DR Congo forces to suspend operations against Ugandan terrorist group LRA on condition that Kony signs Final Peace Agreement by end of Nov

Monday 10 November 2008 (Sudan Tribune) report by James Gatdet Dak - DR Congo forces to suspend operations against the LRA:

Photo: DR Congo President Kabila shaking hands with Government of South Sudan (GOSS) VP, Riek Machar, Nairobi, November 7, 2008. (Photo: J.G. Dak, ST)

November 9, 2008 (NAIROBI) – Regular forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will cease military operations against the Ugandan rebels, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), said President Lauren Kabila.

LRA forces have been reportedly clashing with Congolese troops for the last two months inside DR Congo as the rebels have been allegedly destroying Congolese villages and abducting children.

President Kabila told the Government of Southern Sudan’s Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar in their meeting in Nairobi on Friday that his forces would ceasefire with the LRA on condition that Joseph Kony signs the Final Peace Agreement with the Uganda government by the end of November.

The DR Congo President who came to attend the AU Summit in Nairobi to resolve the conflict in his country expressed his support to the Uganda peace process and he called on the LRA leadership to re-assemble its forces in the designated area at Sudan’s border with his country.

Machar who also participated in the Summit held a consultative meeting with senior United Nations personnel on the Uganda peace process.

They discussed possibility of stationing some members of the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team (CHMT) with UN MONOC forces based in Dungu and other areas inside DR Congo to monitor the movement and activities of the LRA.

CHMT was established in Juba to monitor the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement signed two years ago between the Uganda government and the LRA, and it is composed of senior military officers from Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, DR Congo, Uganda, Southern Sudan and the LRA.

The Team is led by Major General Wilson Deng of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

MONOC forces would also provide the CHMT members to be based in DR Congo with necessary logistical support.

Vice President Machar, who is the Chief Mediator of the Uganda peace talks, said he had also reached an understanding with UNMIS in Southern Sudan to reconstruct the main road from the Sudan-DR Congo border at Ri-kwangba up to Maridi town in Western Equatoria state.

The UN MONOC forces would also construct a road from the DR Congo side of the border to link the two countries by land.

He said this would also connect Sudan’s UNMIS and DR Congo’s MONOC by land and would make movement and trade between Western Equatoria state and DR Congo possible.

A Stake holders’ Consultative Conference held in Kampala this week called on the LRA leader to sign the peace agreement by November 29, 2008.

Since April 10 this year, the LRA leader Joseph Kony has refused to sign the peace deal, demanding that the Ugandan government should first approach the International Criminal Court (ICC) to defer indictment on him for alleged serious crimes he committed during his rebellion.

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda on Thursday said his government would approach the ICC to defer the indictment after the LRA leader has signed the Final Peace Agreement.

LRA has proved to be a threat to regional security and analysis say the Government of Southern Sudan’s mediated Juba peace process is the best chance to end its 22 years rebellion.

DRC says Nkunda's labelled by UN as a warlord and war criminal since massacres in Kisangani in 2002 when he was general for RCD Goma

BBC report Tuesday 11 November 2008 - DR Congo angry at rebel demands:

A senior government official in DR Congo calls the country's rebel leader "a killer" and refuses to agree to his demand for talks.

The Democratic Republic of Congo government has rejected calls for talks with a rebel leader whose forces control eastern areas.

Gen Laurent Nkunda has said his forces would topple the government if no agreement to negotiate is struck.

But DR Congo's ambassador to the United Nations said Gen Nkunda should be in jail for war crimes.

Gen Nkunda commands 6,000 Tutsi rebels in the east, where some 250,000 people have been displaced by recent fighting.

The rebel leader says his forces are respecting a ceasefire, although they still surround the city of Goma, which is protected by UN peacekeepers.

In an interview with the BBC, Gen Nkunda reiterated a threat to overthrow the government of President Joseph Kabila unless it holds talks.

However, correspondents say it is not clear that his small force could really threaten the capital, Kinshasa, 1,600km (1,000 miles) to the west.

Gen Nkunda's remarks were summarily dismissed by Atoki Ileka, the country's UN envoy, who called the rebel leader "a killer".

"Laurent Nkunda has been labelled by the United Nations since 2002 as a warlord and a war criminal since the massacres in Kisangani in 2002 when he was general for the [rebel] RCD Goma," Mr Ileka said.

"So I don't have any trust in him. What I want - like I said to him about four years ago - [is] that one day I'm going to visit him. I'm going to visit him when he's going to be in jail.

"You don't negotiate with criminals, you catch a criminal and put him in jail so he can respond to justice."

But Gen Nkunda said the way to resolve the current crisis was through negotiation.

"If he [President Joseph Kabila] refuses to talk now he will not be able to rule Congo and to lead it," he said.

"We have to liberate Congo. Congo has to be free and to develop."

'Criminal'

Gen Nkunda has always said he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels, who fled to DR Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide. He accuses the army of working with the Hutu forces.

He spoke to the BBC at his mountain headquarters, three hours' drive outside Goma.

BBC World Affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says the threat may just be aimed at strengthening Gen Nkunda's political position.

But he says it raises the stakes at an extremely tense time, when other African countries are also threatening to intervene on the side of the elected Congolese government.

In the most recent clashes, Gen Nkunda's forces have taken a series of towns and villages near Goma, the capital of DR Congo's North Kivu province.

