News From DR Congo

Taken from:
http://www.maximsnews.com/news20081022unossgenglish10810220201.htm

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: SECURITY COUNCIL URGES ALL PARTIES TO RESPECT CEASE-FIRE
The Security Council on Tuesday afternoon adopted a Presidential Statement in which it expressed its grave concern at the resurgence of violence in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its potential regional implications. It urged all parties to respect a ceasefire immediately.

It also urged the DRC and Rwandan Governments to engage in efforts to settle their differences, including through reactivating the Joint Verification Mechanism, and called upon them to implement the Nairobi communiqué fully.

Meanwhile, according to the UN Mission in the DR Congo (MONUC), rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army on Sunday killed 6 Congolese civilians in an early morning attack on Bangadi, a village in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. MONUC also adds that the Ugandan rebel forces looted homes and communal facilities before setting them ablaze.

However, faced with stiff resistance from village residents, the rebels retreated without any further damage. No children were kidnapped during the attack.

The Congolese army has called on the estimated 6,000 members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) “to adhere to the Nairobi process without delay” or face punitive action. FDLR combatants are Rwandan nationals whose return to Rwanda, it is believed, would help restore security and stability in eastern DRC and in the wider Great Lakes region. They are to be disarmed and repatriated to Rwanda, under the Nairobi process, which was agreed in November 2007 between the DRC and Rwanda.