US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1686

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001686 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KPKO, PGOV, MARR, CG, UG 
SUBJECT: LRA UPDATE: BACK IN SUDAN? 
 
REF: KINSHASA 1677 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: DCM TDougherty for reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
1. (C) As reported reftel, MONUC and FARDC officials traveled 
to Aba the morning of October 7 in order to present a "last 
chance" disarmament proposal to LRA forces that crossed into 
the DRC from Sudan on September 19.  When the MONUC team, led 
by MONUC political section chief (and acting director of the 
Bunia office) Charles Gomis arrived in Aba, the LRA forces 
had already left.  Villagers reported that the last of the 
LRA elements had departed the previous day, apparently 
heading north in the direction of the border with Sudan. 
 
2  (C) Albrecht Conze, deputy chief of MONUC's political 
section, told DCM that General Kisempia, FARDC Army 
Commander, likewise advised MONUC that LRA forces had left 
Aba and had crossed the border back into Sudan.  Kisempia 
apparently claimed that at least one group of FARDC soldiers 
had witnessed some LRA forces crossing the border. 
 
3.  (C) Conze told DCM that MONUC plans a reconnaissance 
flight on October 8 in the hope of determining the 
whereabouts of the LRA forces. 
 
4.  (C) Comment:  The only thing that is clear is that the 
LRA forces have left Aba.  The border area and the Garamba 
National Park are heavily forested, making aerial 
reconnaissance difficult.  We believe it plausible that Otti 
and the LRA forces with him, faced with two FARDC battalions 
supported by MONUC, may well have decided they are better off 
back in Sudan.  With widespread reports of SPLA and UPDF 
forces on the other side of the Congolese border, however, 
it is of course also plausible that Otti's group - squeezed 
between a rock and a hard place - may have temporarily gone 
into the bush in or around Garamba.  End comment. 
MEECE