The UN has accused both sides of war crimes, following the reported killing of several civilians in the eastern town of Kiwanja last week.

Gen Nkunda claimed his forces had simply been responding to attacks.

"Since we declared the ceasefire, we were attacked around six times or seven times," he said.

"We are reacting only, but the ceasefire is there."

On Sunday, Southern African leaders pledged to provide military advice to the Congolese army and said they would send a peacekeeping force if and when necessary.

Rwanda, which is led by Tutsi President Paul Kagame, has denied claims that it has been backing Gen Nkunda. But it has twice invaded DR Congo, saying it wanted to act against the Hutu rebels.

The UN has 17,000 peacekeepers in DR Congo, its largest mission in the world, but only a few hundred peacekeepers are in the areas affected by the latest violence.

FORCES AROUND GOMA

CNDP: Gen Nkunda's Tutsi rebels - 6,000 fighters
FDLR: Rwandan Hutus - 6-7,000
Mai Mai: pro-government militia - 3,500
Monuc: UN peacekeepers - 1,000 in Goma, 6,000 in North Kivu (17,000 nationwide)
DRC army - 90,000 (nationwide)
Source: UN, military experts

Click into the BBC's report to view short video of Laurent Nkunda issuing warning to President Kabila.



Photo: CNDP rebel group leader Laurent Nkunda (BBC)

Remember the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour

On 2 May, 1915, in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae. It is believed that John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' that evening.

In Flanders Fields

John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.



The poppy is the recognized symbol of remembrance for war dead. The flower owes its significance to the poem In Flanders Fields, written by Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) John McCrae, a doctor with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, in the midst of the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium, in May 1915.

The poppy references in the first and last stanzas of the most widely read and oft-quoted poem of the war contributed to the flower's status as an emblem of remembrance and a symbol of new growth amidst the devastation of war.



Two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because that was the time (in Britain) when the armistice became effective. The two minutes recall World War I and World War II. Before 1945 the silence was for one minute, and today some ceremonies still only have one minute of silence despite this.

In the United Kingdom, although two minutes' silence is observed on November 11 itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. - Wikipedia
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"The Meaning of God"

By Mahatma K. Gandhi
(Young India, October 11, 1928)

There is an indefinable mysterious Power that pervades everything.

I feel It, though I do not see It.

It is this unseen Power which makes Itself felt and yet defies all proof,
because It is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses.

It transcends the senses....

That informing Power or Spirit is God....

For I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth, truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists.

Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is love.

He is supreme good.

But he is no God who merely satisfies the intellect
If He ever does.

God to be God must rule the heart and transform it.
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Gandhi's Peace Prayers

Hindu Peace Prayer
I desire neither earthly kingdom, nor even freedom from birth and death. I desire only the deliverance from grief of all those afflicted by misery. Oh Lord, lead us from the unreal to the real; from darkness to light; from death to immortality. May there be peace in celestial regions. May there be peace on earth. May the waters be appeasing. May herbs be wholesome and may trees and plants bring peace to all. May all beneficent beings bring peace to us. May thy wisdom spread peace all through the world. May all things be a source of peace to all and to me. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (Peace, Peace, Peace).

Islamic Peace Prayer
We think of Thee, worship Thee, bow toThee as the Creator of this Universe; we seek refuge in Thee, the Truth, our only support. Thou art the Ruler, the barge in this ocean of endless births and deaths.
In the name of Allah, the beneficient, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations. Give us wisdom that we may know each other and not despise all things. We shall abide by thy Peace. And, we shall remember the servants of God are those who walk on this earth in humility and, when we address them, we shall say Peace Unto Us All.

Christian Peace Prayer
Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS, for they shall be known as The Children of God. But I say to you: love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To those who strike you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from those who take away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone who begs from you; and, to those who take away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you wish that others would do unto you, do so unto them as well.

Jewish Peace Prayer
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation - neither shall they learn war any more. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.

Shinto Peace Prayer
Although the people living across the ocean surrounding us are all our brothers and sisters why, Oh Lord, is there trouble in this world? Why do winds and waves rise in the ocean surrounding us? I earnestly wish the wind will soon blow away all the clouds hanging over the tops of the mountains.

Bahá'í Peace Prayer
Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity. Be fair in thy judgement and guarded in thy speech. Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness and a home to the stranger. Be eyes to the blind and a guiding light unto he feet of the erring. Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew to the soil of the human heart and a fruit upon the tree of humility.
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Further reading

Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - Sudan Watch:
The Anglo-Zulu war - A Lesson Learned?



Cross posted to Sudan Watch, Uganda Watch, Ethiopia Watch, Kenya Watch

UN alleges war crimes in Kiwanja, DR Congo

The rebel forces of Gen Laurent Nkunda and pro-government militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been accused of war crimes by the UN.

The alleged crimes took place in the eastern town of Kiwanja this week when it was captured by Gen Nkunda's forces.

Read full story by BBC - UN alleges war crimes in DR Congo - Sunday, 9 November 2008.

Previous reports

See Congo Watch November 06, 2008: Kiwanja, DR Congo: Channel 4 News' Jonathan Miller & UN peacekeepers find bodies of civilians shot dead in cold blood (Update 3)

Kiwanja, DR Congo: Channel 4 News' Jonathan Miller & UN peacekeepers find bodies of civilians shot dead in cold blood (Update 3)

November 06, 2008 Channel 4 News Snowmail excerpt authored by the EMMA award-winning reporter and anchor of Channel 4 News, Krishnan Guru-Murthy:

HEART OF DARKNESS

Our team in Congo are working on another disturbing film tonight, having come across what appears to be the remains of a refugee camp.

