How far President Macron wants to go in his military support to Kabila ?

By Jean-Jacques Wondo Omanyundu

This article follows our article entitled : « La Françafrique newlook de Macron au chevet de Joseph Kabila ? » in which we have detailed a series of confidential information demonstrating how France is trying to provide a subtle diplomatic support to Joseph Kabila while this one shows no apparent sign of leaving power, despite the expiry of his constitutional presidential mandate on 19 December 2016.

In this analysis, we will be particularly interested in the economic and security aspects of this new atypical alliance between France and the Congolese regime led by an illegitimate president, since December 19, 2016, who is trying hard to hold on in power in defiance of the Congolese Constitution.

The aim is to draw the attention of international and national opinion, particularly the Congolese diaspora of Europe, to put pressure on France to stop supporting an anti-democratic and repressive regime that is functioning in antipodes of universal values ​​of democracy and human rights embodied by France.

©The TOTAL tower. Built in the 1960s, La Défense is the first European business district by the extent of its office park. Many large firms have their headquarters in skyscrapers like the Total Tower. Photo the Parisian Olivier Boitet, COURBEVOIE (01.06.2015).

It all started with the secret meeting of Lubumbashi between the emissaries of Macron and Joseph Kabila

Barely elected on May 7, 2017, the new French president, Emmanuel Macron, sent his envoys to Joseph Kabila to Lubumbashi on June 20, in order to initiate a dialogue, against a backdrop of political crisis in the DRC. Mrs Franck Paris, the Africa adviser of the Elysée, and Rémi Maréchaux, the Africa director of the Quai d’Orsay are the ones who made up the delegation. In this delegation, there was also the presence of Alain Remy, the ambassador of France in the DRC,Néhémie Mwilanya Wilondja , Kabila’s chief of staff, and Léonard She Okitundu , Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs [1] . This meeting took place after a two-day telephone conversation between Emmanuel Macron and Joseph Kabila. The French president thanked the authorities in Kinshasa cordially for intervening in the release of a French hostage in eastern DRC.

According to several confidential information received by DESC, contacts initiated by the Elysee cell and the Congolese Presidency are based on the end of term as President Joseph Kabila. For President Kabila’s entourage , the economic and security opportunities offered by the DRC to France can be traded by a very strong political and diplomatic support of France in international forums. It is obviously around an economic new deal that the rapprochement between the two countries took place, to which was added a security component.

Economic reinvestment of French multinational companies in the DRC   : Economic files   : the Total and Kabila oil deal in eastern DRC

Exchanges on this point mainly focused on prospecting and the intensification of the economic interests of French companies in the DRC, particularly in the mining, hydrocarbons and telecommunications sectors. The first positive sign of this interest deal was the resumption of the RFI signal during a period when the media and social networks are facing full censorship and serious violations of press freedom of the Congolese regime .

In our article :   « La Françafrique newlook de Macron au chevet de Joseph Kabila ? »   We have listed a number of projects initiated by French companies in the DRC. This is the case, for example, with the r purchase in April 2016 by Orange France of the operator Oasis, which operated under the Tigo label. We are also talking about the Canal + television project which, through its branch Canal Olympia, wants to install cinemas in 2018 in Kinshasa and in the big cities of the country. Dr. Bolloré, Castel and CFAO are also gradually strengthening their presence in the DRC.

As for the French branch  of the Dutch firm Gemalto , which replaced Zetes for the supply of voter registration material and the electoral roll as part of an offer procedure contrary to the laws and rules on public procurement, it is pointed out by some internal sources of the CENI to be responsible for the delays recorded in the electoral process. This is one of the reasons why the French government has so far refrained from openly criticizing the electoral process. In the meantime, Gemalto has just been bought by Thales Communications, which already supplies encrypted communications hardware to Kabila’s securocrats.

