VZCZCXRO1216
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0567/01 1681237
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171237Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9730
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 000567 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG
SUBJECT: EASTERN DRC NOTES - JUNE 17 
 
REF: KINSHASA 562 
 
¶1.  (U) The information contained in this cable consists principally 
of spot reports from various sources.  This cable is not exhaustive, 
nor can all the information contained therein be confirmed at this 
time. 
 
North Kivu Security Situation 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Unknown men attacked the MONUC company operating base at 
Pinga on the night of June 15, and a MONUC interpreter is currently 
missing.  The FDLR is active in the region and has previously 
threatened Pinga.  PARECO also has a sizable presence in the area. 
FARDC troops in the region, furious about non-payment of salaries 
for many months, have also openly threatened to loot in the area. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) APCLS troops who expressed a desire to integrate (reftel) 
have been relocated by MONUC to Mutera.  Mutera is not an official 
integration center, but it has facilities to accommodate combatants 
while they are processed into the FARDC. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Further details have emerged about the citizen protest 
north of Rutshuru (reftel).  Approximately 1,500 locals, mostly from 
Kanyabayonga, have blocked the road from Rutshuru to Ishasha to 
protest three civilian killings by FARDC troops, at one point 
placing the bodies in the road to block traffic. 
 
¶5.  (U) Radio Okapi reported that a FARDC major and one escort were 
killed during an exchange of fire with FDLR elements near Kiwanja on 
June 16.  One FDLR was killed in the exchange, according to the 
report, and the police in area have been reinforced amid concerns of 
heightened threats from armed groups. 
 
South Kivu Security Situation 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The FARDC clashed with the FDLR one kilometer from Mwenga 
on June 15.  The encounter may have been an accident, as it appears 
that the two patrols bumped into each other and exchanged intense 
gunfire.  The FDLR fled and there were no casualties. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) MONUC staged a raid on a suspected arms cache in Uvira on 
June 14, but discovered only two empty rooms.  MONUC included 
Uvira-based units of the national police (PNC) in the planning for 
the raid and believes the PNC may have tipped off the owners.  On 
June 15, they raided another nearby house, informing the PNC only at 
the last moment, and seized 139 AK-47s, six Uzis, five rockets and 
stores of ammunition. 
 
Open Borders 
------------ 
 
¶8.  (U) MONUC Goma reported that the Ugandan press announced June 15 
that border posts between Rwanda, DRC and Uganda would be open 24 
hours a day beginning September 1.  DRC border posts in the east are 
now open from 6:00 to 18:00, although pedestrian traffic is allowed 
after the border closes to vehicles. 
 
Getting the FRF on-side 
----------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) On June 15, chief negotiator Father Apollinaire Malu Malu 
met with FRF political and military leaders in a cordial but frank 
session, attempting to persuade the rebel group to integrate.  A 
western diplomat who participated in the meeting told us that Malu 
Malu strongly urged the FRF to sign the March 23 agreement on 
disarmament of armed groups.  He also offered the group two seats on 
the National Monitoring Committee, as well as a commune in South 
Kivu in return for its participation.  He said that the FRF's demand 
to create a territory on the Haut-Plateau was a non-starter.  (Note: 
 A commune is a sub-provincial administrative unit that comprises at 
least 20,000 persons in a prescribed location.  Under the proposed 
decentralization framework, communes will directly elect their local 
government.  Although a territory has more status, its leadership is 
appointed.  End note.)  Malu Malu apparently warned the group that 
the GDRC's patience was finite and that this was the GDRC's final 
offer.  At the end of June, the period for integration of armed 
groups in South Kivu will come to a close, and armed men will then 
be treated as bandits. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Comment:  Many times in the past the FRF was believed to 
be on the verge of joining the integration process.  Despite these 
false starts, there are several reasons to be more optimistic that 
this time, the FRF will participate.  First, the proposal to create 
a commune has never been broached previously.  Second, Malu Malu, by 
 
KINSHASA 00000567  002 OF 002 
 
 
all accounts, was much firmer than ever before.  Third, the 
integration process is underway and South Kivu armed groups are 
participating on the National Monitoring Committee.  The oft-cited 
threat that the FRF will be left behind has more and more 
credibility.  Finally, against the backdrop of Kimia II, the FRF 
must be uncertain about FARDC/MONUC operations in South Kivu.  End 
comment.) 
 
BROCK