DEMARCHE TO CONGOLESE GOVERNMENT ON

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000678

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PBTS PTER MOPS RW UG CG
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO CONGOLESE GOVERNMENT ON
SECURITY IN THE EAST

REF: (A) STATE 85414; (B) KINSHASA 630


1. (U) Per instructions ref (A),Ambassador met August 14 with
National Security Advisor Lufunda Kaumba and Deputy Interior
Minister Joseph Mpango Okundo. Interior Minister Denis Kalume
dropped out at the last minute and sent his deputy (Mpango Okundo)
instead. Also present were DCM Brock and Goma TDY poloff Rankin.
(Note: Kalume and Kaumba were both invited because the GDRC's
political effort to combat/contain insurgent groups in the east has
been effectively divided between the Amani process and the Nairobi
process. Kalume, as chair of the Amani Process Steering Committee,
is the appropriate contact for matters relating to the CNDP, while
Presidential advisors Kaumba and Ambassador Seraphin Ngwej, who is
currently on vacation, are the appropriate contacts for all matters
regarding the FDLR. End note.)


2. (SBU) Ambassador went over talking points as contained ref (A).
Kaumba, who spoke more often, more forcefully, and with greater
nuance (but without anger) than Mpango Okundo, made the case that
collaboration between the GDRC and the FDLR was at best illogical as
the presence of the FDLR in Congolese territory had resulted in
great prejudice and suffering to the populations in the east of the
DRC. He acknowledged that some Congolese officials at lower levels
may be "in collusion" with the FDLR but denied emphatically that
this was the case with individuals at the policy level. Ambassador
and DCM referred to the persistence of perceptions that GDRC is not
really interested in removing the FDLR from areas where it operates
with impunity and called on GDRC to step up its efforts to
demobilize more FDLR troops. Ambassador and DCM also mentioned that
the view in Kigali regarding the July 31 ceremony in Kisiki in which
65 FDLR/RUD troops had laid down there weapons was derisory.


3. (SBU) Unperturbed, Kaumba attributed the lack of progress with
the FDLR to inadequate funding from the international community,
which would have to foot the bill for setting up a processing camp
with minimal living standards so that the FDLR would have an
incentive to leave the bush. He also noted that he is planning a
scouting trip of a few FDLR leaders to Rwanda so they could see for
themselves that the conditions in that country are ripe for their
return. When they reported back to the rank and file still in the
bush, he said, a great number of FDLR soldiers would rush to
demobilize and return to Rwanda. Kaumba also acknowledged that many
FDLR would not choose to repatriate to Rwanda; they would not come
out of the bush until offered a safe place to resettle. He called
for the holding of a conference with third nations (several European
countries, plus Zambia, Tanzania and Morocco were mentioned) in
attendance to offer resettlement slots for FDLR troops unwilling to
repatriate.


4. (SBU) Comment: Very little was achieved as a result of this
demarche other than, perhaps, to convey that we are not fully
convinced that the GDRC is as innocent as it says it is in regard to
"collusion" with the FDLR. Kaumba's point about the lack of funding
to entice FDLR soldiers from leaving the bush, where they can at
least make a living through artisanal mining or other informal
economic activities, is hard to challenge. End comment.

GARVELINK