Another latent strategic issue behind the control of the electoral file by the French of Gemalto is the ability of French services to control the biometric database of the Congolese population in a multistrategic purpose linked in particular to illegal immigration in France, terrorism and organized crime. The fight against terrorism and illegal immigration are the main priorities of French President Emmanuel Macron.He declined them this Tuesday, August 29, 2017, during the traditional speech of the head of the French State to diplomatic ambassadors and representatives of France in the world [2] .

One of the biggest fish in this Franco-Congolese strategic partnership concerns the expansion of the Total Group’s activities in the DRC, where the Group has been present since the 2000s in distribution and since 2011 in exploration. This is particularly the extension of the oil exploration license of the Bloc III Graben Albertine oil site located in the plain of Lake Albert in the new province of Ituri, which is expected to expire initially in January 2018. But Total does not count to stop there. The company wants to extend it’s area of ​​exploitation beyond the Semuliki River and the Burasi border post. All of this is happening while the DRC owes $ 100 million in debt. And if Total requires repayment of this debt, Congo will no longer be able to source fuel.

According to a Congolese presidential source, a strong delegation of the top 5 of Total-France stayed in early December in Kinshasa where it had talks at the very top level of the summit of the state. While Total has invested 3.5 billion US dollars in Uganda in the construction of a pipeline, its leaders fear that the majority of oil blocks Congolese Grabben are attributed to other firms that would be tempted to build their own pipelines on the Congolese side. This would be a shortfall for Total which aims to have a monopoly in the exploitation of oil from Lake Albert on both sides of the border between the DRC and Uganda.

According to the confidential magazine Africa Energy Intelligence, N° 807, of December 19, 2017, under the very revealing title, Total and Kabila play the long game on eastern frontier (Total and Kabila play long game on the eastern border), Total has organized a series of meetings with Efora (formerly Sacoïl ), Dig Oil and the Congolese government, its partners for Block III. The talks took place at Total’s headquarters in the La Défense district on the outskirts of Paris. The Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, Aimé Ngoy Mukena, traveled in person in Paris, accompanied by his technical advisor, Tony Chermani . According to this magazine, Total was to drill a first well on the block in 2017 following a 2D seismic survey conducted by the US group Tesla but indicates for months that it is unable to complete the exercise at the end of the phase of Exploration in progress, scheduled for January 26, 2018. This phase had already been extended by two years in 2016 and Total has a contractual obligation to drill it before it expires.

The president of the DRC unit, Hélène Dantoine , and assistant vice-president of exploration for humid and central Africa, Raffaele Luce, has submitted a request for an extension to complete the exercise.

 Africa Energy Intelligence, N°807, December, 19th, 2017

According to the same article   :    »   France is currently on good terms with Joseph Kabila’s administration and Mukena should not oppose the extension of Total’s license in eastern Congo-K. Since 2010, these licenses are operated by two Israeli companies in the diamond Dan Gertle r Caprikat and Foxwhelp. Not having adhered to his contractual work program, Gertler found himself navigating in the difficult political waters of Kinshasa. His attempts to induce Total and other major oil companies to buy Blocks I and II have so far fallen on deaf ears   « . According to a French expert in geopolitics of energy contacted by DESC, Caprikat and Foxwhelp being recently sanctioned by the US Treasury, this situation should settle the French and consolidate the position of Total. And the magazine to conclude   : Total hopes that its long-term game will bear fruit and that the Congolese state will soon resume these popular licenses. The oil company would then be able to deal directly with the state on a future deal. For this to happen, however, the country’s current political situation must first stabilize. President Kabila’s curtain ended a year ago, but he still has not resigned, conclude the magazine.

Security issues : France involved in mil itarisation the Kabila regime

This is where the French investment is worrying and intriguing its partners in the European Union. Since Macron’s election, there has been an increase in bilateral security cooperation between the two countries.

Today, based on the first-hand information that DESC has received, it is safe to say that France is explicitly the greatest Western supporter of the Joseph Kabila regime in terms of security. The first effects of the visit to Lubumbashi of Franck Paris and Rémi Maréchaux, are already felt in the reactivation of Françafrique made in Macron.