It is not clear to us yet exactly who has done the destruction, but there have been widespread allegations against the Rwandan-backed rebels that they have engaged in such acts, and the UN says such allegations have credibility.

Jonathan Miller tells us that he has found the bodies of men, women and children in the remains. It sounds from his description to be truly desperate.

WARNING:
Viewers may find images in the following video report disturbing.

November 06, 2008 video report "DR Congo clashes claim more victims" by Channel 4 News' foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller. Jonathan has covered conflicts, revolutions, natural and unnatural disasters and has won three Royal Television Society awards for Channel 4 News.

DR Congo clashes claim more victims

As thousands flee eastern DR Congo, Channel 4 News finds evidence of brutality by Tutsi rebel forces.

This programme has discovered the bodies of civilians in the eastern Congo - victims of rebel troops who have been fighting government forces.

We came across at least a dozen corpses after Tutsi rebels retook the town of Kiwanja, in the east of the country, following two days of bitter fighting.

Conflict and instability has caused an estimated 250,000 people to flee their homes in the past month. Kiwanja has changed hands several times in the past two weeks.

Our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller, who has been based in the eastern capital Goma for the past week, travelled to Kiwanja, on the northern edge of rebel-held territory.

Click here to watch Jonathan's disturbing report "Congo clashes claim more victims".
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Rebel commander General Laurent Nkunda tells Channel 4 News he is acting in the best interests of the DR Congo

November 03, 2008 Channel 4 News video report "Congo's Nkunda defends actions" by Jonathan Miller reporting from DR Congo.

Congo's Nkunda defends actions

The renegade general whose rebel army has been fighting government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo has defended his actions in an interview with Channel 4 News.

A quarter of a million people have been displaced by the conflict, but Laurent Nkunda told this programme he was acting in the best interests of his country.

For the first time in a week, much needed aid left Goma for rebel-held areas in the north east. But instead of finding tens of thousands of refugees - aid workers discovered empty camps in and around the town of Rutshuru.

The UN fears people have fled into the bush to escape rebel fighters. Others went looking for food and shelter themselves.

David Miliband interview

Krishnan Guru-Murthy talks to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband from Marseilles, where he was reporting back on his visit to the Congo to other European ministers.

Channel 4 News asks him if the government has linked British aid to Rwanda with a demand for the country to stop supporting the rebels in the Congo.

Click here to watch Jonathan's important report "Congo's Nkunda defends actions".

Further links related to this article:

November 02, 2008 Channel 4 News video report: "Tensions rise as ceasefire ends" - Jonathan Miller reports from Goma as the three-day ceasefire between government and rebel troops comes to an end. With additional reporting from Jane Dodge.

November 01, 2008 Channel 4 News video report: "UK calls for vital aid for Congo" - Jonathan Miller has been to one of the biggest refugee camps near Goma, DR Congo.
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Tutsi forces from the north loyal to General Laurent Nkunda

Excerpt from October 31, 2008 Channel 4 News report by Lucy Manning. According to Channel 4 News' website, Lucy is a reporter specialising in home affairs and has covered Abu Izzadeen's verbal attack on John Reid, the riots in Paris, plans for safe houses for herion users and the Madrid bombings.

Britain and France head to Congo

Tutsi forces from the north loyal to General Laurent Nkunda in the past days have moved south towards the city of Goma.

They currently hold positions just north of Goma's city limits. Congolese government forces have retreated to the south west after a ceasefire was brokered two days ago.

UN troops have formed an area of separation around Congolese government troops and along the road in rebel-held areas.

Click here to watch Lucy's report "Britain and France head to Congo".
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History of the conflict between Nkunda's rebels and the Congolese army

October 31, 2008 video report by Lindsey Hilsum, international editor and China correspondent for Channel 4 News, explains the history of the conflict between Laurent Nkunda's rebels and the Congolese army.

Lindsey recently had a world exclusive interview in Khartoum, Sudan with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Congo conflict - the background

"In 1994, a racist government told Rwanda's majority Hutu people to massacre their Tutsi neighbours. It was genocide.

"When a new Tutsi-led regime took power, the Hutus, many of whom had taken part in the killing, fled to the Congo.

"War followed them: Rwanda's Tutsi-led government pursued the Hutu genocidaires, who were hiding in the Congolese bush.

"The government of Congo joined forces with the Hutus. Four million died in the subsequent conflict.

"At one point five African countries were involved in the war in Democratic Republic of Congo. Local Tutsi rebels fighting Congolese forces were backed by troops from Rwanda and Uganda.

"The Congolese government then called on Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, all of whom sent troops.

"The result was plunder and slaughter. Until a peace deal was signed, foreign armies, local warlords and government soldiers fought for control of mines producing tin, copper, coltan and cassiterite - valuable minerals.

"As foreign armies withdrew, new local warlords emerged, including Laurent Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi backed by Rwanda. Last year, he celebrated a peace deal with the Congolese government.

"But now, he's breached that. He says he's trying to defeat the last of the Rwandese Hutu genocidaires, to protect the Tutsis. Others say he just wants power and money.

"Now, UN peacekeepers fear the conflict will spread, drawing in neighbouring countries once more."

