NZANGA MOBUTU RETURNS TO KINSHASA AFTER VIOLENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001664 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPKO CG SUBJECT: NZANGA MOBUTU RETURNS TO KINSHASA AFTER VIOLENCE IN EQUATEUR Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Nzanga Mobutu is reportedly safe and en route to Kinshasa following violence October 26 in Gbadolite in Equateur province. Congolese military forces and MONUC peacekeepers re-established order after some looting and civil unrest in the late afternoon. Gbadolite is calm on October 27, with no further incidents reported. End summary. ¶2. (C) MONUC officials told us on October 26 that Nzanga Mobutu, who has been campaigning for President Joseph Kabila in Equateur province, arrived in his father's hometown of Gbadolite October 25. According to MONUC-Mbandaka political officer Oumarali Alissoutanov, Nzanga went the afternoon to the local office of Radio Liberte. The radio station, owned by Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba and apparently guarded by some of his security forces, has been broadcasting anti-Kabila and anti-Nzanga messages during the campaign. Shots were fired into the air, although it is unclear who fired first. ¶3. (C) Alissoutanov said Nzanga and two of his bodyguards were taken into the building for several hours after the shooting began. He said it was not clear if they were taken hostage or had taken refuge. The shooting generated looting and further shooting, allegedly by Bemba supporters. Alissoutanov said the house of Gbadolite's mayor, a member of Kabila's political party, was sacked, and the mayor and his family forced to flee. ¶4. (C) By 1600 local time, Congolese national army (FARDC) soldiers had arrived and taken up defensive positions in the town. Bemba's guards retreated to their barracks and MONUC peacekeepers also arrived to establish order. According to witnesses in the city, general calm had been restored by late afternoon, and the situation remains quiet as of 0900 October ¶27. ¶5. (C) Nzanga called the Ambassador the morning of October 27 to report that he and members of his entourage were unharmed and returning to Kinshasa that day. Nzanga sounded upset, describing the incident as an attack by a large number of armed Bemba forces on a smaller group of his security personnel. He said that he was with FARDC ground forces commander Major General Gabriel Amisi. He did not say why the Kinshasa-based Amisi was in Gbadolite or when he had arrived. ¶6. (C) Nzanga was particularly critical of former Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo and businessman Seti Yale, whom he blamed for sponsoring election-related violence in Equateur province. (Comment: Both a prominent Mobutu-era figures, both are wealthy and currently allied with Bemba's candidacy, and target the same northern Equateur constituency as Nzanga. End comment.) ¶7. (C) Nzanga said he had spent the night in the building house Radio Liberte, which apparently is owned by his family. He said that MONUC would be providing him an escort to the airport. MONUC officials in Kinshasa confirmed later that Nzanga had departed the city and was headed to Kinshasa. ¶8. (C) Press reports claim several people were killed in the shootings, including three of Bemba's security forces. Police sources said two Congolese police officers and one female civilian were wounded by gunfire. MONUC officials in Equateur province said October 27 they could not confirm the number of casualties. ¶9. (C) Comment: As with many security-related incidents in remote areas of the DRC, there are some questions as to what exactly happened in Gbadolite. Amisi's coincidental presence in Gbadolite seems curious, as do reported injuries among the reportedly much numerically larger armed attackers as opposed to Nzanga's defenders. The population of northern Equateur has felt under pressure since Nzanga's father, Mobutu Sese Seko, was forced to flee the country in 1997, with Equateurians largely resented by much of the population in the rest of the country. Now with various Mobutu Sese Seko-connected individuals competing for support among this group, it is clear that election-related tensions in the area are running high. End comment. MEECE