Thus, the ANR, the Congolese civil intelligence service, is considered by the experts as the pillar of the Kabila regime.

To reinforce it, the agents of the DGSE (General Direction of the external security of France) concluded a partnership with ANR to train Congolese intelligence agents in espionage techniques and undercover operations shadowing infiltration hostile environments of the Kabila regime and disturbing people spinning speed. Paris has become the advanced strategic position of the Kabila regime’s intelligence apparatus within the European Union.

On the other hand, France and the DRC are in the process of finalizing a new partnership for the training and training of the elements of the LENI (National Legion of intervention, ex-police of rapid reaction   : PIR) modeled on the French National Gendarmerie and the GIGN, its special intervention unit.

The other aspect of the consolidation of security relations between France and the DRC is training and equipping of reserve troops of the Republican Guard [3] , training and equipment of FARDC naval units. This is the case, for example, of financing by the Franco-British oil firm PERENCO [4] a modernization program for the Congolese military navy. This company which exploits the oil in Moanda, financed the repair and the refurbishment, by the company MW AFRITEC SPRL, [5] of 8 Chinese-style 062Shanghai 2 escorts stationed in Boma and Banana. PERENCO recently financed the acquisition of 2 speedboats RPB-20 by the Congolese military navy. These vessels are already operational in Banana. French naval forces have also built and equipped a state-of-the-art maritime surveillance station with a variety of maritime surveillance radars in Yema, on the outskirts of Moanda. This maritime surveillance center is operational since October 2016, we inform an expert source of the Congolese naval force.

It should be recalled, already in May 2014, via a European military intermediary in official position in the DRC, the Congolese presidency had concluded a contract of 3,000,000 euros with SYT Technologies based in Nîmes. The contract concerned the purchase of a batch of an infrared electronic surveillance and detection system  »   Tarys   « (Short and medium range) and »   No Séraphi   « (Long range), for the benefit of the FARDC. This company, led by Mehmed Yilmaz, is particularly innovative in the field of vision applied to the sectors of prevention civil security, research and military [6] .

In the security field, in 2016, the French firm Thales Communications & Security [7] and the communication service of the Congolese presidency led by Colonel Alexis Mutombo , nicknamed  »   Mobile One   « Partnered for the endowment of a very small group of close collaborators [8] safe Kabila Tetra type phones [9] with new encrypted numbers to avoid being listened to by the US NSA .

The reopening of the RFI signal in DRC in September 2017, when Kabila’s regime was putting more pressure on the media space , is another disturbing indication of the new game of behind scenes that Françafrique is playing in the DRC. This opening was the first step taken by the Kabila regime to the demands of France. Since its reopening, RFI now adopts a line editorialist balancing, very cautious and moderate enough not to offend the Kabila regime.

The French of UN and MONUSCO become the Western armed arms of Kabila in the DRC

This is another, much more subtle, aspect of the military reinforcement of the Congolese regime by France. Indeed, in this register, France intends to take advantage of its influence within the UN organizations to provide a double diplomatic and military support to the Congolese regime.

To understand this subtlety, it should be recalled that, according to our understanding of the functioning of the United Nations, the finding is that the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations , commonly referred to as DPKO ( Department of Peacekeeping Operations) ), is a kind of guarded domain of France within this organization. This department, created in 1992, is run by French people continuously since 1997. It is still the FrenchmanJean-Pierre Lacroix who succeeded Hervé Ladsous , nicknamed the « head of the world army” at the post of Deputy Secretary General to United Nations peacekeeping operations.

On the other hand, the Deputy Commander of the force of MONUSCO in DRC is none other than the French Division  Division General Bernard Commins. He recently distinguished himself in South Kivu on 28 September 2017 when he commanded directly, without respecting the internal ad hoc instructions for the engagement of MONUSCO troops in the battle, the land and air operations against the Maï- Mai of Yakutumba , who had attacked the FARDC lakeside positions in boats. Mai-Mai Yakutumba , who claimed Kabila’s departure and targeted exclusively military positions and not civilian populations, were about to take control of the city of Uvira from the FARDC. MONUSCO forces, commanded directly by French General Commins , repelled the elements of Yakutumba . UN troops had used in these clashes the heavy weapons that destroyed these boats. While MONUSCO’s mission is to protect Congolese civilian populations who were not directly targeted by the Yakutumba attack .

