SITREP 23: PEACEKEEPERS INCREASED, SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001340 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2016 TAGS: PGOV ASEC CASC KPKO CG SUBJECT: SITREP 23: PEACEKEEPERS INCREASED, SECURITY IMPROVING IN KINSHASA (8/23 1430 LOCAL TIME) REF: KINSHASA 1339 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) MONUC reports that an additional company of South African troops has been dispatched from Lubumbashi to reinforce the three MONUC battalions already deployed in Kinshasa. ¶2. (C) The DATT confirmed that around 200 troops were dispatched from Gabon to supplement the 1000 present in Kinshasa. The first arrival of new troops included two German platoons, one Dutch platoon, and an unspecified number of French special forces. ¶3. (C) Air Force Chief of Staff and Kabila loyalist John Numbi told PolCouns that his personal security force and the GSSP were respecting the cease-fire order issued last night. Numbi said there had been looting in the area near his compound (where some fighting was taking place August 21-22) and near the Supreme Court building. Most of the looting, he said, was being done by shegues (Congolese street gangs),who had also been engaged in sporadic clashes with Congolese police. Numbi said MLC troops have mostly pulled back to their previous positions in the city. Numbi claimed President Kabila called him this morning and asked him to make sure "the city stays quiet." ¶4. (C) Numbi also claimed Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba has requested that the airport in either Gemena or Mbandaka (both in his home province of Equateur) be opened so that he could travel today. Numbi said he denied the request. ¶5. (U) The UN Security Council released a statement August 22 expressing its "serious concern" about the violence and looting in Kinshasa over the past days. The UNSC statement demanded that the Congolese political leadership "exercise restraint and immediately implement the cease-fire agreed between their forces" and refrain from any further use of force or intimidation. The statement expressed the UNSC's hope that Kabila and Bemba would meet as soon as possible to defuse the current political tension. MEECE