Over the year 2008, Rwandan rebels based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) engaged in negotiations with the DRC government with the facilitation of the the Catholic Organization, Sant’Egidio Community and the Norwegian SIK. The rebel organizations involved included the mostly Hutu Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD-Urunana) and the mostly Tutsi Rally for the Rwandan People (RPR), led mainly by former Rwandan Patriotic Army officers.
According to the cables released by Wikileaks, the US Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was closely following the negotiations and provided opinions on RUD and RPR leaders, especially Felicien Kanyamibwa, Jean Marie Vianney Higiro, Augustine Dukuze, General Musare and another only labeled “Jean Michel”.
In one of the cable marked Sensitive describing the events of May 26, 2008 in Kisangani, the US Embassy in Kinshasa says: ” … attended the May 26 Kisangani meeting at which the GDRC and elements from FDLR-RUD and the RPR made public a document (copy to be e-mailed to AF/C) related to these armed groups’ disarmament and repatriation or resettlement, previously worked out in meetings in Italy. The meeting was ceremonial, lasted approximately two hours, and featured principally speeches from representatives from the GDRC, the international community, and the armed groups hailing the agreement.”
The cables then focuses on the leadership and notes: “ Less clear were the identities of the members of the FDLR in attendance, who appeared to number approximately 25-30. A few of their wives and children also came to the conference. The FDLR-RUD leaders Felicien Kanyamibwa and Jean-Marie Vianney Higiro were not obviously present (Note: Kanyamibwa signed the roadmap at the Rome meeting May 9 in the name of the “National Congress for Democracy” which appears to be a melding of the FDLR-RUD, the RPR, and perhaps other elements as well. End note) MONUC and GDRC representatives told us in advance that it would be primarily members of the RUD who would come to the conference, though a few FOCA members were reportedly present as well.
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