Key dates

The five-year-long civil war (which involved five other African countries) ended in 2003.

Democratic elections were held in 2006, and president Joseph Kabila was inaugurated in December. During the election period there was armed conflict in the Congo's capital, Kinshasa, which resulted in civilian casualties.

A peace deal was struck in January 2008 between the Democratic Republic of Congo's government and armed groups, including Nkunda's rebels, but later collapsed.

Country background

Democratic Republic of Congo is the size of western Europe and borders nine other countries: Zambia, Angola and Congo to the south and west, Central African Republic and Sudan to the north, and Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania to the east.

The central African country has rich mineral resources, but is one of the poorest in the world.

The population is around 60 million - similar to that of the UK, but half are under 18 years old and only a similar proportion have access to clean water.

The Kivu provinces, focus of the current troubles, lie to the east, on the border with Rwanda. Goma, in North Kivu, has a population of one million.

The UN presence

The UN's peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo is its biggest in the world, with 17,000 troops spread across the vast country.

But the agency says its peacekeepers are stretched to the limit.

There are around 6,500 troops in North Kivu. The UN is redeploying troops to support the 850 peacekeepers in the city of Goma.

The UN refugee agency says more than a million people have fled their homes in North Kivu.

It is extremely concerned about the plight of 50,000 people in camps to the north of Goma: the agency said today it was trying to verify reports that several camps in the Kivu town of Rutshuru, about 90km north of Goma, have been forcibly emptied, looted and burned.

Click here to watch Lindsey's report "Congo conflict - the background".

Further links related to this article
Channel 4 News
October 30, 2008: Chaos in Congo as rebels advance
October 28, 2008: Rwandan genocide haunts Congo
March 27, 2008: Horror of Congo's forgotten war
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Get Channel 4 News Services

Click here to watch Channel 4 video reports.

Click here to subscribe to RSS feeds, podcasts and mobile phone bulletins.
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UN peacekeepers found the bodies of a dozen civilians in rebel-held village

November 06, 2008 Reuters report (editing by Jon Boyle):

Dozen bodies found in rebel-held Congo village

KIWANJA, DR Congo - UN peacekeepers found the bodies of a dozen civilians on Thursday in an eastern Congo village occupied by Tutsi rebels, witnesses and a UN spokesman said.

A stench of death hung over Kiwanja when journalists and UN troops entered the village, where fighters loyal to rebel General Laurent Nkunda drove out pro-government Mai-Mai militia on Wednesday, sending its inhabitants fleeing in panic.

At least a dozen bodies of adult males, five in one house alone, were visible among the mud-walled and tin-roofed homes, a few of them burned, apparently hit by rockets or grenades.

There was nothing, neither uniforms nor weapons, to indicate the dead had been fighters. Some wore work overalls.

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Photo: UN soldiers and journalists found at least a dozen corpses in Kiwanja (AP) Source: BBC report November 06, 2008: DR Congo 'civilian deaths' probed

Map pinpointing Kiwanja, DR Congo



Source: BBC report November 06, 2008: DR Congo 'civilian deaths' probed
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UPDATE 1 on Friday 07 November 2008

From Congo Watch Ed: Saw this on Twitter:

channel4news: AM meeting: team in Congo news gathering while suffering from infestation of flees....

Twitter / channel4news 5/11/08 09:55

Maybe they mean fleas or flies. Whatever, an infestation of anything sounds bad. I know of someone who rode a camel in Tunisia for half an hour and got a backside full of flea bites. Itchy ones, hundreds of them... Heh.
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UPDATE 2 on Friday 07 November 2008

Excerpt from today's Channel 4 News Snowmail authored by Krishnan Guru-Murthy:

ANOTHER SEASON IN HELL

Our team in DR Congo have been telling us of another dangerous and harrowing day. Fighting has broken out between the Rwandan-backed rebels and government forces. There has been considerable artillery and gunfire. Another refugee camp has been emptied as people are either driven out or flee for safety.

There is supposed to be a peace conference going on but there is little sign of any progress, following reports by our team and others yesterday about civilians apparently executed in their homes by rebels after refusing to leave.

The United Nations has been accused of failing to protect people that were close to peacekeeping troops. The UN has in turn announced an investigation into what happened and says its findings will be passed to the International Criminal Court.

Watch Jonathan Miller’s report from lunchtime today: http://tinyurl.com/5setsr: Congolese Tutsi rebels and government troops exchange fire in east Congo, just a few miles from a refugee camp. The latest violence erupted near the Kibati camp causing a stream of refugees to flee back towards the provincial capital of Goma 10 miles away.

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UPDATE 3 on Sunday 09 November 2008

The rebel forces of Gen Laurent Nkunda and pro-government militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been accused of war crimes by the UN.

The alleged crimes took place in the eastern town of Kiwanja this week when it was captured by Gen Nkunda's forces.

See Congo Watch Sunday, November 09, 2008: UN alleges war crimes in Kiwanja, DR Congo

Congo Watchers: The Republic of the Congo should not not be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo ("Congo-Kinshasa") is an African country to the east of the Congo River.

Not to be confused with the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: République démocratique du Congo), often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to as Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo-Léopoldville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire (or Zaïre in French), is the third largest country by area in Africa.

Though it is located in the Central African UN subregion, the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

It borders the Central African Republic and Sudan on the North; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi on the East; Zambia and Angola on the South; the Republic of the Congo on the West; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika on the East.

