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.

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KABILA-MUSEVENI SUMMIT TO EXTEND OLT MANDATE
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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
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.

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MONUC AND FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSS CIVILIAN PROTECTION
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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

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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.

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ODHIAMBO/ONGWEN DEFECTIONS A RUSE
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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.

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KONY MUST BE STOPPED CAMPAIGN
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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.

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COMMENT
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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

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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