VZCZCXRO1268
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHFR #2425/01 1021640
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 121640Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6260
INFO RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0734
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 1294
RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 1045
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0872
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 2432
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0029
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0988
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002425 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR L (DAVID BUCHHOLZ) 
KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2016 
TAGS: PREL PINR PINS PHUM AO FR
SUBJECT: CABINDA/ANGOLA:  FLEC CONFUSED ABOUT USG INTENTIONS 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reason 1 
.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  During an April 11 meeting, FLEC (Front 
for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda) representative 
Antonio Nzita Bembe (Nzita) revealed divisions in the ranks 
of the Cabinda "resistance" movement caused by the apparent 
defection of former FLEC/Renovada head Antonio Bembe (Bento 
Bembe, no relation) and his apparent decision to cooperate 
with Angolan authorities.  Nzita asked for U.S. views on 
Bembe, who had been in Dutch custody pursuant to a 
U.S.-initiated arrest warrant stemming from Bento Bembe's 
involvement in the 1989 abduction of an amcit oil worker. 
Bento Bembe fled the Netherlands in October 2005 and has 
resurfaced publicly in Africa, according to Nzita, who 
claimed FLEC had since expelled Bento Bembe for working with 
Angolan authorities to weaken and divide FLEC (and, by 
implication, foster Cabinda reconciliation with Luanda). 
Nzita asked for U.S. views on Bento Bembe and whether the 
U.S. had requested suspension of the arrest warrant.  Nzita 
also claimed that the Angolan Government was pressing the USG 
to designate FLEC as a terrorist organization.  Embassy would 
appreciate guidance from the Department (see Action Request, 
para 6).  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C)  We met with FLEC representative Antonio Nzita Bembe 
(Nzita) on April 11 at his request.  Nzita explained that 
there were, until August 2004, two FLEC factions -- FLEC/FAC 
(headed by his father, Nzita Henriques Tiago) and 
FLEC/Renovada (headed by Antonio Bento Bembe).  When the two 
FLECs joined together in 2004 to create a unified FLEC, Nzita 
Henriques Tiago assumed control of the two organizations. 
Bento Bembe retained the title of Secretary General.  Nzita 
said that he (Nzita) was the official FLEC representative in 
Western Europe. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Nzita focused the discussion on Bento Bembe, former 
head of the FLEC/Renovada faction.  Nzita said that Bento 
Bembe was involved in the 1989 kidnapping of an amcit oil 
worker, a crime that led to at least one other FLEC member's 
trial and imprisonment in the U.S.  (NOTE:  Nzita repeatedly 
said the kidnapping took place in 1980, but our research 
indicates it happened in 1989.  END NOTE.)  Nzita said the 
USG had initiated an international arrest warrant for Bento 
Bembe for his role in the kidnapping, and he was eventually 
taken into custody by the Dutch, who allowed him provisional 
liberty or unsupervised house arrest.  Last fall, Vice FM 
Chicote of Angola reportedly visited Bento Bembe in the 
Netherlands and held a secret meeting that Bento Bembe did 
not coordinate with the FLEC, according to Nzita.  A week 
later Bento Bembe fled to Africa, Nzita claimed.  Bento Bembe 
has since been seen publicly in Angola and other places, and 
Nzita said that Bento Bembe has been broadcasting anti-FLEC 
messages from Pointe Noire, Kinshasa, and Brazzaville, 
supposedly with the financial support and encouragement of 
the Angolan Government.  In February 2006, FLEC stripped 
Bento of his remaining titles -- Secretary General of FLEC's 
unified front and president of the FLEC Cabinda Forum -- 
following a February 2006 video-teleconference meeting of the 
FLEC "parliament," the "Nkoto Lelanda," with representatives 
in Paris, Libreville, Kinshasa, Brazzaville and Cabinda. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Nzita grudgingly admitted that Bento Bembe, in 
effect, appeared to have decided to break with FLEC and to 
come in from the bush and work for reconciliation with the 
GOA.  Again, reluctantly, Nzita revealed that Bento Bembe had 
ties to Mpalabanda, a Catholic NGO for Cabinda, that he 
asserted works with U.S. Embassy Luanda, Human Rights Watch, 
and Amnesty International in documenting Angolan human rights 
abuses.  Nzita said that Father George Kongo of Mpalabanda 
was friendly with Bento Bembe. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Nzita asked whether Bento Bembe was still subject to 
a USG-instigated international arrest warrant, and requested, 
indirectly, whether the USG condoned Bento Bembe's 
collaboration with the Angolan Government, perhaps in order 
to weaken FLEC (which the GOA wants the USG to designate as a 
terrorist group).   Nzita repeated a rumor that Bento Bembe 
had been received at Embassy Kinshasa recently. 
 
¶6.  (C)  ACTION REQUEST:  Post would appreciate any update on 
Bento Bembe with respect to the international arrest warrant 
 
PARIS 00002425  002 OF 002 
 
 
and his flight from the Netherlands, along with appropriate 
guidance regarding FLEC and future contacts with its 
representatives. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  We asked Nzita Bembe why FLEC approached Embassy 
Paris rather than the Department or Embassy Luanda, but he 
did not answer directly.  Nzita said he would provide FLEC 
contact information in Washington, which we will forward to 
the Department. 
 
¶8.  (C)  BIO:  Antonio Nzita Bembe is the son of FLEC leader 
Nzita Henriques Tiago, and claims to have refugee status in 
France, where he has lived since 1989.  He studied law at 
Dijon and resides in Nevers, where he claims to orchestrate 
FLEC activities full-time.  Nzita said he had last been in 
Cabinda 10 years ago, making his way via Kinshasa to join up 
with resistance fighters.   Nzita reports he was a regular 
Embassy contact pre-9/11, but has had little contact since 
then. 
 
 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
Stapleton