The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (25 mile) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometre wide mouth of the Congo river which opens into the Gulf of Guinea.

The name "Congo" (meaning "hunter") is coined after the Bakongo ethnic group who live in the Congo River basin.

Formerly the Belgian colony of the Belgian Congo, the country's post-independence name was the Republic of the Congo until August 1, 1964, when its name was changed to Democratic Republic of the Congo (to distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo).

On October 27, 1971, then-President Mobutu renamed the country Zaire, from a Portuguese mispronunciation of the Kikongo word nzere or nzadi, which translates to "the river that swallows all rivers."

Following the First Congo War which led to the overthrow of Mobutu in 1997, the country was renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.

From 1998 to 2003, the country suffered greatly from the devastating Second Congo War (sometimes referred to as the "African World War"). This was the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. Related fighting continues in the east of the country. (Source: Wikipedia)



Photo: Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Wikipedia)



Photo: Coat of Arms of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Wikipedia)
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Not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville or the Congo, is an African country to the west of the Congo River.

It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.

The republic is a former French colony. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. Congo became a multi-party democracy in 1992. However, a brief civil war in 1997 ended in the restoration of former President Denis Sassou Nguesso to power.



Photo: Flag of the Republic of the Congo (Wikipedia)



Photo: Coat of Arms of the Republic of the Congo (Wikipedia)
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Do not confuse Republic of the Congo with the DR Congo

Some news reporters refer to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Congo.

Here is a good example. The following map, taken from a recent New York Times report entitled:

Many Flee as Congo Rebels Approach Eastern City: GOMA, Congo - The exodus has begun.



Compare the above map from the NYT with this one from IRIN.



Note the error in the NYT map, and the error in the title of the NYT report: Many Flee as Congo Rebels Approach Eastern City: GOMA, Congo - The exodus has begun. What a shame. Here are some superb but distressingly sad photos from the report.



Photo: Congolese tanks pulled back toward Goma after a day of battle with the forces of Laurent Nkunda, a renegade general. Some soldiers have already fled the fighting. (Karel Prinsloo/Associated Press 30 Oct 2008 via NYT)



Photo: Congolese soldiers carried one of their wounded. The rebels have been kept at bay before, but they appear stronger now. (Waler Astrada/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 30 Oct 2008 via NYT)



Photo: Children waited for food to be cooked at a makeshift camp for displaced people near the village of Kibati. (Karel Prinsloo/Associated Press Agency 30 Oct 2008 via NYT)



Photo: Displaced Congolese line up to get water from a tanker in the town of Kibati. Sarah Elliott/European Pressphoto Agency 30 Oct 2008 via NYT)

Photo source: New York Times report By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN October 29, 2008 - Many Flee as Congo Rebels Approach Eastern City: GOMA, Congo - The exodus has begun - Neil MacFarquhar contributed reporting from the United Nations.

YouTube video: Rumangabo Fighting - Rebels seize DRC's Virunga National Park HQ at Rumangabo

Map source: (www.gorilla.cd) Sunday 26 October 2008 report by Emmanuel - Congo Rebels Seize Park HQ at Rumangabo After Intense Fighting - excerpt:

Fighting at Rumangabo started at 0400 today between the rebels of Laurent Nkunda and the army. It has now totally engulfed the park station and our Rangers have been forced to flee into the forests for their lives. The rebels now are the only occupants of the park station at Rumangabo. This has never happened before.

This is a serious time. We need to get our 50+ Rangers back to safety in Goma, 45km south of Rumangabo. The main road is blocked because of the fighting so they are walking through the forests of the park south, to Kibumba, about 20km away, where we aim to pick them up in trucks. We are trying to maintain phone contact but they don’t have much battery life in their phones.



We also need to organize for them to stay in the camp in Goma - with their families. We need to get more food, fast.
If you would like to help toward supporting the Rangers in this crisis please donate in the sidebar to the right. You can make an open donation or you can donate using the Support For Ranger Evactuation from Virunga button. Thank you.
We will be issuing a press release shortly that will give you more information but for now I wanted you all to be aware of this.

YouTube video of Rumangabo Fighting. Rebels seized Virunga National Park HQ at Rumangabo after intense fighting.

DRC crisis prompts peace talks - Channel 4 News' Jonathan Miller has been out to the rebel front line

Today's Snowmail just in from Channel 4 News, UK - excerpt:

Congo crisis prompts peace talks

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo is our main story today.

More than a quarter of a million people have been forced from their homes in and around the eastern town of Goma and although a rebel ceasefire is holding, aid agencies are warning of a looming catastrophe unless a long term solution is found soon.

In an effort to find a diplomatic route to that solution, Britain's David Miliband and France's Bernard Kouchner have arrived for talks with the leaders of Congo and of Rwanda. Rwanda is thought to be tacitly supporting the rebels.

Our correspondent Jonathan Miller has been out to the rebel front line, and to one of the overflowing refugee camps where he witnessed food being handed out to the desperately hungry people there.

Watch last night's report: http://tinyurl.com/5dn5fw

Congo Blog Photos - Bienvenue à Goma

A sample of photos from Congo Blog's photostream at flickr by Congo Blog's Cedric Kalonji in Kinshasa, République démocratique Congo.

