PRESIDENT KAGAME MEETS WITH A/S FRAZER

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000334

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C AND AF/FO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2016
TAGS: KPKO PGOV PREL RW CG SU
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KAGAME MEETS WITH A/S FRAZER

Classified By: Poloff GLearned. Reason 1.4(d)


1. (SBU) Summary. On 6 April, A/S Frazer met with President
Kagame at his office on the presidential compound. Also in
attendance were Ambassador Arietti, Foreign Minister
Murigande, Chef du Cabinet Kabija, National Security Service
Director Ndahiro, AF Special Assistant Gaither and poloff.
Kagame offered insight on the improved relations between the
GOR and GDRC and the performance of MONUC. A/S Frazer
engaged Kagame on Sudan and U.S.-Rwanda bilateral issues
including democracy and governance, socio-economic
development and the Millennium Challenge Account. End
summary.

Eastern Congo, MONUC and Enticing Combatants Back to Rwanda
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2. (C) A/S Frazer opened the meeting with a recap of her
visit to the DRC and meeting with President Kabila. She
expressed satisfaction that the GDRC is taking the threat
posed by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
(FDLR) seriously but emphasized that the USG is still
pressing the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) and the GDRC to
become more aggressive in combating the FDLR. President
Kagame noted that MONUC seems to be more active in the Ituri
province of eastern Congo than in the Kivus. (Note. Ituri,
bordering Uganda, is the current location of negative foreign
forces of Ugandan origin. North and South Kivu, bordering
Rwanda and Burundi, are occupied by the FDLR and Burundian
FNL. The GOR regularly claims that MONUC spends more time and
efforts in Ituri pursuing smaller Ugandan groups than the
FDLR, the larger and more significant threat in the region.
End note.) A/S Frazer said that there seemed to be a
resurgence of militia action and an increased arms flow in
the Ituri region.


3. (C) Kagame rejected the suggestion that the GOR could do
more to encourage ex-combatants to return to Rwanda. He
noted that, in addition to regular radio broadcasts targeting
combatants, the GOR had sponsored trips of relatives to
eastern DRC to encourage combatants to return. Kagame
asserted that the GOR message that "the door is open to them"
is clear and he "can't think of what else to do".



4. (C) President Kagame expressed his satisfaction with the
status of communications with the GDRC and said that he
understands the limits of
both MONUC and the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC). He noted
that the improved political aspect of the relationship is
more important than the lack of military action against the
FDLR, which he said would be worked out over time. Kagame
said the most dangerous risk to Rwanda is outside support to
the FDLR, thus, the GDRC,s political support is more
important than the current poor execution of the few military
operations against the various negative forces in eastern
DRC.


5. (C) A/S Frazer noted that MONUC was discussing the option
of the inclusion of national units from countries like South
Africa and Angola. Kagame said that Minister Murigande had
discussed the issue with the GDRC in January 2005 and the GOR
had no problem with any force the GDRC wanted to choose as
long as the force is committed. (Note. The Foreign Minister
and the President's Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region
have given the same response when asked directly if the GOR
would have a problem with the deployment of Angolans to
eastern Congo. End note.) When asked about extending the
Tripartite Plus Commission past the original cessation date
of June 2006, President Kagame replied that he would support
whatever position the Congolese wanted.

The AU and Sudan
--------------


6. (C) A/S Frazer stated that President Bush is committed to
aiding the people of Darfur and protecting the North-South
peace agreement.
President Kagame agreed that the focus in Sudan should be to
"see the lives of the people preserved" and smiled
dismissively at Mu'ammar
Qadhafi's view that the USG was interested in Darfur only
because of oil. He said that the Rwandan forces on the
ground were discouraged by the lack of progress made by the
AU to help the people. A/S Frazer summarized the USG position
that the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) must be
re-hatted to a UN mission in order to increase the financing,
logistic support, and planning efforts required to achieve
the end-state of a force on the ground that is able to deter
attacks on civilians. She noted that NATO is already
helping, but, under the auspices of the UN, NATO support
could increase substantially. Kagame said he would consider
seconding Brigadier General Jean-Bosco Kazura if a formal
request was made by AU Mediator Dr. Salim Salim. (Note. BG
Kazura served as the AMIS Deputy Commander in 2005 and 2006.
End note.)


7. (C) Kagame agreed with A/S Frazer,s assessment that an
Abuja agreement is unlikely in one month and stated that the
GOS needs to be talked to directly, but not publicly. He
used Rwanda's experience with the UN to illustrate that it is
incumbent on the host nation to resolve its own problems
rather than rely on a UN mission. Kagame pointed out that
the GOR overcame its problem with the UN mission in Rwanda by
addressing and resolving the root problems, thus, eliminating
the need for the UN to remain. He noted that currently, the
GOS was neither working to resolve the problems on the ground
nor allowing the UN to do it.

Bilateral Relations
--------------


8. (C) When asked about bilateral issues, President Kagame
said there were no serious outstanding issues that needed to
be addressed. He said that the GOR,s priorities remained
socio-economic development and governance issues and while
the socio-economic development required help from partners,
the governance issues could be handled best internally. A/S
Frazer noted that good governance is an important priority
and must be included in the bi-lateral dialogue. She
observed that for Rwanda to qualify for Millennium Challenge
Account threshold status, it would have to change negative
perceptions as well as improve performance in areas such as
human rights and good governance. Kagame acknowledged the
importance of the relationship and emphasized that human
rights issues are an important priority for his government.
A/S Frazer and President Kagame agreed that Kagame's May trip
to the U.S. to visit President Bush would further improve the
relationship between the governments.
ARIETTI