US embassy cable - 01KINSHASA461

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000461 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2010 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, CG 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH JOSEPH KABILA 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR WILLIAM LACY SWING FOR REASONS 
1.5(B)(D) 
 
 
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1. (C) SUMMARY: 
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AMBASSADOR SWING MET WITH PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE JOSEPH KABILA 
FOR AN HOUR LATE AFTERNOON OF JANUARY 25 AT KABILA'S OAU 
VILLAGE OFFICE.  THE AMBASSADOR PRESENTED KABILA WITH 
PRESIDENT BUSH'S MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE AND OFFERED HIS OWN 
VERBAL CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT LAURENT KABILA. 
THE AMBASSADOR ALSO GAVE KABILA THE INVITATION TO THE 
CONGRESSIONAL NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST ON FEBRUARY 1; KABILA 
SAID HE UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF PARTICIPATING AND 
PROMISED HIS ANSWER JANUARY 26.  THE AMBASSADOR OUTLINED THE 
CONSIDERATIONS UNDERLYING THE EMBASSY'S DRAWDOWN.  KABILA 
STRESSED THROUGHOUT THE TALK HIS PREOCCUPATION WITH THE WAR 
AND THE SUFFERING OF THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE; APPEALED FOR MONUC 
TO DEPLOY AND FOR RWANDAN AND UGANDAN TROOPS TO DEPART. 
KABILA GAVE THE IMPRESSION OF BEING SEIZED WITH THE HEAVY 
RESPONSIBILITY HE HAS INHERITED, AND ACUTELY AWARE OF THE 
LEGITIMACY ISSUE POSED BY HIS SELECTION, WHICH SEEMS TO 
INCLINE HIM TOWARD A POLICY OF GREATER OPENNESS WITH REGARD 
TO THE PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROCESS.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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2. (C) A "PATRIOT WHO SYMBOLIZED OUR HOPES" 
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THE AMBASSADOR, UNACCOMPANIED, MET WITH JOSEPH KABILA FOR AN 
HOUR ON JANUARY 25.  FOREIGN MINISTER OKITUNDU, PRESIDENT 
CABINET DIRECTOR GEORGES BUSE AND STATE SECURITY COUNCIL 
CHIEF NONO LUTULA WERE ALSO PRESENT. 
 
THE AMBASSADOR BEGAN BY PRESENTING PRESIDENT BUSH'S 
CONDOLENCE MESSAGE TO KABILA, FOR WHICH KABILA EXPRESSED WARM 
APPRECIATION.  IN RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S MESSAGE AND 
THE AMBASSADOR'S VERBAL CONDOLENCES, JOSEPH KABILA DESCRIBED 
HIS LATE FATHER AS A "PATRIOT WHO SYMBOLIZED THE CONGOLESE 
PEOPLE'S HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS WHICH WE MUST NOW SHOULDER." 
THIS WILL NOT BE EASY, HE SAID, BUT "WE ARE BOUND BY THE 
REALITIES WE FACE TO FIND SOLUTIONS." 
 
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3. (C) KNITTING THE CONGO BACK INTO THE 
       WORLD'S FABRIC 
----------------------------------------- 
 
PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE KABILA EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF 
"MAKING CONTACTS" WITH A WORLD "THAT IS CHANGING FAST."  IN 
THIS REGARD HE SAID THAT ALREADY SINCE HIS FATHER'S DEATH AND 
PARTICULARLY AT THE FUNERAL THIS WEEK, HE HAD SPOKEN WITH 
"MANY" FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES, EACH WITH A SOMEWHAT 
DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT ON HOW BEST TO ADDRESS CONGO'S PROBLEMS. 
FOR HIMSELF, THE MOST ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IS TO FIND A WAY TO 
END THE WAR.  THIS MEANS GETTING THE OCCUPYING ARMIES OUT OF 
THE DRC, AND IN THIS REGARD THE WORLD COMMUNITY, AND MOST 
ESPECIALLY THE U.S. AS ITS STRONGEST MEMBER, HAVE A SPECIAL 
RESPONSIBILITY.  EARLY ELECTIONS, WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL TO 
DEMOCRACY, ARE BEING DELAYED BECAUSE THE COUNTRY IS 
"OCCUPIED." 
 