Vue aérienne du fleuve Congo à Kindu



Bienvenue à Goma



Hôtel Nyra à Goma



Hôtel Nyra à Goma



Un jeune Tshukudiste dans une rue de Goma



Un Tshukudiste dans une rue de Goma



Photos courtesy of congoblog.net upload 21/6/08 @flickr.com

Further reading: Friday, 23 November 2007 (Global Voices Online by Fred R.) D. R. of Congo: Interview with ‘Best Francophone Blogger' Cédric Kalonji

Map of rebel-held positions and strongholds in DR Congo - Regional talks planned - UK's Miliband and France's Kouchner flying out to DRC today (BBC)

Fears are growing for thousands of people who have fled into the bush. BBC report Saturday, 1 November 2008:

The BBC's Orla Guerin witnessed scenes of chaos at a refugee camp in Kibati outside Goma, as desperately hungry people surged towards aid distribution points.

Children were trampled underfoot and panicked aid staff were forced to beat back the heaving crowd.

Some who reached Kibati told the BBC they had more chance of getting food in the forests than inside Goma.
Trading accusations

The UN refugee agency said camps sheltering 50,000 refugees in Rutshuru, 90km north of Goma, had been forcibly emptied, looted and then burnt to the ground.

Photo: Detailed map of rebel-held positions and rebel strongholds in DR Congo (Credit: BBC)

Source: BBC report dated Saturday, 1 November 2008 - Regional DR Congo talks planned - further excerpt:

The Rwandan and Congolese presidents have agreed to try to end fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda's Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila agreed to attend a regional summit after talks with a senior EU official on Friday.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband are due to meet the two men and visit Goma on Saturday.

The UN refugee agency has described the situation as "a total disaster".

Aid groups say they are struggling to reach 250,000 people fleeing fighting between government and rebel forces.

European Union Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said the only way to resolve the crisis was through a summit involving all regional leaders.

He said agreement had been reached on the prospect of a regional summit after two days of talks in the Congolese capital Kinshasa and the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

"They are both fully agreed on the idea of having this summit," Mr Michel told the BBC.

But renegade rebel general Laurent Nkunda had not yet been asked to join the talks, Mr Michel added.

A ceasefire is holding in and around Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, but aid agencies say the situation there remains highly volatile.

Gen Nkunda's forces are positioned some 15km (nine miles) from the city, which they have threatened to take unless UN peacekeepers guarantee the ceasefire and security there.

As diplomatic efforts to end the crisis gathered pace on Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called leaders in Africa, Europe and the US to urge them to "do all they can to bring the parties to a neutral venue for negotiations".

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the current African Union chairman, and AU Commission chief Jean Ping said the summit could be held in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam or the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Food, water and medicine in the city are scarce, and many international relief workers have pulled out after reports widespread rape and looting by retreating Congolese troops.

The origin of the ongoing conflict in eastern DR Congo is the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.

Gen Nkunda says he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of taking part in the genocide.

The Congolese government has often promised to stop Hutu forces from using its territory, but has not done so.

There have also been accusations of collusion between DR Congo's army and Hutu guerrillas.

The Congolese government, for its part, has accused Rwanda of backing Gen Nkunda.

Rwanda denies this, but it has twice invaded its much larger neighbour in recent years.

UK's Channel 4 News team has reached Goma today and visited a refugee camp

Today's Snowmail by the production team at Channel 4 News, UK - excerpt:

Our team has reached Goma today and also visited a refugee camp. Jonathan Miller will have an eyewitness report on the chaos and confusion as aid agencies withdraw, the rebels approach and the UN battles to protect civilians.

Communications are difficult with our guys, and power problems are making it difficult for them to operate, but we hope to get the pictures back in time for the top of the programme.

Watch the noon Congo report: http://tinyurl.com/67fkol

Read Congo conflict - the background: http://tinyurl.com/67fkol

Good luck and safe return journey home.

Camps sheltering 50,000 displaced people in eastern DR Congo have reportedly been looted and burned, says the UN

Friday, 31 October 2008 (BBC) report - DR Congo refugee camps 'burned' - excerpt:

Camps sheltering 50,000 displaced people in eastern DR Congo have reportedly been looted and burned, says the UN.

The UNHCR refugee agency said it was very concerned at reports that the camps in Rutshuru, 90km (56 miles) north of Goma, had been destroyed.

"There are some 50,000 people who were in those camps. We don't know where they would be, we're afraid that they may have just dispersed off into the bush," spokesman Ron Redmond said.

The BBC's Peter Greste in Goma says the road from Goma for mile after mile is choked with families buckling under stoves, food, clothes, bedding and children.

Gen Nkunda said on Thursday that he was opening a "humanitarian corridor" for people to return to their homes.

Our correspondent said that instead of an open corridor, he found people hurrying back to Goma.

"Someone has been shooting at us," one breathless woman said. "We can't go any further."

But those who did reach Kibati told the BBC that they had more chance of getting food in the forests and bushes around the village than inside Goma.

Congo vigil outside Rwanda Embassy, Washington, DC, USA

Email received from Friends of the Congo - excerpt:

The situation in the Congo has escalated tremendously in recent days. Friends of the Congo, the Africa Faith and Justice Network and their allies are asking all people of goodwill and those who participated in Congo Week to participate in a vigil in support of the people of the Congo.

There will be a vigil in front of the Rwanda Embassy on Friday, October 31, 2008 from 4 pm to 6 pm EST. The vigil will address the escalation of tensions in the East of Congo and Rwanda's implication in the instability in the region.

