UGANDA/DRC: MUSEVENI AND KABILA SUMMIT SET FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 000207 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/17 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM UG CG SUBJECT: UGANDA/DRC: MUSEVENI AND KABILA SUMMIT SET FOR MARCH 1 Classified By: Ambassador Steven Browning for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Congolese President Joseph Kabila will meet on March 1 in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. The two heads of state will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the extension of Operation Lightening Thunder (OLT). The extension reportedly will be indefinite, but with three-month reviews of progress on the ground. The Government of Uganda (GOU) will deliver to Kabila a coordination and outreach strategy designed to enhance the delivery of accurate, timely information by allied governments to journalists, domestic audiences, and international human rights groups. Invisible Children, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, is planning pro-OLT events under the theme "Kony Must Be Stopped. Rescue Our Children." We expect the GOU to start a more coordinated communications strategy in the near future. End Summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - KABILA-MUSEVENI SUMMIT TO EXTEND OLT MANDATE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (C) On March 1, Congolese President Joseph Kabila will meet with President Museveni at the Ugandan-Congolese border in Kasese. They will drive together to Mweya Lodge at Queen Elizabeth National Park. An 11-member Congolese delegation of government officials will arrive in Kampala on February 25 and work with Ugandan military and Foreign Ministry officials to polish up the MOU for the extension of OLT. Post spoke directly with Congolese Mission officials in Kampala and the Ugandan Foreign Ministry Director for Ring States, Ambassador Kangumba, to confirm the date and preparations for the summit. ¶3. (C) The MOU will reportedly extend OLT indefinitely with three-month reviews, commit three brigades of Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) to the operation to help protect civilians, delineate areas of operation for Ugandan Peoples' Defense Forces (UPDF) and FARDC units. Uganda will commit to not plundering any Congolese resources. Ambassador Kangumba said that this issue remains a sore point for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda is willing to sign the pledge because it has no intention of repeating its behavior during the Congolese civil war. Kangumba also reported that there would be significant publicity of the signing to help �0A;Kabila at home and put to rest rumors that he wants the Ugandan troops out prematurely. The GOU is planning for a large presence of Ugandan and Congolese legislators, journalists, and international observers. According to Kangumba, the GOU is trying to do whatever it can to help bolster Kabila, who is relatively weak vis-a-vis his domestic opponents. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MONUC AND FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSS CIVILIAN PROTECTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (C) Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa discussed OLT and enhanced civilian protection with MONUC's Head of Office in Kampala, Slobadan Kotevski Didi, when the two met on February ¶9. Both Kangumba and Catherine Clarke, MONUC's political advisor in Kampala, gave the same account of the meeting. Kutesa said that Uganda was prepared to send 2,000 more Ugandan troops to OLT to provide protection for civilians, but would need MONUC logistic support to deploy them. Didi told Kutesa that MONUC would need its mandate extended to allow for transport of Uganda troops. Didi explained that currently, MONUC could only provide logistics support for FARDC troops. Didi noted that MONUC was providing logistics and upkeep for 3,500 FARDC troops in OLT, including flying in their salaries. Didi told Kutesa that MONUC was taking other steps to support OLT, including work on the road to Duru, airfields, and movement of 200 Guatemalan MONUC troops into Doruma. Both Didi and Clarke have been pressing donors in Kampala for support in extending MONUC's mandate to transport the Ugandan troops. ¶5. (C) MONUC wants to be seen as pro-active after several human rights groups criticized MONUC for not doing enough to protect civilians, according to Clarke on February 13. MONUC has been consistent in its request for more coordination with the UPDF to be able to deploy FARDC based on operational plans. To date, UPDF has done its coordination through FARDC, on orders from President Kabila. Clarke understands the UPDF's concerns about operational security and said that there are some signs that coordination is improving, particularly between UPDF and FARDC. She noted that the UPDF quickly responded to evacuate several FARDC soldiers wounded in a skirmish with the LRA. Stories like this are just not getting out, according to Clarke. She also said