UGANDA/DRC: OPERATION RUDIA II UPDATE (JUNE 15,

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 000595

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/19
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MOPS MARR UG CG SU
SUBJECT: UGANDA/DRC: OPERATION RUDIA II UPDATE (JUNE 15,
2009)

REF: A. KAMPALA 551

B. KAMPALA 571

C. KAMPALA 587

Classified By: P/E Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (SBU) Summary: This cable is a periodic update on the
regional military operation against the Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA) known as Operation Rudia II. This report is not
meant to provide an overarching narrative or polished
analysis of the operation, but rather offers spot information
gleaned in Uganda only, from credible U.S. Mission sources
here. We recognize the regional scope of the operation and
the fact that our sources may be limited in their knowledge
and perspective on Rudia II. End Summary.

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MILITARY SITUATION
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2. (S NF) Military operations against the Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA) leadership have been increasingly successful.
From May 29 to June 15, 29 LRA fighters were killed, 7
abductees rescued, and 15 weapons were recovered. On June
14, the Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) killed Major
George Labongo, a key unit commander under Lt. Col. Charles
Arop, near Aba, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Labongo
played a leading role in the massacre of 300 residents of
Barlonyo internally-displaced persons camp on April 21, 2004
in Uganda. Ugandan military officials also confirmed the
death of BG Ocan Bunia on April 27 near Aba, DRC (ref A). In
addition, 100 of the Congolese civilians abducted from Dakwa
on June 2-3 escaped or were rescued (ref B). The UPDF
reports that Congolese residents who came in contact with the
escapees demanded ransom in order to release them to the
UPDF.


3. (S NF) We expect to see the Ugandan military releasing
more information about Rudia II. Since March, the UPDF could
not report publicly on the operation because Uganda
ostensibly had pulled out and wanted to put a Congolese face
on Rudia II. By all appearances, the UPDF had withdrawn even
though 2,000 troops remained reconfigured in intelligence
squads. UPDF Spokesman Felix Kulayigye told P/E Chief the
Congolese military was not reporting to the public on the
operation despite being given updates by the UPDF. The lack
of public information is generating criticism in the Ugandan
media because Rudia II's operational successes were not being
reported through the Congolese military to the press. Last
week, the UPDF decided to use the Ugandan newspapers to
report on some aspects of the operation. In doing so,
Kulayigye attributed the death of key commanders to the
Congolese military even though they were killed by Ugandan
forces. Uganda will continue giving Congolese trooops credit
for operational successes, according to Kulayigye.

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HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
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4. (S NF) Lt. Gen. Edward Wamala, Commander of Land Forces,
decided to invite the head of the World Food Program's DRC
Operations to UPDF operational headquarters in Nzara,
southern Sudan to coordinate WFP food drops in the area of
LRA operations. Wamala instructed Uganda's operational
commander to invite WFP and the U.N. Mission in Congo (MONUC)
to share information about where food can safely reach
civilians without endangering local populations or
undermining Rudia II operations. (Note: We will continue
following up with our WFP, MONUC, and UPDF contacts on the
issue. End Note.) MONUC has called together the various
humanitarian international and non-governmental organizations
to better coordinate the returns of non-combatants, most of
whom are Congolese and Central African. MONUC also plans to
deploy 60 Moroccan troops in July to Faradje and is opening a
radio station in Dungu to broadcase messages to potential
defectors and escapees.

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POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
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5. (C) On June 15, the Government is expected to formally
charge Patrick Otim, an employee of Mega FM radio station in
Gulu who had been detained in a sweep of low-level operatives
associated with a new rebel group, named the Peoples'
Patriotic Front. Post reported on Otim's detention and the
new group in Ref C. Under pressure from Otim's family, the

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High Court ordered Otim to be charged in court. The
Government had planned to release Otim and others after they
publicly implicated a number of Acholi diaspora members
supporting the new rebellion. Several members of the Acholi
Parliamentary Group rushed to the press to deny their
involvement with the group and to accuse the government of
fabricating the plot to implicate them. Ironically, the
Acholi parliamentarians that went to the press are not
implicated. The Government had not planned on "outing" two
principals, one of which is a prominent Acholi religious
leader and the other a nationally-known local politician, but
may do so to "clear" the parliamentarians.


6. (C)) LRA negotiator David Matsanga continues his
desperate efforts to remain relevant. Most recently, he
traveled to Maputo, Mozambique with two "special telephones
that the Americans cannot trace" to allow Kony to call U.N.
Special Envoy Joachim Chissano. Nuno Tomas, Chissano's
Kampala Office Director, reported to P/E Chief that Matsanga
promised that Kony would call over the weekend of June 13-14,
but that Kony did not call. Uganda's lead negotiator Henry
Okello Oryem informed us that President Museveni has invited
Government of Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir to Kampala
to discuss the joint military operations and express concern
about attempts by Vice President Riek Machar to obtain a
cease-fire on behalf of the LRA.


7. (C) The U.N. Committee of Experts on the DRC told DATT
and P/E Chief on June 12 that it needed information about the
LRA leaders and their supporters to put them on a sanctions
list. The Committee said that the LRA is an armed group
operating in the DRC and therefore falls under its mandate to
monitor and expose the LRA's military and financial
supporters as well as to report on the LRA's human rights
abuses in the DRC.
BROWNING