Here are other testimonies collected from Marcellin Cikwanine, leader of the Mai-Mai resistance in South Kivu

September 4, 2017   : « Since this morning , impressive reinforcements converge on South-South (Uvira- Fizi ). 7 combat tanks , three combat helicopters and a fighter plane began maneuvers as well as 4 more regiments. These forces are supported by helicopters from Monusco . This aerial device consists mainly of attacking our positions on the Ubwari peninsula, which has largely fallen under our control. Our men are now positioned in Kazamia , ready to launch an assault on the city of Baraka, the third largest city in South Kivu, where before yesterday our elements made an incursion into the night and remained dormant after a short exchange shots. Uvira, the secondary goal of this campaign, has also been identified in recent days. Our forces raided yesterday to recover equipment. Feeling the grip tightening on the FARDC, Monusco deploys substantial means to support the dictator Kabila ».

September 29, 2017   : « BUNYAKIRI, in the territory of Kalehe , Province of South Kivu, fell into the hands of our resistance fighters after several hours of fighting that began this morning around 5 o’clock. Now the resistance forces are moving towards Kavumu and Bukavu airport. Nothing can defuse the determination of the resisters to put an end to this corrupt regime. The FARDC and MONUSCO, its extra strength, will not know where to start! »

This unilateral cavalier action from France is a first and has provoked very negative reactions in New York. This inappropriate action of France deviates from the provisions of Security Council Resolution 2348, which states that the Congolese government is primarily responsible for the security and protection of Congolese, has created a deep discomfort among France’s partners ( including Angola, Belgium and the United States). This solo action only tarnishes the image of MONUSCO, already unpopular with the Congolese, who becomes a kind of hydra of Lerne [10] , increasingly uncontrollable since New York, due to the divergent interests of the troop-contributing countries in sending their soldiers to the DRC.

According to military sources MONUSCO, it also seems that the general Commins is negotiating to convince France and for it sends a homogeneous French battalion of special units within MONUSCO. This unit would operate in complete autonomy from other MONUSCO units and its activities should rather reinforce the attempts of destabilization.

Moreover, since the suspension of military cooperation between the DRC and Belgium [11] and the withdrawal of Angolan instructors from the DRC [12] , France and the DRC are expanding their cooperation agreement to supplement this departure. The objective is to strengthen the military presence of France in the DRC by taking the frame of the 31 ^th brigade of the Rapid Reaction Force in Maniema and the training of Congolese soldiers at Kindu (formerly trained by Belgium) and Kitona as well as the training of LENI police officers at Kasangulu in Kongo Central (formerly trained by Angolans ).

Finally, according to a military expert source in Entebbe, the UPDF’s recent military operations, the Ugandan army, in the east of the DRC, are motivated by, among other things, the Franco-Ugando Congolese geo-economic issues mentioned in this article. Question for Uganda to secure this area of strategic economic importance first for him. As a reminder, on 17 June 2016, the French Ambassador to Uganda, Sophie Makame and Ugandan President Museveni attended a military training exercise for Ugandan troops in the Rwenzori region, bordering the DRC where Total operates the oil. This exercise was conducted by a French detachment from Djibouti where French troops are stationed permanently. Air Force Major General Philippe Montocchio, commander of the French military forces in Djibouti, came specially to attend the training. The Ugandan President inaugurated the Mountaineering Warfare Center, which aims to enable UPDF units to develop the skills needed to fight and survive in a mountainous environment characterized by harsh weather conditions and a dangerous landscape. Sophie Makame assured that France would continue to support the implementation of this mountaineering tactics training program[13]. This training is part of the extension of the military partnership between the two countries, initiated since 2007, which also includes the UPDF capacity building as well as the fight against terrorism[14].

