Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KINSHASA1664
2006-10-27 11:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:
NZANGA MOBUTU RETURNS TO KINSHASA AFTER VIOLENCE
how-toVZCZCXRO2186 PP RUEHMR RUEHRN DE RUEHKI #1664 3001150 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 271150Z OCT 06 FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5052 INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
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.
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
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