VZCZCXYZ0014
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLO #7308/01 2861418
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 131418Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9719
INFO RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA IMMEDIATE 0082
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 2691
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS IMMEDIATE 1950

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 007308 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/C, EUR/UBI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM CG UK
SUBJECT: (C) DRC:  OKITUNDU ASSAULTED IN LONDON; FCO 
EXPLAINS KINSHASA DRAWDOWN 
 
REF: EMAILS TNABER - RBELL 10/12/06 
 
Classified By: PolMinCouns Maura Connelly; reason 1.4 (b, d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Leonard She Okitundu, chief of staff to DRC 
President Kabila, was assaulted in London October 11 by 
Congolese expatriates whose affiliation is not yet clear.  He 
was beaten, stripped and robbed, and photos of his 
possessions were posted on the internet.  He and his 
companions have all been discharged from hospital.  The DRC 
Embassy had not been officially notified of his visit to 
London, and neither it nor FCO knew about the TV interview to 
which he was going when attacked.  FCO alerted the DRC 
Embassy as soon as it learned of the incident.   Regarding 
published complaints from Okitundu that HMG did nothing to 
help him, FCO points out that it did everything the DRC 
Embassy asked of it.  The police responded to the scene of 
the attack and are conducting a full investigation.  FCO 
believes it has successfully cleared the air with the GDRC 
and does not expect the incident to have lasting 
repercussions.  Separately, FCO stresses that its drawdown in 
Kinshasa is a precautionary measure taken after extensive 
consultations with partners, and that the UK remains fully 
committed to the success of the DRC electoral process.  FCO 
is concerned that Kabila has named military officers to fill 
the civilian posts of Minister of Interior and Governor of 
Kinshasa.  END SUMMARY. 
 
(U) OKITUNDU ASSAULT 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) FCO Great Lakes Section Head Rachel Brass briefed 
Poloff October 13 on the October 11 attack in London on DRC 
President Kabila's Chief of Staff Leonard She Okitundu.  As 
Okitundu was arriving at the studio of Original Black 
Entertainment TV in Park Royal (northwest London) for a live 
interview that evening, he and his companions (his party's UK 
chairman Placide Mbatika and former ambassador Henri Nswana) 
were assaulted by Congolese expatriates who beat them with a 
baseball bat.  Okitundu was also stripped and robbed, and 
photos of his possessions were later posted to the internet 
to humiliate him.  The Guardian newspaper reported the 
incident October 13, quoting Okitundu as complaining that he 
had been forced to wait several hours at the hospital before 
receiving medical attention and that "the Foreign Office have 
done nothing to help me."  A spokeswoman for the Central 
Middlesex Hospital said he was "treated appropriately in a 
consulting room."  Okitundu was less badly injured than his 
companions.  All three victims were discharged from hospital 
by the afternoon of October 12. 
 
¶3.  (C) Brass stressed that FCO had done all it could and 
that the DRC Embassy had not asked it to do anything more. 
She said she had been the one who informed the Congolese 
Ambassador (who is affiliated with the RCD party, i.e. 
neither with Kabila nor with his presidential run-off rival 
Bemba) that Okitundu and his delegation were in town in the 
first place.  The delegation had met with the UK's All Party 
Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Great Lakes, and had just 
finished meeting with Brass and her boss, Southern Africa 
Department Deputy Head Nick Cannon.  As the delegation was 
leaving, Brass asked where they were going next, and the 
delegation replied that they were headed to Brussels.  Thus, 
neither FCO nor the DRC Embassy knew they were in fact going 
to a TV station.  Members of the Congolese expatriate 
community, however, would have known the time and place, 
because the TV station had advertised for the previous two 
days that Okitundu would be coming for a live interview.  The 
police were not on hand because the crowd waiting at the 
station did not constitute a licensed demonstration, and 
neither the delegation nor the DRC Embassy had requested a 
police presence. 
 
¶4.  (C) Brass said that as soon as she learned of the 
assault, she called the DRC Ambassador who sent a team to 
look after the delegation's needs, but the DRC mission never 
made any requests of FCO.  Brass added that FCO quickly got 
in touch with the GDRC in Kinshasa to explain the situation. 
She assessed that the air was now clear between the two 
governments; she did not expect the incident to have lasting 
repercussions. 
 
¶5.  (C) The police responded appropriately to the "999" call 
made by someone on the scene, and are conducting a full 
investigation.  The Guardian quotes Eric Joyce MP, chairman 
of the APPG, as presuming the attackers were "loyal to 
Bemba," but according to Brass, it is not yet clear what 
their affiliation or motive was, though there seems to be no 
 
doubt that they were Congolese. 
 
(U) BEMBA DELEGATION 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) On October 10, a delegation of Bemba supporters had 
met in London with FCO and with the Great Lakes APPG.  Brass 
said none of the meetings with either delegation featured 
anything new:  FCO reiterated "the standard core group 
points" and each delegation complained about the rival camp's 
behavior, particularly misuse of the media. 
 
(U) UK DRAWDOWN 
--------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Turning to the UK's recent decision to draw down 
"non-essential" staff and dependents from its embassy in 
Kinshasa, Brass told Poloff she was aware of unhappiness 
about a perceived lack of consultation.  She insisted that 
the UK had consulted extensively since August with the U.S., 
Canada and European missions in Kinshasa, both bilaterally 
and together.  She stressed that, contrary to what was 
claimed in a European Commission document, the final decision 
was not taken until October 5, by minister for Africa Lord 
Triesman.  Once the decision was taken, the UK's 
no-double-standard rule (which not all European countries 
have) precluded giving partners advance notice.  The drawdown 
was a precautionary measure only, and in no way signified any 
lessening of the UK's strong commitment to the electoral 
process in the DRC.  Indeed, Brass noted, the UK is the 
largest bilateral donor to that process.  The drawdown only 
affects four staff, all from the Department for International 
Development, who - Brass insisted - are able to accomplish 
their work from London.  Furthermore, the UK still intends to 
send observers for the presidential run-off election. 
 
(C) WORRIES ABOUT MILITARY IN CIVILIAN POSTS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Turning to the situation on the ground in the DRC, 
Brass expressed worry about the PPRD (Kabila's party) 
decision this week to nominate military officers for the 
civilian posts of Minister of Interior and Governor of 
Kinshasa. 
 
¶9.  (C) COMMENT:  Cannon will participate in the October 17 
video teleconference on the DRC, at which concerns about the 
electoral process will be discussed.  Based on discussions 
with Brass, we expect that one particular concern of Cannon's 
will be the need to press for agreement on the arrangements 
for the loser of the presidential run-off, to try to pre-empt 
any inclination to reject the political process and resume 
hostilities. 
 
Visit London's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm 
Tuttle