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4. (C) WAR'S FRUITS:  "MAYHEM, 
       DESTRUCTION AND REFUGEES" 
--------------------------------- 
 
THE DRC HAS NOW BEEN UNDER "OCCUPATION," HE CONTINUED, FOR 
NEARLY THREE YEARS.  AS A RESULT, THERE HAS BEEN "MUCH MAYHEM 
-- DESTRUCTION, MURDER, AND THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES AND 
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS."  THERE WERE NO CONGOLESE 
REFUGEES BEFORE THE WAR, HE ASSERTED, BUT TODAY CONGOLESE ARE 
FLEEING FROM BUNIA, FOR EXAMPLE, INTO UGANDA. 
 
RWANDA AND UGANDA JUSTIFY THE PRESENCE OF THEIR ARMIES IN THE 
CONGO ON THE GROUNDS THAT THEY MUST COMBAT THE SECURITY 
THREAT WHICH THE INTERAHAMWE POSES, KABILA SAID.  THE 
INTERAHAMWE ARGUMENT CANNOT BE USED, HOWEVER, TO EXPLAIN WHY 
RWANDAN AND UGANDAN FORCES ARE SO DEEP INSIDE CONGOLESE 
TERRITORY, MORE THAN A THOUSAND KILOMETERS FROM THEIR 
BORDERS; NOR WILL THE INTERAHAMWE CLAIM ADEQUATELY JUSTIFY 
RWANDA'S AND UGANDA'S "RIPPING OFF" THE DRC'S NATURAL 
RESOURCES FOR WHICH, HE OBSERVED, A SPECIAL UN COMMISSION OF 
INQUIRY HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED. 
 
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5. (C) RAISING CONGO WAR'S PROFILE 
----------------------------------- 
 
THE WORLD SPEAKS ONLY OF THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE, BUT DOES NOT 
MENTION THAT 1.7 MILLION CONGOLESE ARE SAID TO HAVE DIED IN 
THE CONGO AS A RESULT OF THE CURRENT WAR.  "LET'S NOT LET 
LAURENT KABILA DIE FOR NOTHING."  RATHER, HE SAID, KABILA'S 
LIFE AND DEATH WERE A "PEACE OFFERING."  HE URGED THE U.S TO 
LOOK AT THE CONGO "IN A WIDER CONTEXT OF THE GREAT LAKES 
SUB-REGION," WHICH, HE SAID, IS WHAT HIS LATE FATHER WAS 
DOING  "LET JUSTICE BE DONE," HE SAID.  FOR THIS TO HAPPEN, 
THE U.S. MUST TAKE ITS CONGO POLICY TO A "HIGHER LEVEL." 
 
WHEN THEY MET, KABILA SAID HE HAD ASKED UN SRSG MORJANE WHERE 
THE UN TROOPS ARE.  FROM LATTER'S RESPONSE, KABILA SAID, HE 
HAD THE SENSE THAT THEY ARE STILL A LONG WAYS OFF.  KABILA 
APPEALED TO THE AMBASSADOR FOR THE U.S. TO PUT "PRESSURE" ON 
RWANDA, UGANDA AND BURUNDI TO WITHDRAW THEIR TROOPS FROM THE 
DRC.  THEY SHOULD BE CONFRONTED AS TO WHY THEIR TROOPS ARE IN 
THE CONGO, THEN TOLD THAT EITHER THEY LEAVE, OR RISK 
INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS. 
 
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6. (C) POSSIBLE PRAYER BREAKFAST 
       PARTICIPATION 
-------------------------------- 
 
PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE KABILA EXPRESSED APPRECIATION FOR THE 
CONGRESSIONAL INVITATION TO THE ANNUAL NATIONAL PRAYER 
BREAKFAST ON FEBRUARY 1.  HE AGREED THAT THIS REPRESENTS A 
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY, TOO GOOD TO BE PASSED UP.  ON THE OTHER 
HAND, HE POINTED OUT THAT HIS PRIMARY CONCERN AT THE MOMENT 
IS FOR THE SECURITY AND STABILITY OF THE CONGO.  THEREFORE, 
HE WOULD HAVE TO CONSULT WITH HIS CABINET COLLEAGUES; HE SAID 
THEY WOULD NEED TWELVE HOURS IN ORDER "TO STUDY" THE 
INVITATION.  HE ASKED FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON THE PROGRAM AND 
A LIST OF THE OTHER FOREIGN HEADS OF STATE INVITED. 
 
