Ceasefire in DRC war

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and General Laurent Nkunda yesterday agreed to observe a ceasefire after days of heavy fighting in the country’s North Kivu province.Last evening, reports from Congolese town of Goma and Kivu indicated that the two warring parties had agreed to solve their differences through dialogue. Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, UN Spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment by press time as she was locked up in a lengthy meeting with other Monuc (UN Mission in Congo) officials.“Please, I am going to call you back,” Wildenberg promised when contacted by telephone from Congo. She hadn’t called back by the time went to press.But sources in Goma said the government and Nkunda forces had both showed a will to talk.UN Spokesperson told BBC that Nkunda forces had agreed to withdraw from some occupied areas.UN emergency relief chief John Holmes had described the humanitarian situation in the region as deplorable. Meanwhile, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni will meet his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila in Arusha, Tanzania tomorrow and their talks will mainly centre on violence in eastern DRC. Congo’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mbusa Nyamwisi, is also expected in Kampala to enhance arrangements for the meeting between the two presidents.“It is true President Museveni and President Kabila will meet. But it is a bilateral meeting. You know so many refugees have been coming form DR Congo to Uganda. So all those issues will be discussed,” Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa told The New Times yesterday.However, when pressed, Kutesa who travelled to Congo last month as the president’s special envoy in preparation for the Museveni-Kabila talks confirmed the two presidents will discuss the current situation in eastern DRC.Lately, clashes between Gen. Laurent Nkunda’s forces and the Congolese army have displaced over 170,000 people, according to the United Nations’ estimation.Tens of thousands of refugees have also fled the conflict in Kivu region into Uganda. The Congolese dissident army general has accused the Congolese army of allying with Rwanda’s former army and Interahamwe militias to fight his troops. The Rwandan militias are largely responsible for the death of an estimated one million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.Nkunda and his forces had agreed to integrate into the national army but the plans failed after the Congolese army reportedly developed a soft heart for Rwandan. In a meeting between President Museveni and the US Assistant Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer, the former asked Congo to stop hosting negative forces fighting the neighbouring countries. According to a source that attended the State House meeting, Museveni also discussed with Frazer of his upcoming meeting with Kabila.The source said the Arusha talks between Kabila and Museveni would last a day. President Museveni has urged the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) not to accept being used as ground by groups that are hostile to neighbouring countries, a State House press statement said. Museveni asked the DRC to apprehend the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on its territory to ensure that the group goes to the assembly areas in order to further facilitate the ongoing peace process that is taking place in Juba, Southern Sudan. Additional reporting by agenciesEnds

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Ceasefire in DRC war