EASTERN CONGO PEACE INITIATIVES FROM THE

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000930 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO CG SUBJECT: EASTERN CONGO PEACE INITIATIVES FROM THE EGLISE DU CHRIST AU CONGO AND THE INTER- NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GREAT LAKES REGION ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Two regional organizations, the Eglise du Christ au Congo and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR),have outlined initiatives to persuade Rwandan President Kagame and DRC President Kabila to meet. The ICGLR initiative would involve the mediation by another Head of State, possibly Tanzanian President Kikwite. End Summary. Eglise du Christ au Congo Initiative -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Eglise du Christ au Congo (ECC),an association of several Protestant churches, has been involved in facilitating discussions between the GDRC and the FDLR for several years. They were instrumental in persuading members of the armed group RUD to attend the May 2008 Kisangani conference that established a roadmap for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration activities. (Note: This roadmap has been overtaken by other initiatives. End Note.) The ECC was a key player in convincing approximately 70 RUD combatants to disarm on July 31 at Kasiki. The GDRC and the Norwegian Protestant Church have provided funding for the ECC to construct and maintain the Kasiki camp. At the forefront of the ECC is Bishop Jean-Luc Kuye-Ndondo, who interacts regularly with the Joint Monitoring Task Force. ¶3. (SBU) During an October 18 meeting with Goma Poloff, Kuye-Ndondo outlined an ECC initiative to facilitate a meeting between Presidents Kabila and Kagame. The initiative involves similar church conferences in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya, which are all part of the All Africa Conference of Churches, also known by its French name, Conference des Eglises de Toute l'Afrique (CETA). The current Secretary General of CETA, Dr. Andre Karamaga, is a Presbyterian theologian who is Rwandan Tutsi. Representatives from the five national church conferences will meet in Nairobi October 22-23 and again in Kampala November 13 to develop a strategy to try to get the Heads of State to meet under CETA aegis. International Conference on the Great Lakes Region -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR),comprising eleven countries, was formed in November 2004 to discuss security, stability, democracy, and development issues in the Great Lakes region. The ICGLR is a member of the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) that monitors implementation of the Nairobi Communique. However, due to logistical constraints, the ICGLR attends the weekly JMG meetings only occasionally. ¶5. (SBU) Goma poloff recently met separately with two ICGLR officials, Samuel Shelukindo, assistant to the Executive Secretary, and Roger Nibula, economic development officer. Both pointed to an initiative by the ICGLR Executive Secretary, Ambassador Liberata Mulamula (Tanzania),to bring together heads of state to discuss security issues. The intent would be to have another head of state, perhaps Tanzanian President Kikwite, mediate. Mulamula apparently plans to visit heads of state in late October to lobby for their attendance. Shelukindo claimed that Kagame would have been willing to meet with Kabila at UNGA (Kabila did not attend UNGA),but hawks in Kinshasa had persuaded him against such a meeting. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: It remains to be seen how effective these initiatives might be. It is unclear if the ECC has sufficient access to regional leaders to enable it to pull off a Kabila-Kagame meeting. As for the ICGLR, it is not a major player in Goma and thus has limited influence vis-a-vis many important players. End Comment. BROCK