VZCZCXRO7515
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0231 0711257
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121257Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9295
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 1973
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000231 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PBTS MOPS AO CG
SUBJECT:  ANGOLAN EMBASSY IN KINSHASA REGARDING ALLEGATIONS OF 
INCURSIONS INTO DRC TERRITORY 
 
REF: KINSHASA 220 and previous 
 
¶1. 
 (SBU) Further to reftel on alleged Angolan army incursions into DRC 
territory, a letter from Afonso Lufuaquenda, the Charge d'Affaires 
of the Angolan embassy in Kinshasa, appeared in the March 10 edition 
of the local newspaper "Le Potentiel."  Lufuaquenda emphasizes in 
the letter that it was the Angolan border police which was deployed 
on the border, not the Angolan military.  The letter also notes that 
representatives from the Zaire province of Angola and Bas-Congo 
province met from March 3-5 and that afterwards the Angolan border 
police elements left the Congolese village of Kuzi. 
 
¶2.  (U) Lufuaquenda also points out in this letter that the 
representatives at the March 3-5 meeting agreed to dispatch a team 
to determine the actual land and maritime borders between the two 
provinces.  Finally, in reference to accusations of rape by Angolan 
soldiers printed in the pages of Le Potentiel, Lufuaquenda invites 
its staff to visit the area in question to confirm these accusations 
and chastises the paper for contributing to problems between the two 
states and peoples. 
 
¶3.  (U) Local and international press articles continue, however, to 
make allegations that run counter to Lufuaquenda's assertions.  A 
BBC article dated March 9 (printing information from Radio France 
International) reported the presence of both Angolan soldiers and 
border guards in Bas-Congo.  Information issued March 10 from Radio 
Okapi asserted that Angolan soldiers were reinforcing their presence 
in the two villages in Bas-Congo. 
 
¶4.  (U) Le Potentiel also printed a communique which was issued 
following the March 3-5 meetings.  An unofficial embassy translation 
from the French follows: 
 
Begin translation of communique: 
 
"At the request of the governor of Bas-Congo, a meeting was held 
from March 3-5, 2009 at Mbanza-Kongo, chief town of the Angolan 
province of Zaire, of the joint defense, security and public order 
sub-commission between the provinces of Zaire and Bas-Congo.  The 
opening session was presided by His Excellency General Pedro 
Sebastiao, governor of the province of Zaire, and closed by General 
Francisco Massota, the delegate of the Interior Ministry and 
provincial commander of the National police of Zaire.  After 
fruitful debates on the security situation along the common border 
between the two provinces, the following recommendations were 
adopted: 
 
-- Establishing an urgent joint commission of experts between the 
two countries to scientifically make a decision on the issue of 
marking land and sea borders between the two provinces; 
 
-- the withdrawal of units of the Angolan border police guard from 
the occupied sector in the Kuzi village, and that, pending the 
conclusions of the works of the aforementioned joint commission of 
experts; 
 
-- the return of the Congolese population having fled a sector of 
the Kuzi village so that they can freely go about they usual 
chores; 
 
-- regularly holding joint meetings between the two provinces, Zaire 
and Bas-Congo. 
 
The delegates of the provinces of Zaire and Bas Congo expressed 
their satisfaction on the harmonious course of the session." 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment:  Lufuaquenda's letter and the communique leave no 
doubt that there is a border-related dispute between Angola and DRC, 
although both documents remain silent as to whether the area where 
the incident occurred belongs to Angola or the DRC.  Also, while 
both documents claim that Angolan border police have left the 
village of Kuzi, there is no mention of an Angolan presence in the 
other site, Sava Ina.  End comment. 
 
GARVELINK