VZCZCXRO5184
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0472/01 1491538
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281538Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8053
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000472 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MOPS CG
SUBJECT: RESURGENT SOUTH KIVU ARMED GROUPS: MORIBUND FORCES 
RESURRECTED BY THE GOMA CONFERENCE? 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Zubaida Rasul, MONUC Head of Office in 
Bukavu, detailed for us that most of the signatories to the 
South Kivu Acte d'Engagement were actually defunct or 
non-existent prior to the Goma Peace Conference.  The 
conference in turn has provided them with legitimacy and 
finances in the form of per diem payments, which they are 
using to procure arms, recruit fighters, and re-activate old 
Mai-Mai networks.  Their principal goal is to secure their 
economic livelihoods, whether through attempting to gain 
access to the illicit minerals trade in the area or simple 
banditry. As a result, there has been a spike in criminal 
activity in the past few months, as well as several criminal 
incidents directed against NGOs in late March and early 
April.  Rasul emphasized that because of the succor the Goma 
Conference has provided to armed groups in the form of 
legitimacy and per diem, South Kivu today is far more 
dangerous than it was before Goma.  We do not endorse -- or 
reject -- Ms. Rasul's view that there is a causal 
relationship between Goma and a resurgence of defunct 
militias in South Kivu.  Regardless, this phenomenon merits 
close scrutiny.  End summary 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Zubaida Rasul, MONUC Head of Office in Bukavu, 
participated in a conference call with us on May 22 during 
which she provided details and analysis regarding the 
signatories to the South Kivu Acte d'Engagement.  Rasul 
emphasized that with the exception of the Mai-Mai groups 
Yakutumba and Zabuloni and the Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsi) 
group Forces Republicaines Federalistes (FRF), all the 
signatories were defunct or non-existent prior to the Goma 
Peace Conference. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Groups that were created or resuscitated by the 
conference are: 
 
-- Kapopo Mai-Mai 
-- Kirikicho Mai-Mai 
-- Mahoro Mai-Mai 
-- Ny,kiriba Mai-Mai 
-- Shabunda Mai-Mai 
-- Shikito Mai-Mai 
-- Simba Mai-Mai 
-- Mudundo 40 
-- PARECO/South Kivu 
-- Raia Mutomboki 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Rasul underlined that she and other MONUC officers 
attempted in advance to verify the existence of the invitees 
to the conference, but that local security and civil society 
actors had never heard of most of the groups in question.  It 
was unclear to her why they were invited, or who decided to 
invite them, in the first place. They are, she said, 
essentially creations of the Goma Conference, which provided 
them both legitimacy and finances in the form of per diem 
payments, which they are using to procure arms, recruit 
fighters and re-activate old Mai-Mai networks. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) With the exception of the FRF, none of these groups 
has an ideological or political agenda, but are essentially 
economic opportunists, she said.  Their goal is to secure 
their economic livelihoods, whether through attempting to 
gain access to the illicit minerals trade in the area or 
simple banditry.  Rasul emphasized that because of the succor 
the Goma Conference has provided to armed groups in the form 
of legitimacy and per diem, South Kivu today is far more 
dangerous than it was before Goma. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) There has been a spike in criminal activity in the 
past few months, as well as several criminal incidents 
directed against NGOs in late March and early April.  Rasul 
pointed to the increased activity and presence of armed 
groups since the Goma Conference as the reason for this 
spike.  The challenge, she said, is to find a way to provide 
economic security for these groups ) that will be their 
condition for disarmament and demobilization. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Rasul also provided us some details on the process 
of recruitment for these groups.  The starting point for many 
of these groups was to take the name of an old Mai-Mai leader 
for prestige purposes and then reactivate old networks. 
There are plenty of demobilized elements in South Kivu 
without economic prospects who are easy to recruit ) their 
loyalty is for sale.  She said it is also likely that many 
fighters work for several different groups. 
 
 
KINSHASA 00000472  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU) As for specific groups, Rasul noted that the 
Yakutumba group is splitting into smaller pieces in the 
absence of any control or discipline exerted by General 
Yakutumba, who has been resident in Kinshasa since before the 
Goma Conference.  The group's fighters, she said, are 
increasingly out of control, amid allegations of murder, rape 
and robbery.  The FRF, by contrast, is united around Gasore 
Zebede.  They are willing to negotiate their demobilization 
in return for safety and immunity guarantees. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) PARECO elements are also active in South Kivu under 
the name PARECO/South Kivu, which is connected to an influx 
of Hutu IDPs from North Kivu alongside armed elements. There 
are strong connections in South Kivu between PARECO and the 
FDLR.  Another recent and confusing phenomenon according to 
Rasul is CNDP elements deploying under a PARECO banner ) 
Rasul said that PARECO spokespersons will call after an 
incident attributed to this group to offer a denial and claim 
that this CNDP group was actually the one responsible. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Comment:  Rasul's perspective regarding the 
non-existence of most of these armed groups prior to the Goma 
Conference is shared by some MONUC officers in Kinshasa as 
well.  Although their theory cannot be proven, increased 
activity following the Goma Conference could point to a new 
problem facing the GDRC and the international community in 
the Kivus.  End comment 
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