The location of the vigil is:

Rwanda Embassy
1714 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20009

For questions, call 1-888-584-6510 or 202-884-9780 or send an email to  info@friendsofthecongo.org

Short video: A history of Congo (Lindsey Hilsum)

Click here to view two short video clips at Channel 4 News' website showing recent tv report on DR Congo and "A history of Congo" by Lindsey Hilsum.

CNDP are on the outskirts of Nord-Kivu

Photo: Nkunda denies accusations of rape and looting on the part of his forces (AFP)

"We are asking for freedom and we also have to fight for it" - Laurent Nkunda, speaking to Al Jazeera

Source: Friday, 31 October 2008 (Aljazeera and agencies) report - Rebel move sees DR Congo city empty - excerpt:

Troops loyal to Laurent Nkunda, a renegade army general, were on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Nord-Kivu on Thursday after government resistance appeared to have crumbled.

A statement signed by Nkunda said that the intention of his National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) was "not to panic the population of Goma as well as those who are in displaced camps in the immediate environs of the city".

In a letter to the UN mission in Kinshasa, the rebels said that they were opening humanitarian corridors for refugees camped outside the city.

However, residents fear that the CNDP will overrun the city if negotiations with Nkunda are not met.

'Allied to terrorists'

Nkunda, speaking exclusively to Al Jazeera, accused the Congolese government forces of being "allied to terrorists".

"Seeing the government using negative forces toward its people, it's a national problem.

"We have the most disciplined army in all of Congo and it is known by all of the international community," Nkunda said. "We are not involved in looting or raping.

"We asked for, many times, a ceasefire and peace talks, but they [the government] weren't accepting this. Many times we've been attacked by government forces."

"We are asking for freedom and we also have to fight for it ... We have to suffer sometimes to be free forever," he said.

When asked what he would do if the government didn't respond in the way that he desired, Nkunda said: "We will push the threat so far from Goma, so far from Congo. If they [the government] are not ready to talk, we are ready to push them so far from Goma, so far from Congo."

'Weak central government'

Marie-Roger Biloa, editor of Africa International, a monthly news magazine, told Al Jazeera that the central government in the DRC is very weak.

"There really is not much that the government can do in this conflict," she said.

"Despite the international community expressing its support, the rebels clearly have the upper hand here, and it is ultimately dialogue that is needed, not further violence."

The Kinshasa government accuses neighbouring Rwanda of supporting Nkunda, an ethnic Tutsi.

"The government of Rwanda is not in this conflict," Louise Muchikiwabo, Rwanda's minister of information, told Al Jazeera, saying it was a conflict between two Congolese parties.

'Catastrophic'

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the humanitarian situation in Goma is "catastrophic," with two hospitals have been sacked by looters on Thursday.

Government forces were reported to have fled on Wednesday night, relocating their tanks to the south on the road to Bukavu, in Sud-Kivu province.

However, accusations have been made of government forces, who have abandoned their posts, carrying out violence, including steeling and raping.

UN tanks had been drawn into position around the peacekeeping force's headquarters near the airport to the north of Goma. Madnodje Mounoubai, a UN spokesman, said that peacekeepers were also deployed at other strategic points.

Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, said an estimated 800 troops from the UN mission in DRC (Monuc) were currently patrolling Goma.

"We are trying to bring additional troops to protect the civilians in Goma in the coming three to seven days," he said. The reinforcements would be sent from other parts of DR Congo where Monuc has about 17,000 troops.

Julien Mpaluku, the governor of Goma, said that the UN remained in control of the city but "people are stampeding and panicking.

People carrying whatever they could carry streamed out of Goma on Wednesday, while another 45,000 refugees fled a makeshift camp in the nearby village of Kibati. 

The camp, just north of Goma, had seen an influx of 30,000 people over the past three days joining the 15,000 already there, after the CNDP launched a major offensive in the North Kivu region.

International pressure

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has warned that the conflict "is creating a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions, and threatens dire consequences on a regional scale".

US officials were among those who pulled out of the city and Jendayi Frazer, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, was expected to arrive in DR Congo's capital on Thursday.

Before departing for Kinshasa, Frazer urged Nkunda's forces to comply with previous agreements aimed at ending the conflict in the east of the country.

"I should say, they should not go into Goma, they will be held accountable for actions taking place," Frazer said in Nairobi.

Jean-Maurice Ripert, France's ambassador to the United Nations, said that he hoped that "Nkunda will announce that he stops his offensive" after declaring the ceasefire.

He also said he was planning to send a high-level envoy soon to support an initiative by Ban to facilitate dialogue between Rwanda and Congo.

Ban has reportedly been "alarmed" by reports that Rwandan soldiers were involved in the fighting against Congolese government forces, while the UN Security Council expressed concern at "reports of heavy weapons fire across the Democratic Republic of Congo-Rwanda border".

Congo fighting intensifies (Channel 4 News)

Today's Snowmail by Alex T, Channel 4 News, UK 18:17:03 GMT - excerpt:

CONGO FIGHTING INTENSIFIES

Goma, in eastern Congo is tonight, a dangerous no-man’s land. This strategic frontier town, close to Rwanda has seen trouble across the day with rioting and reports of rape and looting. The Congolese army has fled.

