MANDATE OVER, EUFOR TROOPS BEGIN PULLING OUT OF DRC

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001816 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2016 TAGS: PGOV KPKO MOPS ASEC CG SUBJECT: MANDATE OVER, EUFOR TROOPS BEGIN PULLING OUT OF DRC Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Summary: The four-month mandate of the European Union force (EUFOR) deployment to the DRC officially ended at midnight November 30. The first flight of troops left Kinshasa for Gabon the same evening, and EUFOR has ended its security patrols in the capital. EUFOR officials said the majority of EUFOR troops will be out of the country by December 19. End summary. ¶2. (U) EUFOR's four-month mandate in the DRC officially ended at midnight November 30. Its mission began in late July immediately before the country's first-round presidential and legislative elections July 30. Approximately 1,200 troops, including support staff, had been stationed in Kinshasa. Though some EUFOR soldiers will remain on the ground in Kinshasa for some time, EUFOR officials have said the mission will not be authorized to intervene in case of any future violence. ¶3. (C) EUFOR's director of its Combined Joint Operations Center, Lt. Col. Stephane Pau, told us the first flight of troops out of the capital took place the evening of November ¶30. Pau said part of a French company flew to Libreville, Gabon, where EUFOR has a forward base. Redeployment will continue for the next two weeks; Pau estimated that by December 19, the majority of EUFOR troops will be out of the country. EUFOR will then organize a convoy from Kinshasa to the port city of Matadi December 20-22 to ship out its heavier equipment. ¶4. (U) Pau said EUFOR conducted its last patrol in Kinshasa November 30. EUFOR troops, in cooperation with Congolese military, police and MONUC, had been monitoring the positions of forces loyal to President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. EUFOR had also assisted in enforcing a "weapons-free Kinshasa" agreement signed by Kabila's and Bemba's representatives in August. ¶5. (SBU) Pau told us EUFOR will still have a somewhat visible presence in Kinshasa, but not in the form of security patrols. He said those EUFOR personnel seen in the capital will be conducting "routine business," terminating contracts and carrying out other logistical orders. He stated there will be "very few" EUFOR personnel remaining in Kinshasa into ¶2007. ¶6. (C) Comment: EUFOR's mission in the DRC can be judged a qualified success. It played a helpful role in the August violence in Kinshasa, and its continued presence on the streets of Kinshasa provided a much-needed sense of security during the second-round electoral period and its aftermath. The mission's departure is not expected to provoke any further outbreaks of violence. End comment. MEECE