,
faces international war crimes charges for allegedly orchestrating a
campaign of murder, torture and forced expulsions in Darfur. The arrangement
also places McFarlane, 72, close to the edge of U.S. legal requirements,
which mandate disclosure of work for foreign governments and which prohibit
doing business with Sudan under sanctions first imposed in the 1990s.
McFarlane dismisses suggestions that he has done anything improper, saying
he has adhered to U.S. restrictions while focusing on his work to unify
feuding tribal leaders and help create jobs in Darfur.
His involvement, however, presents another serious complication for the
Obama administration, which is struggling to formulate a coherent policy on
Sudan amid disputes between the State Department and Sudan envoy J. Scott
Gration, who has signaled support for easing sanctions against the Khartoum
regime.
Top administration officials met Wednesday to continue a reassessment of
Sudan policy, but White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said no changes
are imminent. "The policy is being worked on," he said.
Copies of internal e-mails and other documents obtained by The Washington
Post portray a Sudanese government hoping to gain access to the new
administration to persuade Obama aides to lift sanctions and remove Sudan
from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. The strategy to approach
McFarlane was dubbed "Plan Tragacanth," named for a natural gum indigenous
to the Middle East.
The records show that a Sudanese diplomat played a central role in proposing
and securing McFarlane's contract with Qatar and that the diplomat was in
regular contact with Sudan's intelligence chief and other officials during
the negotiations. The documents also show that Sudanese officials discussed
the need to provide funds for McFarlane and others once an agreement was
complete, while McFarlane pledged to "work together" toward "restoring a
normal relationship between our two countries."
In written answers to questions from The Post, McFarlane characterized Sudan
as an intermediary in his negotiations with Qatar and said he has not
received money or entered any agreement with the Khartoum regime.
"In the course of this work, I have of necessity had periodic contact with
Sudanese officials," he wrote. "However, I do not now, nor have I ever had a
business or other affiliation with any part of the Government of Sudan."
McFarlane met with Gration and national security adviser James L. Jones
earlier this year about the Sudan conflict, but White House spokesman Tommy
Vietor said neither official approved of McFarlane's consulting plans.
"Both General Jones and U.S. Special Envoy Gration have had conversations
with Mr. McFarlane about the urgent need to improve the security situation
in Sudan and the need for development in southern Sudan," Vietor said.
"However, it is inaccurate to characterize those conversations as having
been about Mr. McFarlane seeking, or General Jones or U.S. Special Envoy
Gration providing, approval for Mr. McFarlane's efforts."
Neither McFarlane nor his firm, McFarlane Associates, in Arlington, has
registered as a lobbyist or foreign agent on behalf of Qatar or Sudan, or
received permission from the State Department to do business with Sudan.
Several legal experts said that while this is a gray area, the situation
appears to fall under the requirements of the Foreign Agents Registration
Act (FARA), which requires anyone acting on behalf of a foreign power to
file disclosures with the Justice Department. "Once you start talking to
U.S. officials, that's what normally would trigger the obligation to
register," said Joseph E. Sandler, a prominent Democratic lawyer and FARA
expert.
McFarlane said his lawyers concluded that registration was not necessary for
the Qatari contract.
Ghazi Salahuddin, a close Bashir adviser and negotiator for the ruling
National Congress Party, said during a recent interview in Khartoum that
McFarlane is not working for his government. But he acknowledged that the
former Reagan aide had talked with Mohammed H. Babiker, whom he described as
a "government official" previously involved in high-profile border talks
with southern Sudan.
"Any allusion to the possibility would be misguided," Salahuddin said,
referring to McFarlane working for the National Congress Party. "It would be
damaging to his reputation. And in the first place, it's not right."
Sudan is still reeling from a bloody 21-year civil war between the
Muslim-dominated north and the mostly Christian and animist south, which is
set to vote on independence in 2011. In a separate conflict in the western
region of Darfur, millions have been displaced amid massacres by
Khartoum-backed militias and continued fighting among rebel tribes.
