CONGOLESE AND ANGOLAN MINISTERS TO ATTEMPT RESOLUTION TO REMOTE BORDER DISPUTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000290 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS EMINCG AG CG SUBJECT: CONGOLESE AND ANGOLAN MINISTERS TO ATTEMPT RESOLUTION TO REMOTE BORDER DISPUTE Classified By: PolCouns DBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) Summary: Senior Congolese and Angolan officials plan to meet in Kinshasa this week to discuss a disputed frontier in a remote diamond-bearing area at the intersection of the provinces of Bandundu in the DRC and Lunda Norte in Angola. Angolan troops reportedly entered the area on January 29, and Congolese government officials profess shock to learn that the Angolans claim the land as their own. The dispute centers on differences between surveys conducted in the 1880s and 1970s. Both sides say they are committed to a bilateral solution, and have been attempting to avoid any suggestion of trouble between the two allies. End summary. ¶2. (C) A high-level delegation reportedly led by the Angolan foreign and interior ministers is expected in Kinshasa March 13 for talks aimed at resolving a border dispute between the two countries. The issue has been an object of public concern in Kinshasa since February 19, when Interior Minister Denis Kalume reported an "incursion" into a remote area of Bandundu province's Kahemba territory by Angolan forces. The incident, although the subject of indignant and nationalist protests in the Congolese media, has received little attention in the international press. ¶3. (SBU) The planned meeting follows findings by a joint Congolese-Angolan commission led by the governors of Bandundu (DRC) and Lunda Norte (Angola) which visited the area March 2-5. According to a March 10 public statement by Congolese National Assembly deputies native to the region, the commission confirmed the presence of Angolan forces in the area and reported the local population had fled. The same report claimed the troops moved into the area during the night of January 29. The Angolan Embassy in Kinshasa has consistently denied that there are any Angolan troops in DRC territory. ¶4. (SBU) The object of the dispute is a sliver of land located along the Kakamba River near the 7th parallel about 10 km deep into territory shown on DRC maps as Congolese, some 400 km south of Kikwit, the administrative center of Bandundu's Kwango district. Congolese members of the joint commission professed shock to discover that the Angolans claimed the land as their own. The deputies' statement reported that it encompasses 11 villaes, named as Shakadiate, Shahono, Hsahingi, Kabegele, Shamufua, Kambanguazi, Tshakala, Shayimbwana, Shahid, Kalumbandi and Shashindingi. Nationa Assembly Second Vice President Marc Mvwamba, a ative of Bandundu, was informed of the Angolan caim by telephone during a dicussion with PolOffs March 6, and cut the meeting short for an emergency meeting with Bandundu deputies. He claimed the Angolan forces had brought tanks with them, raised the Angolan flag and constructed a helicopter landing facility. The deputies' statement similarly noted the presence of "heavy arms," the flag and a helicopter pad. ¶5. (C) Both governments are mustering historical and technical sources to back their claims. Minister Godefroid Mayobo, Prime Minister Gizenga's chief of staff, told PolCouns February 26 that the government was reviewing colonial-era documents from the Belgian and Portuguese administrations to clarify the frontier. A Congolese politician told PolAsst that Angolan experts on the joint commission came equipped with maps and technical equipment to support their claim. News reports indicate Congolese experts returned to the area March 8 with additional documentation from geographic institute archives. ¶6. (C) Congolese officials believe the crux of the matter is a set of survey markers placed in the area in the 1970s by a team, apparently employed by an unnamed American firm, working from the Angolan side of the border. A close associate of Prime Minister Gizenga told PolCouns March 10 that the firm's surveyors marked out an area for potential mineral exploitation that straddled both sides of the river, which the DRC regards as the border. He said that the Angolan government claims that markers delineate the frontier; the Congolese position is that a series of geographic monuments erected during the colonial era mark the true border. Some of this information has appeared piecemeal in the media: the survey appears to have taken place in 1972 and the current dispute centers on location of a single monument dating from 1885. ¶7. (C) Both sides clearly want to resolve the issue KINSHASA 00000290 002 OF 002 bilaterally and avoid any adverse effects on Angolan-Congolese relations. MONUC's acting political adviser told PolCouns March 6 that the Angolan Charge had told him his government was committed to a bilateral solution, and was not contemplating action at the International Court of Justice. Defense Minister Chikez Diemu emphasized to the Ambassador March 8 that the presence of the Angolan troops was a serious matter, but neither he nor Interior Minister Kalume, both of whom are close to President Kabila, are saying so in public. The Gizenga adviser said that the prime minister, a native of Gungu Territory north of Kahenbe and with ethnic ties on both sides of the border, was concerned about the situation. He hoped that resolution would not only address the current dispute but also facilitate exchanges among members of communities separated by national frontiers. ¶8. (C) Comment: The Ambassador, along with other diplomatic colleagues, has stressed that the DRC would be well served to find a negotiated, peaceful bilateral solution to this dispute, or should that prove difficult, as a last resort have recourse to the International Court of Justice or other arbitration mechanism. The fact that the area may hold significant diamond deposits is likely relevant to the dispute. Relations between Luanda and Kinshasa have been very good ever since Angolan forces intervened on behalf of the Laurent Kabila government in 1996 to prevent the fall of Kinshasa, and both capitals have reason to maintain good relations. The Kabila government is taking care to avoid any condemnation of Angola. (Congolese Information Minister Toussaint Tshilombo even went so far as to claim to the Voice of America March 8 that the Angolan troops were tracking Cabindan separatists, in an area hundreds of miles from the enclave and with no discernible transport or ethnic links to it.) The hope on both sides is that a satisfactory resolution to the issue can be reached during the visit to Kinshasa by the Angolan delegation. End comment. MEECE