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PP RUEHBZ RUEHGI
DE RUEHGI #0085/01 1111329
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 211329Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGUI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0889
INFO RHMFISS/AFRICOM
RUEHBZ/AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE 0155
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0257
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0268
RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 0169
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0116
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 0444
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0428
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0424
RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 1112

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGUI 000085 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C 
PARIS FOR RKANEDA 
LONDON FOR PLORD 
AFRICOM FOR KOCH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR CT
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S TRAVEL TO KAGA BANDORO RESTRICTED BY CARG 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On Thursday, March 26, 2009, Ambassador and 
visiting AFRICOM officer departed Bangui, bound for the town of 
Kaga Bandoro to visit the various Central African and 
international organizations working in the region. Kaga Bandoro 
sits on one of the fault lines of conflict in the CAR and is a 
major hub of NGO activity. Most recently, Kaga Bandoro has been 
the site of new conflict between mysterious Chadian `horsemen' 
and the APRD. Thirty kilometers short of Kaga Bandoro, the 
Ambassador's party was stopped at an improvised Gendarme road 
block and ordered to turn back to the last town because `unknown 
persons' were crossing the road and posed a potential threat to 
the Ambassador's party. In the course of the evening this was 
changed to an order to return to Bangui, under escort, because 
of `insecurity' Ambassador and party returned to Bangui the next 
day. END SUMMARY 
 
========== 
BACKGROUND 
========== 
¶2. (SBU) Recently, Kaga Bandoro has been in the news because of 
new conflict between Fulani herders, their CAR/Chadian 
`servants/slaves' and the APRD, one of the largest rebel 
movements in the CAR. According to the most reasonable sources - 
after the servants objected to their working conditions/pay, the 
Fulani killed several in punishment. The survivors then appealed 
to the APRD, the only effective law and order in the region, for 
support. The APRD, in turn, killed some of the Fulani, who, in 
their turn, appealed for help from Chadian Arabs. Upon the 
arrival of the Chadians, three villages were burned as they 
attempted to search for the APRD. (All of these details must be 
taken with great care, and most are probably wrong, but the 
bottom line is that the Chadian embassy confirmed that five of 
their citizens were killed and everyone agrees that three 
villages were burned.) The result is about 2,000 new IDP's split 
between the Baptist Mid Mission compound (a U.S. missionary 
group) and other locations around Kaga Bandoro. 
 
======== 
THE TRIP 
======== 
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador departed Bangui on March 26th accompanied by 
Major Christopher Koch, the CAR desk officer from AFRICOM. The 
goal, as mentioned to the Central African Government (CARG), 
including the Army Chief of Staff and the Vice Minister of 
Defense, was to visit MICOPAX/FACA, the NGO community, US 
missionary activities, and the CARG in Kaga Bandoro. Noting the 
CARG's sensitivity to the Ambassador's travel to Ndele, the 
Ambassador made a point of mentioning this travel on every 
occasion. However, consistent with past practice, Post did 
not/not send a Diplomatic Note to either request or notify the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the trip. The DCM, MO, USAID, 
etc. have visited the area a number of times without incident 
and as Maj. Koch was here to review the possibilities of US 
engagement in security sector reform; this seemed a reasonable 
place to start understanding the realities of military 
operations on the ground in CAR. 
 
¶4. (SBU) About thirty kilometers south of Kaga Bandoro, the 
Ambassador and party were stopped at an improvised Gendarme road 
block and told that it was too dangerous to continue - unknown 
armed men had been seen on the road. It did not take long to 
discover that: 
 
-- None of the Gendarmes were in uniform (other than web gear 
and weapons) because they had arrived from Kaga Bandoro only 
minutes before. 
 
-- No one in the village had seen or heard anything unusual in 
the area. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Gendarme commander identified himself as the 
commander of the Kaga Bandoro region and although the Ambassador 
offered to wait until the morning, he was told to backtrack some 
forty kilometers to Dekoa. The embassy party returned to Dekoa, 
found a place to camp, and planned retire for the night. That 
evening the Gendarme commander returned and showed a telegraphic 
order which directed him to, `stop [lit. `evince']  the mission 
of the US ambassador' and return him to Bangui under escort due 
 
BANGUI 00000085  002 OF 002 
 
 
to `insecurity' in the area. The Ambassador replied that that 
this was very serious matter and would have to be discussed 
further in the morning. The Gendarmes left. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In the morning, after telephonic consultation with the 
DCM, the Ambassador decided to return to Bangui; not waiting for 
an `escort'. At Sibut he was again stopped and told that we must 
be escorted. He declined the escort; politely, but firmly. (The 
local commander recognized the Ambassador from a Trafficking in 
Persons seminar in Bangui and was willing to accept the 
situation, apologizing that he was following orders.) The party 
arrived in Bangui without further incident. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In Bangui, the embassy reached out to the Vice Minister 
of Defense, Francis Bozize (The son of President Francois 
Bozize) to ask about the Major's upcoming trip to Bouar. We were 
referred to the Chief of Staff who said that it would be 
permitted as long as: 
 
-- That the party included a FACA escort officer, and, 
 
-- That the party made no stops en route. Specifically, a 
planned stop in Bossembele, site of a mysterious prison break in 
January 2009, was refused. 
 
========= 
FALL OUT 
========= 
¶8. (SBU) As this trip to Kaga Bandoro had been discussed with 
the Minister Delegue for Defense and the Chief of Staff during 
the DATT's visit the week before, it is reasonable to assume 
that the decision to stop the trip was taken at the last minute 
by President Bozize. Possibly as an expression of his 
displeasure at what he may see as the Embassy willfully ignoring 
his warning not to travel outside Bangui without requesting 
permission. (A warning delivered to the Ambassador personally 
and repeated through the Foreign Minister.) 
 
-- It is clear that there was no insecurity in Kaga Bandoro, as 
the road remained open and indeed, the Prefet was calling us 
asking where we were. No other traffic was stopped. It is also 
possible that the CARG believed that the Ambassador was 
returning to the Ndele region. 
 
-- Embassy accepted the `restrictions' on the trip to Bouar as 
1) Maj. Koch was already in country, 2) the escort officer was a 
former IMET officer whom Post wanted to meet. 
 
As reported SEPTEL, the CARG has now sent out a circular 
Diplomatic Note which requires all Chiefs of Mission and their 
`collaborators' to inform the Foreign Ministry of all travel to 
zones which are `under tension' (lit. sous tension). No such 
zones have been identified as yet. END SUMMARY 
COOK