Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KINSHASA700
2006-05-04 15:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

MONUC INVESTIGATES UPDF INCURSIONS INTO DRC

Tags:  PREL KPKO MOPS CG SU UG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4346
PP RUEHMR
DE RUEHKI #0700/01 1241551
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 041551Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3804
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 SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000700 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2016
TAGS: PREL KPKO MOPS CG SU UG
SUBJECT: MONUC INVESTIGATES UPDF INCURSIONS INTO DRC

REF: KINSHASA 661

Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000700

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2016
TAGS: PREL KPKO MOPS CG SU UG
SUBJECT: MONUC INVESTIGATES UPDF INCURSIONS INTO DRC

REF: KINSHASA 661

Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) Summary: Following the reported April 25 incursion of
Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) troops into the DRC
near Aba (reftel),MONUC dispatched a joint verification
mission to the area to investigate. The MONUC team concluded
that elements of the UPDF had infiltrated DRC territory, but
the team could not determine the UPDF's motives for doing so,
as "no one could confirm the presence" of the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) in the area. Meanwhile, FARDC sources
near the DRC-Sudan border report that UPDF forces again
crossed into the DRC May 1. End summary.

--------------
RESULTS OF MONUC MISSION TO ABA
--------------


2. (C) MONUC sent a 10-person team of MONUC and Armed Forces
of the DRC (FARDC) personnel to Aba April 28 to investigate
reports of UPDF incursions into the DRC on April 25. FARDC
troops who were in the area reported that approximately 300
armed elements -- later discovered to be from the UPDF --
crossed into the DRC via the Aba-Lasso road on the DRC-Sudan
border. The UPDF forces had reportedly entered DRC territory
after engaging LRA elements in Sudan near the border with the
DRC. A FARDC patrol was subsequently dispatched to pursue the
infiltrators, eventually intercepting them near Adau (south
of Aba) on April 26. FARDC soldiers involved told the MONUC
team that the UPDF troops fired first on the Congolese
soldiers. The resulting firefight reportedly lasted more than
an hour until UPDF forces withdrew towards Sudan through
Langabe. Residents of Langabe told the MONUC team they saw
the retreating UPDF troops carrying three bodies wrapped in
military ponchos.


3. (C) The MONUC team interviewed FARDC Lt. Bertin Sagwa, who
led the operation on April 25. Sagwa reported that he and his
colleagues were positive the troops they engaged were from
the UPDF. FARDC troops stationed in the area were also asked
about the presence of LRA elements. According to these FARDC
troops, "no LRA elements were reported in their (area of
operation) since they had escorted Vincent Otti's group to

Sudan" in October 2005.


4. (C) The MONUC verification team reported that there
remains "little doubt" that UPDF troops entered the DRC April

25. The team reported that the UPDF's motives for the
incursion remain unclear, though, as "no one could confirm
the presence of LRA in the area." The team's report states
that the possibility exists that some LRA elements
infiltrated the DRC after the attacks in Lasso April 25 and
could have headed towards Morobo (in Sudan),crossing through
DRC territory.

--------------
NEW UPDF INCURSIONS INTO DRC
--------------


5. (C) FARDC officers subsequently reported to MONUC
officials that the UPDF has crossed into the DRC after the
April 25 incident. According to FARDC Aru Battalion Commander
Major Esongola, a UPDF border security officer visited the
FARDC position in Ingbokolo (approximately 40 miles north of
Aru) and warned the FARDC troops that UPDF forces would be
conducting patrols into the DRC "to deter LRA infiltration
into Uganda from Sudan through DRC." On May 2, Congolese
intelligence and FARDC forces were reportedly informed by
local sources that three UPDF platoons crossed into DRC
territory and patrolled Aru territory in the area of Adi
(approximately 40 miles north of Aru) on the night of May 1.
According to Esongola, the FARDC made contact with UPDF
commanders in Arua (Uganda) and warned them that the FARDC
would deter any incursion of "foreign armed elements". MONUC
military observers report that FARDC troops in Aru are now
attempting to find hard evidence of the UPDF's presence in
the DRC.


6. (C) FARDC officials also reported to MONUC that the UPDF
has deployed troops in the vicinity of Kengezi, an SPLA base
near the DRC-Sudan border (some 50 miles north of Aru). MONUC
military observers in Aru have also been informed by FARDC
commanders that the UPDF has deployed two battalions with
heavy equipment and new weapons on the Ugandan side close to
the border with the DRC. These reinforcements are reportedly
stationed in Alio-Tskau and Kampala village. While FARDC

KINSHASA 00000700 002 OF 002


officials said they did not know the intent of these new
troops, they said they believed their deployment was
"normal." MONUC officials, however, have said they believe
the UPDF is building up its troop level and is using the
threat of the LRA in the DRC "as a pretext to enter DRC
territory and protect their business interests, like the
illegal exploitation of wood and/or gold."

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


7. (C) The Ugandan threat to conduct independent patrols in
DRC territory is being taken seriously by the Congolese.
Although reliable information remains hard to come by in the
border areas, it appears some UPDF forces have crossed into
the DRC at least twice in the last week. End comment.
DOUGHERTY