BEMBA FLIES TO EUROPE TO TREAT BROKEN LEG

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001871 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG SUBJECT: BEMBA FLIES TO EUROPE TO TREAT BROKEN LEG REF: KINSHASA 1856 ¶1. (SBU) Presidential runner-up and transitional vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba apparently broke his left leg on December 15, necessitating his evacuation to Europe for specialist treatment. The local media reported that Bemba stumbled during a regular "exercise session" at his home on December 15. Contacts within Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC) political party corroborated the report and Bemba's departure from the DRC on December 17. Bemba is reported to be doing well, although his chief of staff stated that he needed crutches. MLC contacts have been unable or unwilling to provide details about Bemba's current whereabouts. ¶2. (SBU) Comment. The accident will not have any impact on Bemba's candidacy for a seat in the DRC's Senate. Much of the political action in Kinshasa has already slowed while the Supreme Court is deliberating on opposition challenges to the National Assembly's new internal rules (reftel). Bemba's absence will only make an already quiet period even quieter. End comment. DOUGHERTY