that that KAMPALA 00000207 002 OF 003 MONUC support for FARDC units should be credited for some of the good behavior of FARDC. MONUC is providing complete sustenance for the FARDC, according to Clarke. ¶6. (C) Medecins Sans Frontieres(MSF) Switzerland, based in Dungu, was one of the organizations criticizing MONUC for not doing enough to protect civilians. Lawrence Gaubert, MSF's head of office in Dungu, told us on February 13 that the UPDF and FARDC's behavior in OLT has been good, particularly when compared to the latter,s behavior in the Kivus. She singled out the FARDC units that came from Kinshasa as particularly helpful. She said that they have good relations with the local populations in Kiliwa and Limai, where the FARDC is providing health care. MSF also said that numbers of wounded and killed are highly suspect until villagers return to their areas and enough time passes to determine who has not returned and can be assumed dead. Gaubert explained that the numbers of displaced are highly inaccurate because the pattern of displacement is one in which Congolese are moving into city or town centers to stay with relatives or kinsmen, making it extremely difficult to isolate population movements. Gaubert said that local residents are supportive of the efforts to capture or kill Kony, especially after the wave of attacks in September and December. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ODHIAMBO/ONGWEN DEFECTIONS A RUSE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (C) Jeremy Haslam, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Country Director for Uganda, is maintaining contact with individuals identifying themselves as LRA deputy Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen, both along with Kony International Criminal Court indictees. Haslam continues to believe the callers are Odhiambo and Ongwen, despite indications to the contrary and warnings from the External Security Organization (ESO) that the callers are not genuine. After several meetings and persistent questioning from Emboffs/DATT personnel, Haslam agreed to cooperate with ESO to verify the true identity of the callers and determine their purpose. Likewise, press reports that Odhiambo has been captured or killed by Kony are not true. In addition, press reports that wives of Odhiambo or Kony have been captured are also not true. Unfortunately, whenever a woman is captured, military officers and journalists jump to the conclusion that they are Kony wives. We have advised the UPDF to discourage this and correct these rumors because they have negative effects when women return to Uganda. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - KONY MUST BE STOPPED CAMPAIGN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (C) Meanwhile, domestic support for the operation is high. Jolly Okot, Invisible Children's Gulu Office Director, informed us that the San Diego-based non-governmental organization is planning a worldwide campaign day in support of OLT on April 24. Okot said that the theme is: "Kony Must Be Stopped. Rescue Our Children" and was developed after consultations in all of the LRA-affected areas of northern Uganda. Gulu District Chairman Norbert Mao will honcho the events. Part of the campaign will include a visit to key policymakers and lawmakers in Washington by Mao, Resident District Commissioner Walter Ochora, and Acholi Paramount Chief Rwot Acana. Events will be held in major cities in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Mexico. Okot said that Gulu residents are tired of LRA leader Joseph Kony and support the operation against the LRA. She hopes that the events will raise funds to continue rebuilding educational facilities and help residents overcome the trauma of the conflict. ¶9. (C) RDC Ochora and Chairman Mao tell us that OLT critics in the Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) have been quieted down after visits to their constituencies revealed that they were out-of-step with the voters. This was particularly true of Reagan Okumu, who has alienated constituents with unfounded accusations about the operation. Mao said that "the people of northern Uganda" want Kony "out of the picture" and that Okumu and others are finally realizing this. - - - - - COMMENT - - - - - ¶10. (C) The Ugandan Government is becoming more pro-active in responding to critics and bolstering public support for OLT, particularly in the DRC and among the international community. The summit is part of the new strategy. The operation is widely supported in Uganda, where the LRA KAMPALA 00000207 003 OF 003 brutalized the population for over 23 years. Over the past few weeks, GOU and MONUC officials have taken steps to increase cooperation in enhancing the protection of civilians even though both believe that MONUC's mandate stands in the way. The GOU sometimes sounds defensive when responding to critics. This may change if it follows through on its commitment to get out more information about the operation and develops a more positive relationship with its critics. BROWNING