Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
01KINSHASA461
2001-01-26 10:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH JOSEPH KABILA

Tags:  PREL PGOV CG 
pdf how-to read a cable
O 261003Z JAN 01
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8826
INFO SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 
AMEMBASSY KIGALI 
AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 
AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000461 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2010
TAGS: PREL PGOV CG
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH JOSEPH KABILA

CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR WILLIAM LACY SWING FOR REASONS
1.5(B)(D)


------------------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000461

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2010
TAGS: PREL PGOV CG
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH JOSEPH KABILA

CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR WILLIAM LACY SWING FOR REASONS
1.5(B)(D)


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1. (C) SUMMARY:
--------------

AMBASSADOR SWING MET WITH PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE JOSEPH KABILA
FOR AN HOUR LATE AFTERNOON OF JANUARY 25 AT KABILA'S OAU
VILLAGE OFFICE. THE AMBASSADOR PRESENTED KABILA WITH
PRESIDENT BUSH'S MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE AND OFFERED HIS OWN
VERBAL CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT LAURENT KABILA.
THE AMBASSADOR ALSO GAVE KABILA THE INVITATION TO THE
CONGRESSIONAL NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST ON FEBRUARY 1; KABILA
SAID HE UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF PARTICIPATING AND
PROMISED HIS ANSWER JANUARY 26. THE AMBASSADOR OUTLINED THE
CONSIDERATIONS UNDERLYING THE EMBASSY'S DRAWDOWN. KABILA
STRESSED THROUGHOUT THE TALK HIS PREOCCUPATION WITH THE WAR
AND THE SUFFERING OF THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE; APPEALED FOR MONUC
TO DEPLOY AND FOR RWANDAN AND UGANDAN TROOPS TO DEPART.
KABILA GAVE THE IMPRESSION OF BEING SEIZED WITH THE HEAVY
RESPONSIBILITY HE HAS INHERITED, AND ACUTELY AWARE OF THE
LEGITIMACY ISSUE POSED BY HIS SELECTION, WHICH SEEMS TO
INCLINE HIM TOWARD A POLICY OF GREATER OPENNESS WITH REGARD
TO THE PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROCESS. END SUMMARY.

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2. (C) A "PATRIOT WHO SYMBOLIZED OUR HOPES"
--------------

THE AMBASSADOR, UNACCOMPANIED, MET WITH JOSEPH KABILA FOR AN
HOUR ON JANUARY 25. FOREIGN MINISTER OKITUNDU, PRESIDENT
CABINET DIRECTOR GEORGES BUSE AND STATE SECURITY COUNCIL
CHIEF NONO LUTULA WERE ALSO PRESENT.

THE AMBASSADOR BEGAN BY PRESENTING PRESIDENT BUSH'S
CONDOLENCE MESSAGE TO KABILA, FOR WHICH KABILA EXPRESSED WARM
APPRECIATION. IN RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S MESSAGE AND
THE AMBASSADOR'S VERBAL CONDOLENCES, JOSEPH KABILA DESCRIBED
HIS LATE FATHER AS A "PATRIOT WHO SYMBOLIZED THE CONGOLESE
PEOPLE'S HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS WHICH WE MUST NOW SHOULDER."
THIS WILL NOT BE EASY, HE SAID, BUT "WE ARE BOUND BY THE
REALITIES WE FACE TO FIND SOLUTIONS."

--------------

3. (C) KNITTING THE CONGO BACK INTO THE
WORLD'S FABRIC
--------------

PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE KABILA EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF
"MAKING CONTACTS" WITH A WORLD "THAT IS CHANGING FAST." IN
THIS REGARD HE SAID THAT ALREADY SINCE HIS FATHER'S DEATH AND
PARTICULARLY AT THE FUNERAL THIS WEEK, HE HAD SPOKEN WITH
"MANY" FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES, EACH WITH A SOMEWHAT

DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT ON HOW BEST TO ADDRESS CONGO'S PROBLEMS.
FOR HIMSELF, THE MOST ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IS TO FIND A WAY TO
END THE WAR. THIS MEANS GETTING THE OCCUPYING ARMIES OUT OF
THE DRC, AND IN THIS REGARD THE WORLD COMMUNITY, AND MOST
ESPECIALLY THE U.S. AS ITS STRONGEST MEMBER, HAVE A SPECIAL
RESPONSIBILITY. EARLY ELECTIONS, WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL TO
DEMOCRACY, ARE BEING DELAYED BECAUSE THE COUNTRY IS
"OCCUPIED."

