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