RWANDA WILL NOT SEND TROOPS TO SOMALIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000073 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C/ AND PM EUCOM FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2017 TAGS: MOPS PREL UNSC RW ET KE SUBJECT: RWANDA WILL NOT SEND TROOPS TO SOMALIA Classified By: P0LOFF G LEARNED, REASONS 1.4 (B AND D) ¶1. (C) On 24 January State Minister for Cooperation Rosemary Museminali told Ambassador that while the GOR might be willing to support the African Union (AU) mission to Somalia with training or civilian police (civpol) support, it is "disinclined" to send Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) soldiers. A 23-24 January visit to Kigali by Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG) President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed did not appear to persuade President Kagame to commit RDF troops to an AU mission in Somalia. (Note. Ahmed was due to fly from Kigali directly to Tripoli via a GOL plane. End note.) Museminali mentioned the current RDF deployment to Darfur as the principle reason for the decision but left the door open for a civpol deployment and/or RDF training support. (Note. Rwanda currently supports UN missions in Haiti, Liberia and Sudan with civpol and supports the AU mission in Darfur with civpol and RDF troops. End note.) ¶2. (C) Comment. An additional factor in the decision may be the Rwandans continued dissatisfaction with the AU and its poor performance on the military and political levels in Darfur. GOR civilian and military leadership regularly criticize the AU political and military leadership in Darfur. According to RDF officers, RDF troops have not received adequate logistical and medical support and are consistently paid several months late. When recently asked about a possible Somalia deployment a senior RDF officer told DATT that it was entirely a political decision but opined that the AU should not take on another Peace Support Operation when it is not competent to perform the one it has. End comment. ARIETTI