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7. (C) EMBASSY DRAWDOWN PRECAUTIONARY 
       AND TEMPORARY 
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THE AMBASSADOR SAID HE THOUGHT IT IMPORTANT TO CLARIFY THE 
CONSIDERATIONS UNDERLYING THE EMBASSY'S CURRENT DRAWDOWN OF 
ITS PERSONNEL COMPLEMENT.  HE DESCRIBED THE DRAWDOWN AS A 
"PRECAUTIONARY, PRUDENT" MEASURE.  THE DRAWDOWN IS TEMPORARY, 
NOT PERMANENT, AND IS NOT AN EVACUATION.  THE AMBASSADOR 
EMPHASIZED THAT THIS ACTION DOES NOT IN ANY WAY REFLECT ANY 
LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT HAS 
HANDLED THE AFFAIRS OF STATE SINCE KABILA'S DEATH; IN FACT, 
HE SAID, HE AND THE DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY GENERALLY HAD BEEN 
IMPRESSED WITH THEIR SMOOTH HANDLING OF THE TRANSITION. 
 
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8. (C) COMMENT: 
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ON THE EVE OF HIS OFFICIAL INAUGURATION AS PRESIDENT AND 
SUCCESSOR TO HIS SLAIN FATHER, JOSEPH KABILA, WHOM THE 
AMBASSADOR HAD LAST SEEN IN NOVEMBER, MADE THE IMPRESSION OF 
ONE WHO SENSES THAT, INEXORABLY, THE COMPLEX BURDENS OF THIS 
VAST, BELEAGUERED COUNTRY ARE COMING TO REST ON HIS 
SHOULDERS.  VARIOUS INTERESTS WITHIN THE DISPARATE, 
INTERNALLY-COMPETING AND OFTEN CONTRADICTORY POWER STRUCTURE 
ARE ALREADY VYING FOR HIS TIME AND ATTENTION AS THEY SEEK AT 
LEAST TO RETAIN, AND TO INCREASE IF POSSIBLE WHATEVER 
INFLUENCE THEY MAY HAVE HAD WITH HIS FATHER -- HENCE, THE 
THREE SENIOR PARTICIPANTS AT THE MEETING, FOR EXAMPLE.  THIS 
PERHAPS ALSO EXPLAINS JOSEPH KABILA'S INSISTENCE ON USING 
ENGLISH THROUGH MOST OF THE CONVERSATION (A LANGUAGE IN WHICH 
NONE OF THE OTHER THREE PARTICIPANTS IS VERSED), ALTHOUGH HIS 
FRENCH IS FLUENT. 
 
ALTHOUGH AT FIRST IMPRESSION SHY, THE PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE IS 
SOFT-SPOKEN, BUT SELF-ASSURED AND ARTICULATE.  HE PROJECTS 
THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE AN APPEALING, PROFESSIONAL IMAGE FOR 
HIS COUNTRY.  HIS ACUTE AWARENESS OF THE LEGITIMACY ISSUE AND 
HIS OWN LIMITED EXPERIENCE MAY WELL INCLINE HIM TO REACH OUT 
AND OPEN UP THE POLITICAL PROCESS, SET A REASONABLE DATE FOR 
ELECTIONS, EVEN THOUGH MAKING THESE CONTINGENT UPON ALL OF 
THE BELLIGERENTS AND THE "INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S" 
SUCCESSFULLY SUING FOR PEACE AND A WITHDRAWAL OF RWANDAN AND 
UGANDAN FORCES. 
 
KABILA IMMEDIATELY GRASPED THE IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY WHICH 
THE PRAYER BREAKFAST INVITATION REPRESENTS FOR THE DRC.  HE 
IS AGONIZING, HOWEVER, OVER THE DILEMMA OF SQUARING THIS 
TRIP, LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER HIS INAUGURATION, WITH HIS TOP 
IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE OF MAINTAINING STABILITY AND CALM IN THE 
WAKE OF FATHER LAURENT KABILA'S ASSASSINATION. 
 
SWING