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4. (C) WAR'S FRUITS: "MAYHEM,
DESTRUCTION AND REFUGEES"
--------------

THE DRC HAS NOW BEEN UNDER "OCCUPATION," HE CONTINUED, FOR
NEARLY THREE YEARS. AS A RESULT, THERE HAS BEEN "MUCH MAYHEM
-- DESTRUCTION, MURDER, AND THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES AND
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS." THERE WERE NO CONGOLESE
REFUGEES BEFORE THE WAR, HE ASSERTED, BUT TODAY CONGOLESE ARE
FLEEING FROM BUNIA, FOR EXAMPLE, INTO UGANDA.

RWANDA AND UGANDA JUSTIFY THE PRESENCE OF THEIR ARMIES IN THE
CONGO ON THE GROUNDS THAT THEY MUST COMBAT THE SECURITY
THREAT WHICH THE INTERAHAMWE POSES, KABILA SAID. THE
INTERAHAMWE ARGUMENT CANNOT BE USED, HOWEVER, TO EXPLAIN WHY
RWANDAN AND UGANDAN FORCES ARE SO DEEP INSIDE CONGOLESE
TERRITORY, MORE THAN A THOUSAND KILOMETERS FROM THEIR
BORDERS; NOR WILL THE INTERAHAMWE CLAIM ADEQUATELY JUSTIFY
RWANDA'S AND UGANDA'S "RIPPING OFF" THE DRC'S NATURAL
RESOURCES FOR WHICH, HE OBSERVED, A SPECIAL UN COMMISSION OF
INQUIRY HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.

--------------

5. (C) RAISING CONGO WAR'S PROFILE
--------------

THE WORLD SPEAKS ONLY OF THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE, BUT DOES NOT
MENTION THAT 1.7 MILLION CONGOLESE ARE SAID TO HAVE DIED IN
THE CONGO AS A RESULT OF THE CURRENT WAR. "LET'S NOT LET
LAURENT KABILA DIE FOR NOTHING." RATHER, HE SAID, KABILA'S
LIFE AND DEATH WERE A "PEACE OFFERING." HE URGED THE U.S TO
LOOK AT THE CONGO "IN A WIDER CONTEXT OF THE GREAT LAKES
SUB-REGION," WHICH, HE SAID, IS WHAT HIS LATE FATHER WAS
DOING "LET JUSTICE BE DONE," HE SAID. FOR THIS TO HAPPEN,
THE U.S. MUST TAKE ITS CONGO POLICY TO A "HIGHER LEVEL."

WHEN THEY MET, KABILA SAID HE HAD ASKED UN SRSG MORJANE WHERE
THE UN TROOPS ARE. FROM LATTER'S RESPONSE, KABILA SAID, HE
HAD THE SENSE THAT THEY ARE STILL A LONG WAYS OFF. KABILA
APPEALED TO THE AMBASSADOR FOR THE U.S. TO PUT "PRESSURE" ON
RWANDA, UGANDA AND BURUNDI TO WITHDRAW THEIR TROOPS FROM THE
DRC. THEY SHOULD BE CONFRONTED AS TO WHY THEIR TROOPS ARE IN
THE CONGO, THEN TOLD THAT EITHER THEY LEAVE, OR RISK
INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS.

--------------

6. (C) POSSIBLE PRAYER BREAKFAST
PARTICIPATION
--------------

PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE KABILA EXPRESSED APPRECIATION FOR THE
CONGRESSIONAL INVITATION TO THE ANNUAL NATIONAL PRAYER
BREAKFAST ON FEBRUARY 1. HE AGREED THAT THIS REPRESENTS A
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY, TOO GOOD TO BE PASSED UP. ON THE OTHER
HAND, HE POINTED OUT THAT HIS PRIMARY CONCERN AT THE MOMENT
IS FOR THE SECURITY AND STABILITY OF THE CONGO. THEREFORE,
HE WOULD HAVE TO CONSULT WITH HIS CABINET COLLEAGUES; HE SAID
THEY WOULD NEED TWELVE HOURS IN ORDER "TO STUDY" THE
INVITATION. HE ASKED FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON THE PROGRAM AND
A LIST OF THE OTHER FOREIGN HEADS OF STATE INVITED.