John Prendergast, a former aide to President Bill Clinton and a prominent
Darfur expert, said McFarlane's nebulous role disrupted peace talks in
Ethiopia this summer, when, he said, one tribal leader backed by McFarlane
asked for $6 million in funding from Gration's office. He said the proposal
caused an angry uproar among other Darfur leaders and nearly derailed the
summit.
"When a paid consultant engages directly in the process in support of one of
the belligerents, with real question marks about whose agenda is being
served, that can be destabilizing," said Prendergast, who serves as co-chair
of the Enough Project, an anti-genocide group.
Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, said McFarlane's
activities are an example of the Bashir regime's "no-holds-barred PR
strategy."
"This apparent relationship with McFarlane just shows the extent to which
they will go to try to buy influence, especially with the United States," he
said.
McFarlane was a top foreign policy and national security adviser to
President Ronald Reagan until being waylaid by allegations of wrongdoing in
the Iran-contra affair. He pleaded guilty in 1988 to misdemeanor charges of
withholding information from Congress but was later pardoned by President
George H.W. Bush. He served as an adviser last year to the GOP presidential
nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
McFarlane said he became interested in Sudan during an interfaith trip to
the region with members of Congress in 2007, and he has done consulting work
in southern Sudan since then. In November 2008, McFarlane recounted in an
e-mail, he was approached by a former business partner, Albino Aboug, on
behalf of Sudan's government.
"Albino asked whether I was willing to discuss with senior representatives
from the Khartoum government how to foster negotiations between Khartoum and
the Darfur rebel groups and also how to move toward renewed diplomatic
negotiations between our countries," McFarlane wrote. "I agreed to do so."
In early January, Aboug and McFarlane met in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
with Babiker, who is currently stationed as a Sudanese diplomat in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia; it is unclear whether a Qatari representative was present,
and McFarlane declined to provide details. The Qatari Embassy in Washington
did not respond to telephone messages.
What followed was a month-long exchange of e-mails and documents between
McFarlane and Babiker, culminating with McFarlane's contract with Qatar.
Sudanese officials asked McFarlane to approach four former U.S. diplomats to
ask whether they were interested in assisting in the effort;
a proposed budget set aside $100,000 a month to pay them.
But all four men turned McFarlane down. Former Missouri senator and Sudan
envoy John Danforth said in an interview that he felt his involvement would
create "confusion" among the parties; another former envoy for President
George W. Bush, Rich Williamson, said, "It didn't make sense for me to get
involved."
Robert B. Oakley, a former ambassador to Somalia and Zaire who served as
Danforth's deputy, said McFarlane told him he was "trying to broker some
arrangements between the Sudanese government and the Obama administration."
"He's a wheeler-dealer," Oakley added. "I remember him from Iran-contra and
all the rest. I didn't get into it; I didn't want to, quite frankly."
During this time, Babiker was in regular communication with senior Sudanese
intelligence officials about McFarlane, the documents show.
The documents suggest that the parties were keen to avoid public links
between McFarlane and Sudan, with McFarlane stressing the need for a third
party such as Qatar.
Yet an Arabic-language memo from Babiker to an unidentified Sudanese
superior on Jan. 25 refers to the need to "provide the necessary money for
the activities of the group," according to a translation. A week later,
McFarlane sent an electronic copy of the proposed contract with Qatar to
Babiker "for your consideration" before it was signed, the documents show.
McFarlane also drafted a letter from Qatar inviting himself to the contract
signing, then sent the language to Babiker to pass on to Qatar for approval.
The final contract was signed in Doha, Qatar's capital, on Feb. 9 with
Sudanese officials present, according to the records.
McFarlane, whose salary under the contract is $410,400, according to a fee
schedule sent to Babiker, said he has "no basis for assuming" that Sudan is
funding any part of the contract.
Babiker confirmed his talks with McFarlane in an e-mail but did not respond
to a list of follow-up questions.
Staff writer Stephanie McCrummen in Khartoum and staff writer Michael A.
Fletcher and research director Alice Crites in Washington contributed to
this report.
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