AU Chief in DRC Peace Bid KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

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Oct 12 2008 09:43

African Union chief Jean Ping on Saturday met Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila and other officials to try to end
fighting in the volatile east between the army and rebels.

"I have come to meet with Congolese authorities to understand the
situation on the ground [in Nord-Kivu] before putting forward
solutions," Ping told reporters on his arrival in the country on Friday.

Ping on Saturday met the heads of both Houses of Parliament, as well as
with Alan Doss, the head of the UN mission in the DRC (Monuc), and other
Western diplomats.

His visit comes after Kabila called on Thursday for a renewed offensive
against forces loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.

"Over and above any political divide, we must mobilise as one behind our
armed forces and our elected representatives to preserve peace and the
unity and [territorial] integrity of the country," said Kabila in a
televised address.

The president argued that Nkunda's aim was "not to protect his ethnic
community as he has always claimed but to divide the country to bring
about the expansionism of a neighbouring territory", referring to
Rwanda.

The country's new Prime Minister, Adolphe Muzito, on Saturday told Radio
France Internationale that he would go to the restive east "very soon",
and underlined that he would work "on three or four fronts" to bring
peace.

The aim is to "reinforce discipline and give the resources and control
over them so that they are not used to attack anyone but to defend the
country", said Muzito, who was named prime minister on Friday.

Renewed fighting broke out August 28 with government troops and Nkunda's
CNDP violating a ceasefire reached under the Goma peace accord in
January.

The rebels on Friday withdrew from an army base in the eastern DRC at
Monuc's request after having taken it in fierce fighting.

They took the Rumangabo base, about 50km north of the provincial capital
of Goma, on Thursday after an intense battle.

DRC officials this week alleged that Rwandan troops had aided Nkunda's
forces to capture Rumangabo, and accused Kigali of planning to attack
Goma. Rwandan officials denied the charges.

A five-year conflict pitting government forces, supported by Angola,
Namibia and Zimbabwe, against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda, ended
in 2003 after claiming more than three million lives. -- Sapa-AFP

Source: Mail & Guardian Online
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