RUMORS OF ARREST OF AIR FORCE COMMANDER UNTRUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000870 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR CG SUBJECT: RUMORS OF ARREST OF AIR FORCE COMMANDER UNTRUE REF: KINSHASA 779 Classified By: Poloff Meghan Moore for Reasons 1.4 B and D ¶1. (C) Rumors of Air Force Commander General John Numbi's arrest, which turned out to be unsubstantiated, circulated widely in Kinshasa and throughout the country on May 24. Polcouns met with Numbi, who was not under house arrest as rumored, at his home the afternoon of May 24. Numbi told polcouns that the May 23 arrest of Roger Muyembo in Lubumbashi and his subsequent transfer to Kinshasa probably triggered the Numbi arrest rumors. (Note: Roger Muyembo, who reportedly escaped during the original investigation into the recent Katanga "secession plot," is a relative of Jean-Claude Muyembo, President of Solidarite Katangaise, and head of the Lubumbashi Bar Association who per reftel was implicated in the Lubumbashi investigation. End note.) Numbi added that Roger Muyembo had been brought to Kinshasa to provide key testimony in a public Katanga-related trial in the next few weeks. ¶2. (C) Numbi re-asserted that the President had sent him with National Security Advisor Samba Kaputo to help investigate recent events in Katanga, and showed polcouns an 'ordre de mission' indicating he was scheduled to go to Bukavu to "conduct a census of the Mai Mai and ensure their integration" into the national military. The General also told polcouns that he met with army chief General Kisempia and President Kabila May 23 to start to identify trusted military officers who will in turn identify "problem military elements" in preparation for possible June 30-related trouble. ¶3. (C) Comment: Numbi seemed relaxed and unconcerned by the arrest rumors. Polcouns did not observe unusual activity in his neighborhood, saw no obvious surveillance, and only saw three young, lightly armed body guards. Numbi's "team player" pitch was less than convincing, and earlier reports of Numbi's arrest from Samba Kaputo's office suggest that the Presidency may indeed have seriously contemplated arresting the general. End comment. MEECE