LRA UPDATE: BACK IN SUDAN?

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001686

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2015
TAGS: PREL KPKO PGOV MARR CG UG
SUBJECT: LRA UPDATE: BACK IN SUDAN?

REF: KINSHASA 1677 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: DCM TDougherty for reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) As reported reftel, MONUC and FARDC officials traveled
to Aba the morning of October 7 in order to present a "last
chance" disarmament proposal to LRA forces that crossed into
the DRC from Sudan on September 19. When the MONUC team, led
by MONUC political section chief (and acting director of the
Bunia office) Charles Gomis arrived in Aba, the LRA forces
had already left. Villagers reported that the last of the
LRA elements had departed the previous day, apparently
heading north in the direction of the border with Sudan.

2 (C) Albrecht Conze, deputy chief of MONUC's political
section, told DCM that General Kisempia, FARDC Army
Commander, likewise advised MONUC that LRA forces had left
Aba and had crossed the border back into Sudan. Kisempia
apparently claimed that at least one group of FARDC soldiers
had witnessed some LRA forces crossing the border.


3. (C) Conze told DCM that MONUC plans a reconnaissance
flight on October 8 in the hope of determining the
whereabouts of the LRA forces.


4. (C) Comment: The only thing that is clear is that the
LRA forces have left Aba. The border area and the Garamba
National Park are heavily forested, making aerial
reconnaissance difficult. We believe it plausible that Otti
and the LRA forces with him, faced with two FARDC battalions
supported by MONUC, may well have decided they are better off
back in Sudan. With widespread reports of SPLA and UPDF
forces on the other side of the Congolese border, however,
it is of course also plausible that Otti's group - squeezed
between a rock and a hard place - may have temporarily gone
into the bush in or around Garamba. End comment.
MEECE