VZCZCXRO8989
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #1044/01 3301038
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251038Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8821
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001044 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS PHUM PREF KPKO CG
SUBJECT:   EASTERN DRC NOTES - NOVEMBER 25 
 
REF:        KINSHASA 1026 
 
¶1.  (U) The items contained in this report consist principally of 
spot information from various sources.  This report is not 
exhaustive, nor can all the information contained therein be 
confirmed at this time. 
 
Security Situation 
------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) A senior MONUC military official briefed Kinshasa-based 
diplomats on November 24, positing that Nkunda's decision to 
withdraw (reftel) 40 kilometers was tactical, not in deference to 
Obasanjo or the international community.  Rather, MONUC believes the 
CNDP withdrawal gives it better control over the far-flung area it 
now occupies and improves its defense.  MONUC also raised the 
possibility that the CNDP may be consolidating its forces to attack 
Sake, when the situation is optimal. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) According to the MONUC military official, new FARDC Chief 
of Staff Etumba's top priority is to re-organize the FARDC to launch 
an attack on the CNDP.  FARDC troops in Equateur Province have 
reportedly been transferred to Beni for eventual deployment against 
the CNDP.  In MONUC's view, the FARDC might be able to achieve 
success at a "very local" level, but the FARDC would be unable to 
hold any captured CNDP territory in the long run. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) At a Goma MONUC briefing, it was noted that there are 
rumors of an entente between certain PARECO forces (the Lafontaine 
faction) and the CNDP.  The entente is supposedly coalescing because 
of mutual hostility towards FARDC human rights abuses against local 
populations. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) MONUC Goma also reported that there are rumors that the 
CNDP has co-opted or bought off certain FARDC elements to 
deliberately sabotage FARDC operations.  In one case, senior FARDC 
officials reprimanded two FARDC commanders, who were too effective 
against the CNDP. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) UN and humanitarian organizations reported ongoing 
incidents of banditry and citizen reprisals throughout Goma.  During 
the night of November 24, local residents captured and killed a 
bandit in Goma, the seventh bandit to be killed in recent days. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On the evening of November 23, FARDC troops stopped eight 
MONUC trucks at Monigi transporting 26 surrendered Mai-Mai/PARECO to 
Goma for DDR processing.  Rumors spread that the trucks contained 
CNDP soldiers in uniforms and UN berets.  Despite some calls for an 
anti-MONUC demonstration, the FARDC allowed the trucks to pass and 
no demonstration took place. 
 
LRA Corridor 
------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) MONUC reported that the GDRC has observed a cease-fire, 
which would allow LRA elements to travel through protected corridors 
to the north.  However, MONUC has not detected any movement by LRA 
forces in the corridors.  No recent fighting has occurred in the 
areas where the LRA operates. 
 
Political Developments 
---------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) UN Special Envoy Obasanjo will visit Kinshasa November 28, 
meeting with President Kabila before traveling to Goma to meet with 
the DRC and Rwandan Foreign Ministers.  Afterwards, he hopes to meet 
with CNDP leader Nkunda and FDLR officials. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) DRC Foreign Minister Thambwe Mwamba has reportedly 
written UNSG Ban Ki Moon to state that the GDRC does not want any 
Indian forces included in the additional MONUC troops approved by 
the UNSC.  The letter further requests that Indian troops be rotated 
out of North Kivu into other parts of the DRC.  Members of the 
international community noted that there may indeed be no 
alternative to the Indian troops. 
 
Humanitarian Situation 
---------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian 
Affairs (OCHA) announced that no humanitarian staff had yet traveled 
to Kanyabayonga.  According to OCHA, travel to Kanyabayonga is 
possible, if extreme caution is taken. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) MONUC estimates that approximately 200,000 residents near 
Kanyabayonga are sleeping in the bush, too afraid to return to homes 
 
KINSHASA 00001044  002 OF 002 
 
 
and villages.  MONUC added that the nearby towns showed signs of 
FARDC looting. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) At a November 24 coordination meeting, humanitarian 
agencies discussed the appropriateness of delivering assistance to 
the families of FARDC soldiers.  The group was divided between those 
who believed the FARDC families should be treated as IDPs and those 
who believed it was the government's responsibility and that feeding 
families would be taking sides in the conflict.  IOM volunteered to 
deliver assistance to the approximately 5,000 FARDC families between 
Kanyabayonga and Beni and the 3,600 families between Sake and 
Minova.  OCHA will write to Security Sector Reform donors to elicit 
support for providing such assistance. 
 
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