This area is coveted at the same time by Rwanda which tends to extend its influence to the North of North Kivu where the imprints of his black hand remain visible in the series of massacres that shakes the region of Beni-Lubero since October 2014. A a boon for France and Uganda to wash away the affront suffered respectively in the region in 1994 during Operation Turquoise and in 2000 after the six-day war in Kisangani. There is a lot of tension between Rwanda and Uganda, according to several sources in Kigali and Kampala. And the case of the arrest of the Congolese opponent Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi, by a Ugandan officer related to the Tutsi of the Rwandan oligarchy around Kagame is an indication that the DRC could again be the scene of a confrontation indirectly between Rwanda and Uganda. In any case, Rwanda is preparing seriously according to a military source who was in contact with James Kabarebe in early December 2017.

Like the end of the Mobutu regime, Kabila resorts to French expertise in the field of mercenaries

This is the last part of the French support for the Kabila regime which resorts to the channel of Christian Tavernier, the Belgian Bob Denard, who had tried to help the Mobutu regime in vain by recruiting mercenaries from the Balkans during the Zaire’s war of aggression in 1996 [15] . According to information received by DESC, these recruited mercenaries, mostly Serbs, are more likely to ensure the evacuation of close relatives of Kabila’s biological family in case the situation turns against him. Despite his Belgian nationality, Christian Tavernier operates mainly for the French account thanks to his long-standing relationship with Jacques Foccart and his heirs at the Cellule Elysée for African Affairs. Part of these mercenaries would be housed in Kalemie and would act autonomously of the Congolese military hierarchy.

This appeal seems justified by information provided by the Congolese military intelligence, Ex- Démiap , according to which several elements of the GR could directly attack President Kabila and his collaborators in the context of a mutiny because dissatisfied with their situation . The Demiap has assessed this risk of mutiny at around 60% probability of occurrence if the political climate deteriorates around and after December 31, 2017 . Especially since the majority of Congolese soldiers are disarmed and the events of Zimbabwe would emulate in some military circles in the DRC.

In another register of soft power more strategic, it should be remembered that France has just opened on 20 October 2017 a new French Institute for the Great Lakes region, in Goma, North Kivu, called Halle of Volcanoes. The location of this cultural center in Goma, a strategic city for the trafficking of natural resources of Eastern Congo, would not be innocent to the regional geostrategic ambitions of the new reinvestment of this region by France, driven by the Anglo-Saxons. In the diplomatic field, it is often the services labeled  »   cultural   Which serve as intelligence antennae of their country of origin. When we know the greed of Congo’s commodities, we need to ask ourselves some real questions about the underlying motivations of this new French activism in the DRC.

Conclusion

In this article, we have listed several factual elements supporting the atypical diplomatic rapprochement between France and the Joseph Kabila regime . This one, illegitimate since 19 December 2017, tries to survive by exploiting the dysfunction of the international community, unable to adopt firm coercive measures against his human rights violations and his obsession to maintain in power through disproportionate use of force. The article particularly highlights the shameless posture of France vis-à-vis the Congolese people who aspire to democratic alternation without Joseph Kabila. Driven by economic interests, certainly in the short term, the new African cell of President Macron is decided to give, against the current, as under Mobutu and under Blaise Compaore, a new breath of life to an oppressive and autocratic regime devoid of any legitimacy and legality. This, in disregard of the traditional values ​​of democracy, human rights and the rule of law conveyed by France throughout the world.

As much Holland wanted to bury the Françafrique, that he quickly disillusioned with the African realpolitik in Mali, pushing him to deal with the bloody dictator Deby and others. Likewise, Macron, who says he does not feed any complexes in hismeetings with Africa, is unwilling to reshape Françafrique according to the geostrategic realities of the moment by supporting one of the worst African atrocities of the moment. . Shame on France   !