--------------

7. (C) EMBASSY DRAWDOWN PRECAUTIONARY
AND TEMPORARY
--------------

THE AMBASSADOR SAID HE THOUGHT IT IMPORTANT TO CLARIFY THE
CONSIDERATIONS UNDERLYING THE EMBASSY'S CURRENT DRAWDOWN OF
ITS PERSONNEL COMPLEMENT. HE DESCRIBED THE DRAWDOWN AS A
"PRECAUTIONARY, PRUDENT" MEASURE. THE DRAWDOWN IS TEMPORARY,
NOT PERMANENT, AND IS NOT AN EVACUATION. THE AMBASSADOR
EMPHASIZED THAT THIS ACTION DOES NOT IN ANY WAY REFLECT ANY
LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT HAS
HANDLED THE AFFAIRS OF STATE SINCE KABILA'S DEATH; IN FACT,
HE SAID, HE AND THE DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY GENERALLY HAD BEEN
IMPRESSED WITH THEIR SMOOTH HANDLING OF THE TRANSITION.

--------------

8. (C) COMMENT:
--------------

ON THE EVE OF HIS OFFICIAL INAUGURATION AS PRESIDENT AND
SUCCESSOR TO HIS SLAIN FATHER, JOSEPH KABILA, WHOM THE
AMBASSADOR HAD LAST SEEN IN NOVEMBER, MADE THE IMPRESSION OF
ONE WHO SENSES THAT, INEXORABLY, THE COMPLEX BURDENS OF THIS
VAST, BELEAGUERED COUNTRY ARE COMING TO REST ON HIS
SHOULDERS. VARIOUS INTERESTS WITHIN THE DISPARATE,
INTERNALLY-COMPETING AND OFTEN CONTRADICTORY POWER STRUCTURE
ARE ALREADY VYING FOR HIS TIME AND ATTENTION AS THEY SEEK AT
LEAST TO RETAIN, AND TO INCREASE IF POSSIBLE WHATEVER
INFLUENCE THEY MAY HAVE HAD WITH HIS FATHER -- HENCE, THE
THREE SENIOR PARTICIPANTS AT THE MEETING, FOR EXAMPLE. THIS
PERHAPS ALSO EXPLAINS JOSEPH KABILA'S INSISTENCE ON USING
ENGLISH THROUGH MOST OF THE CONVERSATION (A LANGUAGE IN WHICH
NONE OF THE OTHER THREE PARTICIPANTS IS VERSED),ALTHOUGH HIS
FRENCH IS FLUENT.

ALTHOUGH AT FIRST IMPRESSION SHY, THE PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE IS
SOFT-SPOKEN, BUT SELF-ASSURED AND ARTICULATE. HE PROJECTS
THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE AN APPEALING, PROFESSIONAL IMAGE FOR
HIS COUNTRY. HIS ACUTE AWARENESS OF THE LEGITIMACY ISSUE AND
HIS OWN LIMITED EXPERIENCE MAY WELL INCLINE HIM TO REACH OUT
AND OPEN UP THE POLITICAL PROCESS, SET A REASONABLE DATE FOR
ELECTIONS, EVEN THOUGH MAKING THESE CONTINGENT UPON ALL OF
THE BELLIGERENTS AND THE "INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S"
SUCCESSFULLY SUING FOR PEACE AND A WITHDRAWAL OF RWANDAN AND
UGANDAN FORCES.

KABILA IMMEDIATELY GRASPED THE IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY WHICH
THE PRAYER BREAKFAST INVITATION REPRESENTS FOR THE DRC. HE
IS AGONIZING, HOWEVER, OVER THE DILEMMA OF SQUARING THIS
TRIP, LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER HIS INAUGURATION, WITH HIS TOP
IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE OF MAINTAINING STABILITY AND CALM IN THE
WAKE OF FATHER LAURENT KABILA'S ASSASSINATION.

SWING