SITREP 4: KINSHASA FIGHTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001319 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2016 TAGS: PGOV ASEC CASC KPKO CG SUBJECT: SITREP 4: KINSHASA FIGHTING REF: A. KINSHASA 1318 ¶B. KINSHASA 1317 ¶C. KINSHASA 1316 Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) The Ambassador called DCM at 1840 local time from Bemba's residence to report that MONUC Force Commander General Babacar Gaye had arrived at the compound around 1820 to discuss arrangements to extricate CIAT ambassadors. Gaye said he had arrived with four APCs, but it was unclear if those vehicles remained at the residence when he left around ¶1835. Gaye reported he had spoken before arriving to General Kisempia who, along with others, said he was agreeable to a cease-fire. Bemba said he was concerned that once the CIAT ambassadors leave the residence, he will not have adequate security and an attack on him would be launched. Bemba told Gaye he sought assurances that sufficient forces (presumably MONUC peacekeepers) would be left to provide security. Gaye left the residence to make further arrangements. As of 1930 local time, no action had been taken to extricate the ambassadors but MONUC and EUFOR forces are apparently deployed at the residence. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador reported that Gaye has been speaking with General Kisempia, who said he has been sent by President Kabila personally to put an end to the fighting. Gaye, who had been speaking on the phone with Kisempia, passed the phone to Bemba so the two could talk. The Ambassador further reported that the first order of business at the moment is to arrange a case-fire and a respect for the disposition of forces. ¶3. (C) Bemba claimed to CIAT members that he had advance information of an attack. SRSG Swing said that he had informed members of the presidency that CIAT would be meeting at Bemba's residence at 1530 local time. According to the Ambassador, Bemba's manner and language indicate he is genuinely fearful of the situation. ¶4. (C) The Ambassador reported that no gunfire had been heard in the area for some 20 minutes before his phone call. There were some small arms fire and a small explosion while General Gaye was in the residence, however. ¶5. (C) European Union Force (EUFOR) troops were reportedly in the area around the Supreme Court in support of the MONUC peacekeepers, but Post has no immediate confirmation of their location. ¶6. (C) PolCouns called the Embassy at 1838 to report that she had heard more gunfire from her location in Gombe, and that soldiers were forming near her position. It was unclear to whom the troops belonged. ¶7. (C) At approximately 1822 local time, ARSO received a report from the security director of a company in Kinshasa that some GSSP forces were entering private compounds in the western section of the Gombe neighborhood to conduct searches, presumably for MLC security forces. An AmCit living the same area conveyed a report to ARSO that though his own house had come under fire, he was not aware of any compounds being breached. A mission AmCit who lives in the area also was unaware of any troops entering residential compounds. ¶8. (C) A local staff member called the Embassy around 1850 to report that shots were heard in the area near the Palais du Marbre in a neighborhood outside of Gombe. Reliable reports shortly thereafter indicated that all was quiet and that there was no shooting in the area. ¶9. (C) Post has confirmed that the SN Brussels flight scheduled to arrive in Kinshasa this evening will not land. It will presumably return to Europe from its intermediate destination in Douala, Cameroon. MEECE