THE UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monuc) has refuted recent reports that Rwanda is arming Congolese rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda.Munoc Spokesman, Major Vivek Koyal said yesterday that the reports were baseless."Reports that Rwanda is arming Nkunda are baseless. Such reports should be treated as just rumour and hearsay,” he told The New Times in an interview from Kinshasa.

He was reacting to media reports earlier this week, which quoted anonymous UN officials, as saying that Kigali was supplying Gen. Nkunda with ammunition and fighters.

Nkunda’s troops have lately clashed with Congolese forces in the country’s east, leaving about 200,000 homeless.

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Charles Murigande, also dismissed those reports on Wednesday.

Rwanda has pledged to help try and mediate in the struggle between Nkunda and the Congolese government.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Tuesday he was "deeply concerned by the ongoing armed clashes in North Kivu.

Nkunda says his mission is to protect his ethnic Tutsi community from being eliminated by Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels.

FDLR is a combination of former Rwandan soldiers and Interahamwe militias, who are blamed for the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. The group has also been accused of committing gross human rights abuses for the past thirteen years they have stayed on the Congolese territory.

Meanwhile, the Monuc said it had successfully asked Nkunda to withdraw his troops near Sake, 20km from Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

However, yesterday Nkunda accused DRC of violating the truce.
Koyal said the UN was still trying to convince Nkunda to completely withdraw from the occupied areas.

He said the areas would be occupied by the peacekeeping troops.

Nkunda’s aide, Bwambale Kakolele, was on Thursday quoted saying his men were still inside Sake.

"I am travelling to Goma and Kivu to assess the situation,” Koyal added.

He said the UN was optimistic that Thursday’s truce, which was apparently breached by the DRC government – according to Nkunda, would hold because the two sides showed will.

By press time, UN troops were reportedly taking control of the town in the North Kivu province, the site of recent clashes that have forced thousands of residents to flee.

Koyal told BBC on Wednesday that DRC army used an attack helicopter in the hills around Kimoka.

Nkunda, who controls swathes of the province from a mountain base, said Wednesday he was ready for peace talks.

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