VZCZCXRO5469
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0930 3011040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271040Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8673
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 000930
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO CG
SUBJECT: EASTERN CONGO PEACE INITIATIVES FROM THE
EGLISE DU CHRIST AU CONGO AND THE INTER-
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GREAT LAKES REGION
1. (SBU) Summary: Two regional organizations, the Eglise du Christ
au Congo and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region
(ICGLR), have outlined initiatives to persuade Rwandan President
Kagame and DRC President Kabila to meet. The ICGLR initiative would
involve the mediation by another Head of State, possibly Tanzanian
President Kikwite. End Summary.
Eglise du Christ au Congo Initiative
------------------------------------
2. (SBU) The Eglise du Christ au Congo (ECC), an association of
several Protestant churches, has been involved in facilitating
discussions between the GDRC and the FDLR for several years. They
were instrumental in persuading members of the armed group RUD to
attend the May 2008 Kisangani conference that established a roadmap
for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration activities.
(Note: This roadmap has been overtaken by other initiatives. End
Note.) The ECC was a key player in convincing approximately 70 RUD
combatants to disarm on July 31 at Kasiki. The GDRC and the
Norwegian Protestant Church have provided funding for the ECC to
construct and maintain the Kasiki camp. At the forefront of the ECC
is Bishop Jean-Luc Kuye-Ndondo, who interacts regularly with the
Joint Monitoring Task Force.
3. (SBU) During an October 18 meeting with Goma Poloff, Kuye-Ndondo
outlined an ECC initiative to facilitate a meeting between
Presidents Kabila and Kagame. The initiative involves similar
church conferences in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya, which are
all part of the All Africa Conference of Churches, also known by its
French name, Conference des Eglises de Toute l'Afrique (CETA). The
current Secretary General of CETA, Dr. Andre Karamaga, is a
Presbyterian theologian who is Rwandan Tutsi. Representatives from
the five national church conferences will meet in Nairobi October
22-23 and again in Kampala November 13 to develop a strategy to try
to get the Heads of State to meet under CETA aegis.
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region
--------------------------------------------- -----
4. (SBU) The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region
(ICGLR), comprising eleven countries, was formed in November 2004 to
discuss security, stability, democracy, and development issues in
the Great Lakes region. The ICGLR is a member of the Joint
Monitoring Group (JMG) that monitors implementation of the Nairobi
Communique. However, due to logistical constraints, the ICGLR
attends the weekly JMG meetings only occasionally.
5. (SBU) Goma poloff recently met separately with two ICGLR
officials, Samuel Shelukindo, assistant to the Executive Secretary,
and Roger Nibula, economic development officer. Both pointed to an
initiative by the ICGLR Executive Secretary, Ambassador Liberata
Mulamula (Tanzania), to bring together heads of state to discuss
security issues. The intent would be to have another head of state,
perhaps Tanzanian President Kikwite, mediate. Mulamula apparently
plans to visit heads of state in late October to lobby for their
attendance. Shelukindo claimed that Kagame would have been willing
to meet with Kabila at UNGA (Kabila did not attend UNGA), but hawks
in Kinshasa had persuaded him against such a meeting.
6. (SBU) Comment: It remains to be seen how effective these
initiatives might be. It is unclear if the ECC has sufficient
access to regional leaders to enable it to pull off a Kabila-Kagame
meeting. As for the ICGLR, it is not a major player in Goma and
thus has limited influence vis-a-vis many important players. End
Comment.
BROCK