REPORTED KABILA REQUEST FOR INAUGURAL INVITATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 008515 SIPDIS FOR AF/C-CHARLES NEARY E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2010 TAGS: CG PGOV PREL SUBJECT: REPORTED KABILA REQUEST FOR INAUGURAL INVITATION CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR WILLIAM LACY SWING FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) (D) ¶1. (C) Retired Haitian General Herard Abraham phoned Ambassador Swing on December 21 to report the following: ¶2. (C) Abraham said that a friend of his named Beaulieu had contacted him from Brussels seeking Abraham's support with regard to what his friend described as a desire by Congolese (DRC) President Kabila, that he and his Minister of State Kakudji be invited to the inauguration of President-elect Bush. Kabila is eager, Abraham said, to establish good relations with the new US administration. ¶3. (C) The Ambassador expressed a personal opinion that such invitations are extremely limited and the possibility of obtaining one highly unlikely. The Ambassador agreed only to report the request to Washington for any appropriate action. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: General Abraham, who splits his time between Haiti and Miami (305-895-2354),was Haitian President Aristide's last Army Chief of Staff before the 1991 coup which overthrew Aristide. Well respected, Abraham was a good contact of Ambassador Swing's during latter's service in Haiti. How Abraham became a conduit for this reported request is unclear, however. SWING