KABILA-ROYCE MEETING: SECURITY AND STABILITY FIRST, THE REST WILL FOLLOW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001261

SIPDIS

H FOR KATHLEEN MOODY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2014
TAGS: ECON, OREP, PGOV, PREL, CG
SUBJECT: KABILA-ROYCE MEETING: SECURITY AND STABILITY
FIRST, THE REST WILL FOLLOW


Classified By: Econoff Peter Newman for reasons 1.5 b/d

1. (C) SUMMARY. Security and stability of the DRC were the
main areas of focus in a June 29 meeting between Rep. Ed
Royce (Chairman, House International Relations Subcommittee
on Africa) and President Kabila. Both Royce and Kabila
eschewed discussion of recent negative security events in the
DRC and instead spoke more of current initiatives such as the
USG sponsored quadripartite meetings and the recent Abuja
conference. However, Kabila made an effort to exculpate the
DRC from any blame in recent events (placing the blame on
Rwanda instead) as well as expressing his disappointment in
MONUC. END SUMMARY.

ON RWANDA AND THE VARIOUS SUMMITS

2. (C) Royce commended President Kabila on his pointed and
well organized performance at the Abuja bilateral summit with
Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Royce emphasized that from his
perspective, it was time for Rwanda to be part of the
solution, not part of the problem in bringing peace to the
DRC. Kabila attempted to put the recent events in context,
describing them as a testing of the transition, much as 17th
Century sailors had to test their ships against high seas to
see if they would survive. In his estimation, the test is
done and the transition will succeed. Furthermore, if any
other difficulties do come to pass, they will be due to
"outside" influence.

3. (C) Regarding the June 26 Abuja Summit, Kabila viewed it
as a step in the right direction and will serve as a model to
deal with other countries previously involved in the Congo
conflict (e.g. Uganda, Burundi). He specifically mentioned
that he took the opportunity to tell Kagame that Rwandan
interference in the DRC needed to stop.

4. (C) Additionally, the idea of the bilateral verification
mechanism developed in Abuja was well received in the DRC,
but he is waiting for a response from MONUC on the level of
logistical support it would be willing to provide. Kabila's
vision for the verification mechanism is of two small officer
commissions from both the DRC and Rwanda, traveling on MONUC.
He stated, "say that the problem is at Sake," (Note. This is
one of the rumored strongholds of BG Laurent Nkunda. End
Note),"then both officer commissions should fly to Sake and
investigate, then write reports. The same should be done if
we hear of Ex-FAR in Walungu." However, Kabila was quick to
shoot down any notion of the verification mechanism being
used to track Ex-FAR elements. His view was that it should be
more of a confidence building measure.

5. (C) Kabila was also positive on the USG initiative for
quadripartite talks and clearly expressed his desire that it
continue. (COMMENT. He appeared to be particularly interested
in making sure the quadripartite meetings scheduled for
mid-July take place. END COMMENT.)

MONUC AND ELECTIONS

6. (C) According to Kabila, Monuc does not have enough
direction and needs to better prioritize its tasks in support
of transition objectives. He outlined two primary tasks.
First is assisting the GDRC in extending security to the
troubled provinces. This would include DDR (for Congolese
combatants) and DDRRR (for foreign combatants) activities as
well as the aforementioned verification mechanism. Running
parallel to that task but heavily depending upon it, is
election preparations assistance, including working on the
independent electoral commission and voter registration. In
his opinion, there is no reason why Monuc should not start
preparing for elections, even though the Congolese
Nationality Law still must be approved by the GDRC.

7. (C) On elections, Royce highlighted the importance of
involving not only NGOs and civil society but also the
military in elections preparations. He pulled from his
experiences in election building in Nigeria with General
Abubakhar. Abubakhar told him that it was a military training
course to which he was invited at Ft. Benning that convinced
him that a constitutional and democratic approach was
worthwhile. Royce suggested that if there were qualified
Congolese officers, such experiences could be worked into the
context of military integration. Kabila agreed that this was
an interesting idea and would like for the Congolese military
to play a positive role. However, he noted the need for all
levels of the population to receive some form of education in
democratic governance and elections as they have not seen any
sort of election since 1960.

A SMATTERING OF INVESTMENT TALK
8. (C) Royce was also keen on speaking of increasing
investment in the DRC and praised Kabila's recent efforts at
the international level to promote stability, stating that
this type of progress is key to attracting investment. He
specifically noted the potential for a tourism industry to
blossom and bring much needed foreign exchange to the DRC.
However, security was still a concern. Kabila commented that
if he were in New York, London, etc. watching CNN, he would
not want to bring his money to the DRC. He was sensitive to
stability. However, in his opinion, investors must come to
understand that the GDRC is trying to maintain stability in
areas where the former government had control and slowly
extend its reach to the East. Not the entire country is in
chaos, and in fact, all is calm except for Bukavu. However,
Kabila did agree that security and stability must come first,
and the rest (e.g. economic development) would follow.

COMMENT

9. (C) Overall, Kabila seemed fairly engaged and responded to
all of Royce's questions and proposals. Kabila took the usual
line of blaming Rwanda for all of the problems in the Eastern
DRC. However, he emphasized that he is taking a proactive
route and is engaging the Rwandan government. Although some
of his comments were evidently made to attempt to drum up
support and funds for elections preparations, Kabila seemed
genuinely concerned that if elections do not come in 2005,
the population will be angered and the results "could be
catastrophic." Nevertheless, if one looks at the government
budget, it is obvious that Kabila's priorities do not lie in
military integration (received no funding and was not
mentioned by Kabila in the meeting with Royce) or elections
(receiving approximately USD 800,000 in 2004 when the current
working budget projection for elections runs to over USD 250
million).

10. (U) CODEL Royce did not have an opportunity to clear this
cable.
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