KABILA MEETS WITH NORTH KIVU COMMUNITY LEADERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001828 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2016 TAGS: PGOV KPKO CG SUBJECT: KABILA MEETS WITH NORTH KIVU COMMUNITY LEADERS REF: A. KINSHASA 1815 ¶B. KINSHASA 1787 Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) President Joseph Kabila concluded his unannounced visit to North Kivu December 2. The visit, which began November 30 (ref A),included meetings with the Barazza interethnic regional council, community leaders, and residents of Sake, which had seen fighting between the FARDC and forces loyal to Nkunda (ref B). ¶2. (C) Victor Ngezayo, a leading Tutsi businessman, told us he and 30 other community leaders met with Kabila December 1. The meeting included the brother of Musafiri Mayogi, the Tutsi businessman whose shooting by PNC officers triggered the fighting. Ngezayo said he told Kabila that the territory held by Nkunda is the only place where the Tutsi community can move freely, without being subject to harassment by the national police, intelligence services, and FARDC. He said he reiterated long-standing Tutsi concerns about amnesty for Nkunda and the return of Tutsi refugees from Rwanda. Ngezayo said Kabila was attentive and favored a political solution over a military one. ¶3. (C) On December 2, Kabila met with the North Kivu Brigade Commander and the MONUC-Goma Head of Office and chief of political affairs. According to internal MONUC reporting, Kabila said he expected community leaders to convey several messages to "appropriate people." He offered his personal word that Nkunda could come out of his stronghold and be assured of his security. (Note: Ngezayo claimed the security offer also extended to Bosco Ntaganda, a renegade soldier formerly associated with the Union of Congolese Patriots in Ituri District, who has allegedly collaborated with Nkunda. End note.) ¶4. (C) Per MONUC, Kabila told community leaders that amnesty for Nkunda is a legal issue that required national assembly legislation. Kabila told MONUC it was the responsibility of community leaders to convince the 81st and 83rd Brigades to report for integration into the FARDC. By December 4, eleven of Nkunda's senior officers, including his chief of operations, had turned themselves in to UN peacekeepers for integration. (septel). ¶5. (C) According to MONUC internal reporting, Kabila conveyed to the community leaders that no individual tribe would be allowed to maintain armed elements for the protection of specific groups; the only way ahead was to continue the process of integration so that the national government could provide security for all. ¶6. (C) Kabila told MONUC he expected renegade General Laurent Nkunda to "come out" within the next 2-3 days, and he anticipated that his overtures to Nkunda through the Barazza would yield positive results by December 10. ¶7. (C) Kabila made no comments to the press during his visit, but PPRD Secretary General Vital Kamerhe told AFP "the president has come to tell the population of North Kivu that there will be no negotiation with Nkunda. He needs to step aside or we will hit him hard." In fact, MONUC reporting has Kabila saying that if he did not receive a favorable response from Nkunda, exercising the military option could not be ruled out. ¶8. (C) Deputy SRSG Haile Menkerios, who headed the MONUC/GDRC delegation to the area, told the Ambassador November 4 that he was encouraged that Kabila appeared to clearly understand that the situation in North Kivu requires a political, not a military, solution. Menkerios noted that Kabila has a convenient cover for political action that would avoid accusations from critics that he is pandering to the Tutsi community or to Rwanda. It is by now clear that Nandes will likely dominate the North Kivu provincial assembly and future provincial government. Kabila can offer needed and useful reassurances to the multiple ethnic minority groups in North Kivu regarding their rights and security, contributing to an overall calming of tensions and conveying a needed message to the key Tutsi community within the larger package. ¶9. (C) Comment: If Kabila conveyed to community leaders the same strong messages he reported to MONUC, many like Ngezayo were undoubtedly disappointed. They seek a long, negotiated political solution that will ensure the continued presence of Nkunda and troops loyal to him in North Kivu. Kabila prefers KINSHASA 00001828 002 OF 002 a swift resolution resulting in integration. The rapid request from several of Nkunda's senior people for MONUC to collect them for immediate inclusion into the integration and DDR program is a very hopeful sign, suggesting broad sentiment within the "renegade" forces to join the overall GDRC process, and weakening Nkunda's margin of maneuver. End comment. MEECE