SPECIAL ENVOY OBASANJO SHARES VIEWS ON DRC, SOUTH

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SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY OBASANJO SHARES VIEWS ON DRC, SOUTH
SUDAN


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes
Obasanjo met with Ambassador Rice on June 29 and the P5
Belgium on June 30. He told Rice that neither Rwanda nor the
DRC wanted to shelter former CNDP leader Nkunda. He suggested
implementing greater incentives to encourage FDLR combatants
to return to Rwanda. Obasanjo said South Sudan still had the
power to cause regional "mischief" and conveyed the message
to the USG from South African President Zuma that South
Africa "wants to work with the U.S. on Zimbabwe." Obasanjo
briefed the P5 Belgium on the challenges of integrating the
DRC military, the need to push the DRC leadership to address
gender-based violence, and said DRC President Kabila thought
the UN would coordinate local elections (which the UN is not
mandated to do). END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes
Olusegun Obasanjo told Ambassador Rice on June 29 that he was
seeing mixed success for his efforts as envoy to the Great
Lakes. He said former CNDP leader Laurent Nkunda was a "hot
potato" wanted by neither the DRC nor Rwanda, and suggested
sending Nkunda to a third country might be the best option.
Obasanjo said he was encouraging a meeting between DRC
President Kabila and Rwandan President Kagame in mid-July.
He suggested strengthening the International Conference on
the Great Lakes to add stability to the region.


3. (SBU) Obasanjo said relations between Rwanda and the DRC
were improving, and that the DRC had sent the name of its
proposed ambassador to the Rwandan government. He thought
the FDLR rebel group was no longer a potent force but was
still a major concern after splintering into many groups of
15-20 combatants each. Obasanjo said there must be a
political solution, noting a purely military operation would
most likely not fully uproot the FDLR from the DRC. He
suggested that Rwanda should offer more incentives to former
combatants to return, reintegrate and resettle in Rwanda.
Obasanjo warned of the destabilizing potential of expatriate
FDLR leaders and suggested more be done to restrain their
propaganda and fund-raising in Europe and North America.


4. (SBU) Obasanjo gave Ambassador Rice a copy of the letter
he sent to DRC President Kabila on 26 June 2009, in which he
expressed his "shock and horror" at the rapes of female
inmates by FARDC soldiers during the recent prison unrest in
Goma. Referring to the list of five FARDC officers accused
of gender-based violence in the east that the Security
Council gave to the DRC government during its visit in May,
Ambassador Rice said she was disappointed that Kabila had to
date taken no evident action. Rice called President Kabila's
reaction to the Council's concern a "litmus test" of the
sincerity of his stated intent to address impunity.


5. (SBU) Concerning South Sudan, Obasanjo said the
international community must encourage all parties to accept
the results of the upcoming election and referendum,
suggesting South Sudan still had the power to "cause
mischief" in the region. He said "if there is to be a
(North/South) divorce, let's make it an amicable one." He
said now is the time to plan for post-referendum action for
Sudan.


6. (SBU) Obasanjo delivered a message from South African
President Zuma to Ambassador Rice, saying "South Africa wants
to work with the U.S. on Zimbabwe." Obasanjo believed Zuma
is interested in improving relations with the United States.


7. (SBU) On June 30, Obasanjo told the P5 and Belgium's
PermRep that the amalgam of militias incorporated into the
DRC army in eastern Congo needed to be paid, barracked, and
disciplined, but the DRC government lacked capacity to
accomplish any of these requirements. Obasanjo reported
300,000 internally-displaced persons (IDPs) had returned home
since the incorporation of the CNDP into the DRC army, but
noted an additional 150,000 IDPs had been created because of
the joint operations against the FDLR. He said that it may
be time to put greater emphasis on a political approach to
the issues of the Kivus, instead of relying solely on
military operations. Obasanjo commented that concrete
benchmarks for security sector reform and for regional
cooperation would be beneficial.


8. (SBU) In response to a question posed by Ambassador
DiCarlo regarding how to best address the issue of sexual
violence in the DRC, Obasanjo said all perpetrators of sexual
violence must be "brought to book," and President Kabila and

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the DRC Minister of Justice must be pressured to take action
at the highest level to address impunity. He said the DRC is
not responding well to the issue of gender-based violence,
and he encouraged the international community to continue to
hold the DRC government accountable.

9 (SBU) Responding to a French question regarding elections,
Obasanjo said President Kabila told him that the UN was
responsible for conducting regional elections (proposed for
2009),and that the DRC would conduct the 2011 national
elections. Obasanjo said he did not believe the DRC would
have the capacity to hold the 2011 elections itself, but the
UN should act now to define its role in upcoming regional
elections. (NOTE: The P5 Belgium representatives were
surprised to hear Kabila's opinion, as no clear mandate
exists for the UN to be the sole coordinator of regional
elections. END NOTE).



RICE