SITREP 24: MONUC WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING (8/23 1500

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001341 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ASEC CASC KPKO CG SUBJECT: SITREP 24: MONUC WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING (8/23 1500 LOCAL TIME) REF: 1340 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (U) At MONUC's regular weekly press briefing, held at 1100 local time today, Press Spokesperson Kemal Saiki offered congratulations to the Congolese people on a peaceful election with massive turnout, to the two candidates who came out in the lead of the presidential elections, and to the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) for its surmounting of enormous logistical difficulties in conducting the elections. Saiki pledged MONUC support to the CEI and the Congolese people in organizing the second round of elections scheduled for October 29. ¶2. (U) Saiki said the will of the people must be respected. He explained that in a democracy, conflicts are settled by dialogue, not violence; and added that the situation of the past two days involved the security services of both Bemba and Kabila. ¶3. (U) According to the MONUC Spokesperson, the CIAT and the SRSG decided on Monday, August 21 to meet separately with the two parties to the conflict, beginning with Vice President Bemba. While they were in the meeting at Bemba's residence, shooting began, and Bemba moved the CIAT ambassadors and the SRSG to a more protected room. MONUC has not established with any certainty the origin of the confrontation. MONUC General Babacar Gaye directed a MONUC-EUFOR double operation to secure and evacuate the CIAT delegation, and this was conducted without difficulty. The international community worked throughout the night to resolve the crisis, and on the morning of Tuesday, August 22, the CIAT met with President Kabila. ¶4. (U) The MONUC Spokesperson said that from the two meetings, a decision was reached to create a working group to normalize the situation. The group was composed of the Minister of Defense, the Head of the FARDC, the Inspector General of the National Police, the Commander of the Republican Guard, the Military Advisor of the President, and officers of Bemba's guard, EUFOR, EUPOL, and MONUC. The group decided on the following immediate actions: --all FARDC troops deployed in the capital must return to their initial positions to re-establish the former status quo --the creation of two mixed verification teams to ensure the above took place --the Congolese National Police would be solely in charge of public order in Kinshasa and would restore patrols in the city with MONUC, EUFOR, and EUPOL --each of the two parties were urged to respect these measures. ¶5. (U) Saiki said that since August 22, the city seemed to have returned to a situation of normalcy and calm. He also noted that all other areas of the DRC, with the exception of Kinshasa, remained peaceful throughout the crisis. MONUC thanked everyone who helped resolve the situation successfully. MEECE