Cablegate: President Kabila's Half-Sister Is Murdered

VZCZCXRO7186
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0056 0210941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 210941Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7393
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000056

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG
SUBJECT: President Kabila's half-sister is murdered

1. Congolese media report that Mrs. Aimee Kabila Mulengela,
believed to be an illegitimate (but acknowledged) daughter of late
President Laurent Kabila, was killed in her Kinshasa residence last
Wednesday by two unidentified men wearing military uniforms. The
assassins broke into Mrs. Mulengela's residence in the early hours
of the morning and shot her to death in front of her children. They
fled the house after taking her cell phone.

2. While the provincial police have issued a statement saying that
Mrs. Mulengela was not related to the late President Kabila, the
consensus of opinion among reliable sources in the press and
elsewhere is that Mulengela was indeed Laurent Kabila's daughter by
a woman other than his wife, making her a half-sister of current
President Joseph Kabila. The United Nations Mission for the Congo
(MONUC) confirmed that Mrs. Mulengela had on several occasions
expressed concern for her safety and had reported threats on her
life.

3. Comment: Mrs. Mulengela was known to have been on bad terms
with certain members of the Kabila family and to have been involved
in legal disputes over the estate of Laurent Kabila. End Comment.

Brock

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