MLC CONTINUES EFFORTS TO DISCREDIT KABILA VIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001411 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2016 TAGS: ENRG EMIN KGIT ETRD PREL PGOV IAEA CG SUBJECT: MLC CONTINUES EFFORTS TO DISCREDIT KABILA VIA URANIUM TRAFFICKING CLAIMS REF: A. KINSHASA 1309 ¶B. KINSHASA 1391 ¶C. KINSHASA 1392 ¶D. KINSHASA 1390 Classified By: EconOff W. Brafman for reasons 1.4 b/d/e. ¶1. (C) DRC Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba's political party, the MLC, appears to be continuing its campaign to discredit and undermine President Joseph Kabila by trying to convince the international community that the Presidency is illegally trafficking enriched uranium (reftel A). ¶2. (C) On September 4, Bemba's Director of Strategy, David Katalay, told EconOff that Kabila's administration is selling uranium to Iran, and that Presidential Guard units (GSSP) are systematically mining uranium at the DRC's Shinkolobwe uranium mine, which was officially closed by presidential decree in 2004. Unbeknownst to Katalay, the same EconOff visited Shinkolobwe in early August and found it to be abandoned (reftel B). ¶3. (C) Katalay also offered to help U.S. officials recover two containers, allegedly holding enriched uranium, that he says a friend named "Leonard" acquired during the Mobutu era. He showed EconOff photos of these containers, which looked nearly identical to the three non-radioactive containers stored at the DRC's Kinshasa Nuclear Research Center (CREN-K) (reftel C). Katalay said he wants to help the U.S. recover the uranium to "prevent it from falling into the hands of terrorists," but he added that Leonard would have to be paid for the containers. ¶4. (C) However, the GDRC continues to deny, both publicly and privately, involvement in uranium trafficking. In addition to the denials Post has already reported (reftels A,D),EconOff contacts in Lubumbashi at the DRC's customs agency (OFIDA) and office of export-import control (OCC) claim the Times article is based on information that MLC officials have fabricated. Comment -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Despite persistent rumors and purported proof, Post still has no credible evidence to support London's August 6 Sunday Times article that alleged that the DRC exported uranium from Shinkolobwe and that Tanzanian authorities intercepted a shipment. End comment. MEECE