DRC, UGANDA AND SOUTHERN SUDAN AGREE TO SHARE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000227 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO MOPS UG SU CG SUBJECT: DRC, UGANDA AND SOUTHERN SUDAN AGREE TO SHARE INFORMATION ON LRA ACTIVITIES Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Outgoing DRC Vice Minister of Defense Bernard Mena told us February 22 that the governments of the DRC, Uganda and Southern Sudan have agreed to share information regarding the activities and movements of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Mena said the agreement was reached after DRC President Joseph Kabila and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni discussed the issue during the December Great Lakes Security Conference in Nairobi. He added that Congolese military (FARDC) officials have had several follow-up discussions with their counterparts in January and February to work out the modalities of the accord. ¶2. (C) Mena denied recent media reports that the agreement includes joint military operations or verification teams. He stressed that it only allows intelligence-sharing to monitor LRA activities and is similar to the arrangement of the Tripartite Plus Fusion Cell involving the governments of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. He added that the GDRC has not granted Uganda or Southern Sudan the right of "hot pursuit" into the DRC to pursue LRA elements. ¶3. (C) Mena said an unknown number of LRA elements, including the group's leader Joseph Kony, are currently in Garamba National Park in a remote corner of northeast DRC. He said the group moves easily across the border areas because it enjoys the support of local tribes spread across all three countries. Mena did not indicate whether the FARDC had any immediate plans to initiate operations against the LRA but admitted the FARDC has few assets in the region. MEECE