VZCZCXRO4934
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0764 1871144
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061144Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6457
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS KINSHASA 000764
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD PGOV KCRM CG
SUBJECT: CONGOLESE TRADER ON UN SANCTIONS LIST MURDERED IN
NORTH KIVU
1. (U) Congolese gold trader Kambale Kisoni Kidubai was shot
and killed in Butembo, North Kivu by unidentified assailants
at noon on July 5. He had been designated in March 2007,
along with Butembo Airlines and Congocom Trading House, as
subject to UN and U.S. sanctions for providing support to
armed groups in Congo in violation of an international arms
embargo.
2. (U) Security Council Resolution 1596 provided the
following information on Kisoni's designation: "Kisoni
participated in militia financing through gold trading
(buying from the Front for National Integration (FNI) and
selling to Uganda Commercial Impex and smuggling across the
DRC/Uganda border). He "used his airline -- Butembo Airlines
-- to transport FNI gold, rations, and weapons between
Mongbwalu and Butembo." His Congocom Trading House, a gold
trading house in Butembo, allowed him to "acquire almost all
the gold production in the Mongbwalu district, which is
controlled by the FNI. The FNI derive substantial income
from taxes imposed on this production."
3. (SBU) According to press reports, the presumed killers,
including one woman, stole a large sum of money and other
valuables before shooting him. MONUC Goma told us July 6
that a security guard may also have been killed in the
attack. Six individuals were arrested by Congolese security
services in the Mutiri quarter of Butembo in the early
afternoon and are being detained at the Kakwangura prison.
The detainees are reportedly all foreigners, including two
Ugandans and one Kenyan.
4. (SBU) MONUC Butembo's office told us the killing of
Kisoni triggered panic among the population. Stores and
schools closed immediately, and local residents gathered in
front of the jail where the suspects were being held. MONUC
Goma told us that Kisoni had allegedly made a fortune by
trafficking in arms for various Ituri militia groups and
owned several mansions in Butembo, in addition to the two
companies designated along with him. Although the apparent
motive for the killing is robbery, MONUC said a link between
Kisoni's illegal activities and his assassination cannot be
excluded.
5. (SBU) Comment: Kisoni had recently requested a meeting
with emboffs, and his lawyer had forwarded a lengthy dossier
refuting charges made against him in U.N. reports.
Speculation and rumors about his assassination are already
rife. Certainly, Kisoni's checkered history of trade in gold
and arms would strongly suggest the possibility that his
murder was not random. End comment.
MEECE