BEMBA WEAPONS CACHE SEIZED IN EQUATEUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000389

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO MOPS PINR PINS UG TZ LY CG
SUBJECT: BEMBA WEAPONS CACHE SEIZED IN EQUATEUR

REF: KINSHASA 375

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


1. (C) Summary: MONUC and Congolese military (FARDC)
officials have seized an estimated 200 tons of weapons and
ammunition belonging to the forces of Jean-Pierre Bemba in
Equateur province. The cache, located in an abandoned soft
drink factory in Gbadolite, near the border with the CAR,
contained automatic rifles, machine guns, anti-aircraft
artillery, and rocket launchers, as well as ammunition,
grenades, bombs, and mortars. MONUC officials expect to find
more weapons at Bemba-controlled depots in Gbadolite and
Gemena. A first load of seized weapons has been transported
to Kinshasa for storage and eventual destruction. End summary.


2. (C) MONUC and FARDC officials seized March 26 in Equateur
province an arms cache belonging to the private armed forces
of former Vice President Bemba. They made the seizure
following the decision by Bemba's forces in Gbadolite to
integrate into the FARDC and hand over their weapons in the
wake of the defeat of Bemba's guard force in Kinshasa March
22-23 (reftel). MONUC officials reported approximately 225 of
Bemba,s men in the border town of Gbadolite chose to
integrate and handed over 677 weapons to military
authorities.


3. (C) Following their decision to integrate into the FARDC,
Bemba,s guard forces in Gbadolite led military investigators
to an abandoned Coca-Cola factory, long reported to be a
major arms depot. Officials found an estimated 200 tons of
arms and ammunition, including numerous heavy weapons in
apparently serviceable condition. An inventory of the
material seized, provided by MONUC, includes the following:

-- 424 AK-47 rifles;
-- 114 light and heavy machine guns;
-- 56 assault and automatic rifles;
-- 48 M16 rifles;
-- 45 canons of various sizes;
-- 6 anti-tank weapons;
-- 2 anti-aircraft guns;
-- 1,279 cases of various rounds, ranging in size from 7.62mm
to 23mm;
-- 307 cases of various rockets, ranging in size from 83mm to
107mm;
-- 6,427 bombs, ranging in size from 60mm to 120mm;
-- 20 missile systems; and
-- 3 ground-to-air missile systems.


4. (C) Johan Peleman of MONUC,s Joint Mission Analysis Cell
(JMAC) in Kinshasa, whose office has been monitoring the
weapons seizure, told us April 3 the cache in Gbadolite is
likely just the first of such discoveries. He said there are
at least two other suspected weapons caches in Gbadolite, and
investigators are just beginning their work further south in
Gemena.


5. (C) Peleman said an initial survey of the Gbadolite
seizure does not show the weapons were manufactured recently.
He said it appears most of the arms were delivered in
2000-2001. Peleman said he suspected international arms
dealer and Russian businessman Viktor Bout sold Bemba the
weapons during the DRC,s civil war.


6. (C) Post has obtained several photos of the arms cache.
Most of the munitions were covered in dust, and many were
stacked haphazardly throughout the factory. One photo showed
dozens of small bombs piled on top of one another along the
floor and in plastic soda crates. Several photos showed
weapons and cases with foreign markings, including lettering
in Arabic, Chinese, and Cyrillic. Several boxes of ammunition
were labeled "Ministry of Defense Uganda," and indicated the
shipments had transited Dar Es Salaam. Other boxes indicated
they had been shipped from Libya and at least one bore an
Iranian republic seal.


7. (C) The FARDC has begun transporting some of these weapons
to Kinshasa for storage and eventual destruction. A chartered
727 jet left Gbadolite April 2 with approximately 16 tons of
material, including more than a dozen rocket launchers and
some 13 tons of 107mm rockets. Peleman said MONUC would help
the FARDC identify a secure location to store the weapons in
Kinshasa. No date has been set for their destruction.


8. (C) Comment: The discovery of the weapons cache does not
come as a surprise, as its existence has been an open secret

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for years. The photographic evidence of these arms, however,
and the large quantities recovered, calls into question any
notion that Bemba sought to play the part of peaceful
political opposition leader during a Kabila-led government.
It will also be worth monitoring whatever emerges from serial
number and other investigative steps in terms of timing,
manufacture and shipment details of the arms and munitions.
End comment.
MEECE