VZCZCXRO9740
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0237 0691937
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091937Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7645
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000237 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO CG UN
SUBJECT: GOMA NOTES 03/07/08 - GOMA PROCESS: ABBE MALUMALU ARRIVES 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Goma process talks resumed again March 7 in Goma 
with the full CNDP delegation present.  No sooner had the CNDP 
announced it could proceed no further unless National Coordinator 
Abbe Malumalu was present, did Malumalu call to say he had stepped 
off a plane in Goma and agreed to join the discussions.  Abbe 
Malumalu proposed a day off in order for the CNDP to develop a 
reasoned response to the issues at hand, so that these could be 
resolved and the Joint Committee envisioned by the Goma accords 
could be established by decree.  Abbe Malumalu agreed to an EU 
proposal to journey to Kirolirwe in the interim, and the group 
proceeded by road early the following day.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On March 7 at 0900, unsurprisingly, the CNDP asked for yet 
another postponement of the Goma process talks.  Since the 
conference room at MONUC-Goma was reserved for the Nairobi process 
JMG task force (celebrated for their marathon durations), and since 
the CNDP team was attending the ILLCE leadership workshop at the 
Karibu Hotel, it was decided that the talks would resume at the 
Karibu during the workshop's lunch break at 1300.  The meeting was 
convened with the full six-member CNDP delegation (political - Rene 
Abandi, Jean-Desire Muiti and Bertrand Bisimwa; and military, 
including Major Seraphin Mirindi). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Vice Admiral Didier Etumba, the GDRC delegation head, 
proceeded to outline the agenda:  position allocations, the CNDP's 
proposals for wording of a new presidential decree (a pending agenda 
issue that had not been raised on at the previous session), and 
voting procedures within the Joint Commission (JC).  The CNDP 
replied by saying that its suggestions re: the basic structure 
(sectoral vs. geographic) had not been taken into account.  Cue to 
wrangling. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The CNDP then announced that it could proceed no further on 
any of these questions unless recently-named Goma process National 
Coordinator Abbe Apollinaire Muholongu Malumalu was present.  Then, 
theatrically, EU representative Jean-Michel Dumont's phone rang, and 
he was able to announce to the attendees that Abbe Malumalu had just 
stepped off a plane in Goma.  Dumont (who was co-chairing the 
meeting in the absence of MONUC's John Almstrom) urged Abbe Malumalu 
to join the Karibu discussions, and he agreed, though he had prior 
commitments, so the meeting was adjourned until 1500. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Abbe Malumalu arrived shortly after 1500, greeted those 
present, and then went into private conversations with the CNDP's 
Abandi.  This lasted until 1630 when the meeting reconvened in the 
hotel's Karisimbi room. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Etumba proceeded to review the agenda again, and Abbe 
Malumalu (who had only been briefed very cursorily by Dumont and 
Etumba and then by Abandi) proceeded to propose that there should be 
a day off in order for the CNDP to develop a reasoned response to 
the issues at hand, so that these could be resolved and the JC could 
be established by decree.  Abbe Malumalu said he would extend his 
stay in Goma until March 10, making March 8 an "informal" day in 
which off-the-record consultations could occur, and the meeting 
would resume on March 9 and would reach closure on the issues at 
hand.  Abbe Malumalu could then take an agreement, including the 
nominations of JC members, back to Kinshasa on March 10 and have it 
processed into a formal decree. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The CNDP readily agreed to this, but the visible relief of 
most concerned was spoiled by Etumba, who insisted on summarizing 
the "points on which there is already agreement".  Since the first 
of these was the question of the JC structure, and since the CNDP 
felt very strongly that its views had been disregarded, wrangling 
resumed.  The question of the structure was debated, with Abbe 
Malumalu (who was new to these discussions) defending the sectoral 
subcommittee view, while the CNDP insisted on a geographic approach. 
 Abbe Malumalu finally cut off discussion, and the meeting 
eventually ended with agreement to reconvene at MONUC March 9 at 
¶1000. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In side-bar talks following the adjournment, Dumont got 
Abbe Malumalu to agree to a journey to Kirolirwe on the next day. 
Since a helicopter could not scrambled in time, the team, including 
Dumont and Weeks for the Facilitation, Abbe Malumalu, the three CNDP 
political reps and Major Mirindi proceeded by road at 7 a.m. 
 
GARVELINK