Jean-Jacques Wondo Omanyundu / Exclusivity DESC

References

[1] http://africtelegraph.com/dialogue-secret-entre-france-rdc/.

[2] http://afrikinfos.net/2017/08/29/alerte-les-priorites-de-macron-pour-lafrique/.

[3] JJ Wondo, Françafrique newlook de Macron au chevet de Joseph Kabila ?- DESC – 6 septembre 2017 – http://afridesk.org/fr/diplomatie_francafrique_newlook_de_macron_au_chevet_de_j_kabila_doc_special/.

[4] http://multinationales.org/Perenco-en-RDC-quand-le-petrole.

[5] http://www.mwafritec.com/products.

[7] JJ Wondo, Françafrique newlook de Macron au chevet de Joseph Kabila ?- DESC – 6 septembre 2017 – http://afridesk.org/fr/diplomatie_francafrique_newlook_de_macron_au_chevet_de_j_kabila_doc_special/.

[7] Group: Thales Communications, specializing in secure information and communication products and systems for the armed forces and security.

[8] Generals Didier Etumba (Chief of the General Staff of the FARDC), Damas Kabulo (Secretary General at the Ministry of Defense), François Olenga (Head of the President’s Military House), Jean-Claude Yav (Deputy General Olenga within the Military House and Chief Functional Officer of Military Intelligence), Célestin Mbala Musense (EMG Deputy Chief of Administration), Dieudonné Banze (Chief of Staff of the Army), Ilunga Kampete (Commander of the Republican Guard), Delphin Kayimbi (Head of EM Military Intelligence), Gabriel Amisi Tango Four (Commander of the 1st Defense Zone), Charles Bisengimana (Former Chief of Police), Dieudonné Amuli Bahingwa (new Commissioner General of Police), Colonels Alexis Mutombo , John Kabila (Kabila Presidential Officer), Pierre Bahati (Director of Presidential Security), Mpanga Mukutu (Commander of the Regiment of Safety and Honor of the GR, Kabila’s Close Protection Unit), Charles Deschrijver (Head of Chariot and Military Logistics of the Presidency), Hassan ( Dttr : Head of Communications of the GR ), Lieutenant-Colonel Dieudonné Kisula (Deputy Director of Presidential Security); Didier Kazadi Nyembwe (Kabila Advisor) and Georges Monga dit Estimé (ANR / Interior Director) are among Kabila’s close security collaborators who own these encrypted Tetra phones.

[9] The standard Radio Tetra ( Terrestrial Trunked Radio), is a standard of ETSI ( European Telecommunications Standards Institute). TETRA private radio networks differ from public mobile telephony systems, such as GSM or UMTS , by the speed with which calls are set up, priority and group calls. In addition, the use of the optional mode DMO (Direct Mode Operation) allows two terminals to communicate as a walkie-talkie so peer-to-peer, without going through a base station or a relay infrastructure . In http://www.sysoco.fr/nos-offres/technologies/tetra/ .

[10] The Hydra of Lerne (in ancient Greek) Λερν αία Ὕδρ α / Lernaía Húdra ) is a creature of Greek mythology, described as a monster with several heads that regenerate doubly when sliced, and the breath blown by multiple mouths exhales a dangerous poison, even during the sleep of the monster. In https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydre_de_Lerne .

[11] Angolan military presence in the DRC was limited to 150 officers and NCOs in Kitona   in addition to 70 officers and non-commissioned officers of the Angolan police in Kasangulu and liaison officers to the FARDC EMG. This is a total of 300 men maximum . http://afridesk.org/en/the-insense-sense-of-kassa-region-to-have-the-militarypartnership-with-belgium-jj-wondo/ .

[12] http://afridesk.org/en/why-this-subtitle-safety-safety-of-langola-to-the-frontier-congolaise-jj-wondo/

[13] https://ug.ambafrance.org/Military-partnership-in-the-Rwenzori-1860.

[14] http://chimpreports.com/france-to-deepen-its-military-training-collaboration-with-uganda/.

