VZCZCXRO5096
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0072 0221112
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 221111Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0052
INFO RWANDA COLLECTIVE
SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000072 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG
SUBJECT: Obasanjo Advisor Briefs Goma-Based Diplomats 
 
¶1.  (U) General Lazaro Sumbeiywo, Special Advisor to UNSYG Special 
Envoy for the Great Lakes Olesegun Obasanjo, met with Goma-based 
diplomats on January 21, accompanied by former Tanzanian President 
Mkapa's adviser Daniel Kapya and UN political officer Luc Ngowet. 
The meeting took place on the eve of a January 22 meeting of the 
National Monitoring Committee (CNS) and prior to a January 23 
meeting of Co-facilitators and Special Envoys to be held in 
Nairobi, which itself would result in recommendations to the AU 
summit in Addis Ababa. 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Describing his team as the eyes and ears of Obasanjo, 
Sumbeiywo said that the agreements reached between the GDRC and the 
CNDP on March 23, 2009, and reaffirmed on December 23, 2009, were 
"too good to be true."  Although he had made it clear to the 
parties that he would be returning in January to review progress, 
Sumbeiywo had been disappointed, but not surprised, that the 
agreements had not been implemented.  It was only through the 
insistence of his team, he said, that the CNS would take place. 
His team had met with traditional leaders, former armed groups, the 
CNDP, and others interested in the Congo.  GDRC officials, he said, 
had arrived with "headaches" and GDRC lead negotiator Father Malu 
Malu was not expected to arrive until January 22. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Sumbeiywo's assessment of the CNDP, was that they are 
frustrated, desperate, and engaging in reverse gear.  He said that 
he had dined with President Kabila and the Deputy Foreign Minister 
the previous evening but, referring to his prior work in Somalia 
and Sudan, Sumbeiywo said "I don't understand the Congolese!" 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) After soliciting the views of Goma-based diplomats, 
Sumbeiywo stated that GDRC calls for MONUC to "thin out" were 
premature and that following the Nairobi meeting of co-facilitators 
and envoys, there might be a recommendation to the AU's Peace and 
Security Council to issue a statement to that effect. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment:  The Obasanjo team is clearly frustrated by the 
slow pace of implementing the March 23 agreements.  While 
implementation is stagnant, it does not necessarily portend 
slippage back into armed conflict.  Rather, the various armed 
groups are maneuvering to try to obtain certain government 
positions and ranks.  It is a complex shuffle, over which the GDRC 
is pondering carefully in an attempt to maintain some ethnic and 
regional balancing; hence the "headaches" on the GDRC side. 
Continued engagement by the co-facilitators and envoys remains 
welcome, both to prod the various sides along, but also as "an 
insurance policy," should the situation deteriorate.  End comment. 
BROCK