Cablegate: Eastern Drc Notes - November 28

VZCZCXRO1466
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #1057 3331126
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281126Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8840
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 KINSHASA 001057

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS PHUM PREF KPKO CG
SUBJECT: EASTERN DRC NOTES - NOVEMBER 28

REF: KINSHASA 1026

1. (U) The items contained in this report consist principally of
spot information from various sources. This report is not
exhaustive, nor can all the information contained therein be
confirmed at this time.

Security Situation
------------------

2. (SBU) MONUC Goma reported that CNDP took Ishasha town on the DRC
- Ugandan border November 27. The border crossing at Ishasha is one
of several crossings between Lake Albert and Lake Kivu that are now
under CNDP control. MONUC noted that CNDP now controls all of
Rutshuru territory and 60 percent of Masisi territory.

3. (SBU) Goma poloff witnessed approximately 30 MONUC peacekeepers
departing Goma Airport to Ishasha November 28. The MONUC element
boarded helicopters previously scheduled to transport International
Facilitation (IF) representatives to Kasiki.

4. (SBU) USAID/DART team reports that USAID/OFDA partner IRC had a
truck "requisitioned" by CNDP forces November 27 in Rugari for the
purposes of transporting munitions. The vehicle was later returned
to IRC.

5. (SBU) MONUC Goma said CNDP has established tax systems for store
owners in Kiwanja and Rutshuru and levies a duty of 300-400 USD per
truck transiting the Rutshuru town area for Goma.

Political Developments
----------------------

6. (SBU) The previously scheduled November 28 IF trip to Kasiki was
canceled due to the lack of MONUC helicopter transport. The
delegation, composed of IF and representatives of the GDRC, was to
monitor the status of demobilized FDLR-RUD members awaiting
relocation in DRC or repatriation to Rwanda.

7. (SBU) Colonel Mamba, GDRC representative to the Joint Monitoring
Group-Task Force, told Goma Poloff that SESG Obasanjo may not arrive
in Kinshasa until November 29 vice the previously reported November
28 (reftel). He also said that the meeting between the Foreign
Ministers of the DRC and Rwanda in Goma has been postponed from
November 29 to December 4.

Humanitarian Situation
----------------------

8. (SBU) USAID/DART team reported November 27 that Rutshuru town's
civilian population has returned in larger numbers than has
Kiwanja's, but fluxes between the two locations make accurate
estimates difficult. Many Kiwanja residents spend the night in
Rutshuru to escape CNDP "exactions" and return home during the day.
Local USAID/DART sources claim that Kiwanja is three quarters empty
and that most residents have fled north to Kanyabayonga.

9. (SBU) MONUC estimates that the number of huts in the IDP camp at
the MONUC Kiwanja base has grown from 150 to 640. A Rutshuru based
NGO reported the number of families at the Kiwanja camp has
increased to approximately 1,200, including recent arrivals from
Kinyadoni and Ngwenda who fled CNDP movement northwards to Ishasha.

10. (SBU) UNHCR reports 13,000 Congolese citizens crossed into
Uganda November 26-27 due to CNDP activity near Ishasha, bringing
the total to 27,000 since August 2008.

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