DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Government and rebel leader on collision course over deadline

Renegade Congolese General Laurent Nkunda, who has led a rebellion by Congolese Tutsi soldiers in ethnically mixed North Kivu since 2004, told reporters on Sunday (October 14) he would ignore an October 15 deadline set by the government for him to re-integrate his forces into the national army. The rebel general, who has previously said he was ready to send his men to rejoin the army, said more talks were needed with the government on the terms of a peace deal. Nkunda said he would be prepared to leave the country if certain conditions were met. He wanted discussions on the safe return of Congolese Tutsi refugees from neighbouring countries such as Rwanda and Burundi. He accuses Congolese President Joseph Kabila's government and armed forces of supporting Rwandan Hutu rebels -- ethnic enemies of the Tutsi. Speaking in an interview he said: "We are going to protect ourselves, we are going to protect the population. Now the population is under threat of the presence of FDLR, normally accepted in the Hutu armed groups and normally accepted in the national Congolese army, so we must protect and we are going to defend because we are calling for a ceasefire but we are not going to lay down arms until the government will accept us to negotiate, to accept the ceasefire, to stop the fighting, then we go to a new step." Nkunda was referring to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu rebel movement based in eastern Congo. Kabila is determined to stamp out rebel violence in the east, his spokesman said on Sunday after Nkunda said he would ignore the deadline to disband his fighters. Kabila, who has vowed to pacify all of war-scarred Democratic Republic of Congo since he won elections last year, flew to eastern North Kivu province at the weekend to evaluate security there after weeks of often heavy fighting. The clashes between fighters loyal to Nkunda and government troops have sent thousands of civilians fleeing from their homes, worsening an already grave humanitarian emergency in the eastern border province. But Kabila has already said they will be forcibly disarmed and most foreign diplomatic and military observers are expecting a big offensive by the government against Nkunda. The 17,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Congo (MONUC) appealed to all sides to avoid endangering the civilian population and to respect human rights in North Kivu. Some 370,000 people have fled fighting in the province so far this year and relief agencies say they fear malnutrition rates are rising among civilians cut off by the recent clashes.

ITN Source | October 15, 2007

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