FOREIGN MINISTER BRIEFS DIPLOMATIC CORPS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000768 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF RW SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER BRIEFS DIPLOMATIC CORPS ON EASTERN CONGO REF: KIGALI 763 Classified By: DCM Cheryl Sim for Reason 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali briefed the local diplomatic corps October 29 on events in eastern Congo and the Government of Rwanda's (GOR) relations with the DRC. Museminali claimed that Rwandan armed forces had not fired in response to a Congolese armed forces (FARDC) rocket attack on Rwandan soil, and did not have troops in the DRC. The Government of Rwandan (GOR),she said, is talking to the Congolese government on the basis of existing agreements such as the Nairobi Accord and does not believe it is time for new summits or new agreements. Museminali and a team of Rwandan officials would leave immediately after the briefing for Kinshasa. While the GOR appreciated UN Security Council statements calling for the dismantling of the FDLR, she called for the focus of the international community to remain on the Congo - not Rwanda -- and the efforts of the Congolese government to halt fighting in the Kivus. Finally, she said the Rwanda Defense Forces were on a state of "high alert," and termed this a normal defensive posture for any nation facing chaotic conditions on its border. At the conclusion of the briefing, Ambassador privately commended Museminali for the Rwandan decision to travel to Kinshasa and urged Museminali to continue talking and meeting with the Congolese at the highest level. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) In an October 29 briefing to the diplomatic corps, Rwandan Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali, flanked by Great Lakes Special Envoy Ambassador Joseph Mutaboba and Information Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, spoke on events in the Kivus and relations between the GOR and the Congolese government (GDRC). Museminali denied that Rwandan forces had fired across the border in response to a Katusha rocket attack on Rwandan soil, an attack which she said injured one person and damaged buildings, including a school. Instead, she said, Rwandan military authorities had immediately contacted their Congolese counterparts, who halted the rocket attacks. Commenting on the "rumors" of Rwandan troops on Congolese soil, Museminali said that Rwandan had no troops there. "The CNDP is an internal Congolese problem," she said. Rwanda remained concerned by events there, especially given the presence of the FDLR and its integration into the FARDC, but the GDRC had the "first responsibility" to deal with them, she commented. She vigorously contested the new Dutch ambassador's suggestion that support of any type to the CNDP crosses the border. ¶3. (C) Noting the continuing outside "pressure" on Rwanda to speak with the GDRC, she said Rwanda had been talking to the GDRC, and would continue to do so on the basis of existing agreements, such as the Nairobi Accords (Note: the Mission understands Kabila and Kagame have now spoken four or five times in the last several days). Implementation of those previous agreements, not summits, new negotiations or new agreements, should be the focus of the two governments and the international community, she said. Immediately after the meeting, she and other Rwandan official would head for Kinshasa to meet face-to-face with Congolese officials. (Note: embassy understands that the delegation included Museminali, Mutobaba, National Security Service External QMuseminali, Mutobaba, National Security Service External Affairs Director Joseph Nzabamwita, RDF J2 (intelligence) General Musamekweli and support staff). She then commented that the focus of the international community should be on the GDRC to make peace in the Kivus, and not on Rwanda. ¶4. (C) Museminali welcomed statements by the Security Council calling for the dismantling of the FDLR, and called for "louder and clearer" messages to that effect. The RDF remained in a state of "high alert" regarding events in North Kivu, she said, and "any nation" facing such a threat, with the FDLR close to Rwandan territory, would adopt a similar defensive posture. In response to a pointed question from the UK Ambassador regarding a "unofficial paper" distributed during the meeting which contained some potentially inflammatory language (the final page termed Kabila "no longer a partner but rather an FDLR accomplice" - to be scanned to AF/C) A clearly embarrassed Museminali stated the document was a "background" piece and not an official statement of Rwandan policy. "If we were not partners we would not be going to Kinshasa," she said. ¶5. (C) Immediately after the briefing, in private comments to Museminali, Ambassador Symington commended Rwanda's willingness to travel to Kinshasa to discuss events in the Kivus, and he urged the GOR to regard this and other meetings with the Congolese at the highest levels as ongoing discussions rather than new negotiations or summits that might replace pre-existing agreements. "You need to keep talking to each other," he said. ¶6. (C) In separate discussions on October 29, DCM learned the GOR had requested the CNDP to desist from taking Goma. GOR sources confirmed the CNDP pulled back several kilometers from Goma, after having previously reached the outskirts of the town. These sources denied a report that RDF armored personnel carriers (APCs) had crossed the border, but did confirm that Rwandan forces returned fire when the FARDC bombarded Rwandan territory (note: RDF sources now say otherwise, indicating they cannot confirm that any of their troops actually returned fire). ¶7. (SBU) Separately, UNHCR head Annette Nyekan told us after the briefing that the 1200 Congolese who had crossed to Rwandan territory on October 29 had either returned to the DRC, or had moved in with friends and family members in and around Gisenyi -- the school they had been staying at (reftel) was now deserted. No new arrivals had been recorded. ¶8. (C) Comment. Since the new Congolese Foreign Minister met Kagame on October 28, we encouraged senior Rwandan officials to brief on developments rather than simply allowing the GDRC to inform the international community about what transpired in that meeting. As Museminali put it, the briefing was designed to give the international community an understanding of what is transpiring in the DRC from the GOR's perspective - and as such, there was really little new in her presentation. The handing out of the unofficial paper, however, was clearly a mistake. Nonetheless the Rwandan trip to Kinshasa is a very welcome counterpart to the quick trip to Kigali by the new Congolese Foreign Minister. End comment. SYMINGTON