[13] Christian Tavernier was the leader of the mercenaries in eastern Zaire, hired by President Mobutu to recapture the eastern country that fell in October 1996 from rebel AFDL. Colonel Tavernier had settled between Kisangani and Watsa, in the former Province Orientale, the bulk of his recruits, some 280 Serbs, Croats, Russians, Poles, Belgians, Italians and French. Tavernier is a former Katanga, the time of the secessionist attempt of Moses Tshombe and the « Belgian force » paid by the Union Mining.

[8] Generals Didier Etumba (Chief of the General Staff of the FARDC), Damas Kabulo (Secretary General at the Ministry of Defense), François Olenga (Head of the President’s Military House), Jean-Claude Yav (Deputy General Olenga within the Military House and Chief Functional Officer of Military Intelligence), Célestin Mbala Musense (EMG Deputy Chief of Administration), Dieudonné Banze (Chief of Staff of the Army), Ilunga Kampete (Commander of the Republican Guard), Delphin Kayimbi (Head of EM Military Intelligence), Gabriel Amisi Tango Four (Commander of the 1st Defense Zone), Charles Bisengimana (Former Chief of Police), Dieudonné Amuli Bahingwa (new Commissioner General of Police), Colonels Alexis Mutombo , John Kabila (Kabila Presidential Officer), Pierre Bahati (Director of Presidential Security), Mpanga Mukutu (Commander of the Regiment of Safety and Honor of the GR, Kabila’s Close Protection Unit), Charles Deschrijver (Head of Chariot and Military Logistics of the Presidency), Hassan ( Dttr : Head of Communications of the GR ), Lieutenant-Colonel Dieudonné Kisula (Deputy Director of Presidential Security); Didier Kazadi Nyembwe (Kabila Advisor) and Georges Monga dit Estimé (ANR / Interior Director) are among Kabila’s close security collaborators who own these encrypted Tetra phones.

[9] The standard Radio Tetra ( Terrestrial Trunked Radio), is a standard of ETSI ( European Telecommunications Standards Institute). TETRA private radio networks differ from public mobile telephony systems, such as GSM or UMTS , by the speed with which calls are set up, priority and group calls. In addition, the use of the optional mode DMO (Direct Mode Operation) allows two terminals to communicate as a walkie-talkie so peer-to-peer, without going through a base station or a relay infrastructure . In http://www.sysoco.fr/nos-offres/technologies/tetra/.

[10] The Hydra of Lerne (in ancient Greek) Λερν αία Ὕδρ α / Lernaía Húdra ) is a creature of Greek mythology, described as a monster with several heads that regenerate doubly when sliced, and the breath blown by multiple mouths exhales a dangerous poison, even during the sleep of the monster. In https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydre_de_Lerne.

[11] http://afridesk.org/fr/la-decision-insensee-du-regime-de-kabila-de-suspendre-le-partenariat-militaire-avec-la-belgique-jj-wondo/.

[12] Angolan military presence in the DRC was limited to 150 officers and NCOs in Kitona   in addition to 70 officers and non-commissioned officers of the Angolan police in Kasangulu and liaison officers to the FARDC EMG. This is a total of 300 men maximum. http://afridesk.org/fr/pourquoi-cette-subite-agitation-securitaire-de-langola-a-la-frontiere-congolaise-jj-wondo/.

[13] https://ug.ambafrance.org/Military-partnership-in-the-Rwenzori-1860.

[14] http://chimpreports.com/france-to-deepen-its-military-training-collaboration-with-uganda/.

[15] Christian Tavernier was the leader of the mercenaries in eastern Zaire, hired by President Mobutu to recapture the eastern country that fell in October 1996 from rebel AFDL. Colonel Tavernier had settled between Kisangani and Watsa, in the former Province Orientale, the bulk of his recruits, some 280 Serbs, Croats, Russians, Poles, Belgians, Italians and French. Tavernier is a former Katanga, the time of the secessionist attempt of Moses Tshombe and the « Belgian force » paid by the Union Mining..