The Tutsi rebels outside town stand ready to move in but have not done so as I write and have declared a ceasefire. It is the culmination of several years of increasing violence in the area and the stimulus, as ever, Hutu-Tutsi ethnic tensions. Hundreds of thousands of people already displaced, many of them from refugee camps in the first place.

UN peacekeepers in DR Congo urgently need reinforcements

Anarchy in DR Congo. UN's MONUC desperately needs more troops.



The UN mission in Congo has launched a counter attack in support of Congolese troops in an effort to block Gen Nkunda's troops from advancing on Goma.



Thousands of people in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been fleeing a new outburst of fighting between government troops and rebel forces.



Government troops near the Kibumba refugee camp have been pushed back by forces loyal to rebel general Laurent Nkunda.



The rebels, who say they are protecting the areas' Tutsi minority, have captured a major army camp at Rumangabo, near the border with Rwanda.



Credit: AFP & AP photos and BBC captions from BBC report Monday, 27 October 2008 - In pictures: Thousands flee Congo fighting

Anarchy in DR Congo - MONUC chief desperately needs more troops (BBC)

Congolese government troops and UN forces have been involved in fierce battles against Tutsi rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reports from the region suggest the strategic village of Kibumba, north of the regional capital Goma, is the latest to have fallen to the rebels.

Renegade General Laurent Nkunda's fighters say their next target is Goma, where thousands of civilians have fled.

The head of the UN mission in Congo says he desperately needs more troops.



Photo: The army is finding it difficult to locate the rebel fighters.

"We simply cannot send teams out into the countryside... it's too dangerous; it's anarchy" -UNHCR's Ron Redmond

Full story by BBC Wednesday October 29, 2008: Battles rage near key Congo town - excerpt:

The UN Security Council late on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire and issued a statement in which it "strongly condemned the offensive operations" against its peacekeepers.

UN forces have been using attack helicopters and tanks to try to stop the rebel advance, but they say the rebels work in small groups, making them difficult to locate and repulse.

Alan Doss, the head of the UN mission in DR Congo (Monuc), told the BBC his forces were stretched to the limit and needed urgent reinforcements.

He said his troops would do their utmost to stop major towns in the region from falling to the Tutsi rebels under Gen Nkunda.

"We are going to remain there, and we are going to act against any effort to take over a city or major population centre by force," he said from Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.

Monuc has 17,000 troops in DR Congo - the largest peacekeeping force in the world - but has come under criticism from residents in the east of the country for being unable to protect them.

The head of UN peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, briefed the Security Council, and said the appeal for more troops had been "heard clearly by all member states".

Refugee crisis

The towns of Rutshuru and Rubare have also been threatened by the rebel forces.

Rutshuru houses tens of thousands of displaced people and dozens of aid workers are usually based there.

Click into BBC's report above and see link to 'Eastern DR Congo's hell in pictures: Thousands flee fighting'.

UPDATE: New pictures posted at Congo Watch on Wednesday, October 29, 2008: UN peacekeepers in DR Congo urgently need reinforcements

Tragedy looms in DR Congo - Tens of thousands of people fleeing fighting (Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News)

October 28, 2008 (Channel 4 News, UK) Snowmail by Krishnan - "Tragedy looms in DR Congo" - excerpt:

" ... there is a new and urgent human emergency unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The pictures of tens of thousands of people fleeing fighting are heart-rending. The core of what’s happening is the advance of Rwanda-backed rebels towards the main city of Goma. The UN is pulling out and retreating from its positions, and civilians are once again on the move.

So once again this deeply unstable country, largely ignored by the outside world, has been pushed to the brink of terrible tragedy. Our international editor Lindsey Hilsum will have the story. And we are inviting various international figures to appear on our programme tonight."
- - -

October 28, 2008 (Channel 4 News, UK) report by Lindsey Hilsum - Rwandan genocide haunts Congo:

The Democratic Republic of Congo slips back towards all-out war as the biggest UN peacekeeping force in the world fails to thwart rebel fighters.

A human emergency is unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as Rwandan-backed rebels close in on the strategic city of Goma, despite attacks from peacekeepers in helicopter gunships.

Government troops are retreating in tanks, lorries and on foot, and tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing a rebel army with a reputation for brutality.

The rebels are advancing on the town of Rutshuru, 60 miles north of Goma. Their leader, General Laurent Nkunda, has vowed to seize Goma to protect the minority Tutsi population from Hutus who escaped from neighbouring Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.

The 17,000-strong UN force has been firing on them from helicopters, but there is no sign of it stopping their advance.

Tens of thousands of refugees are on the move. Aid agencies say many are malnourished and even dying of hunger.

Photo: Refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo flee ahead of advancing Tutsi rebels on the road between Goma and Kibati. Click on Congo refugees for Channel 4 News' full-screen picture of the day.

UN: 200,000 people displaced in E. DR Congo in past two months - 2m people displaced in Kivu area since 2007

October 24, 2008 BBC report Thousands displaced in DR Congo. Excerpt:

The UN says about 200,000 people have been displaced by renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two months.

Previously the United Nations had reported half that number.

Concern has been rising in the east of DR Congo, where the army has been battling fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda.

Up to two million people are thought to have been displaced in the Kivu area since 2007, the UN says.

The UN says this vast displacement means many people are malnourished and some were dying of hunger.

Deterioration

Charles Vincent from the UN World Food Programme said: "The capacity of the World Food Programme and other humanitarian organisations is stretched to the limit [and] the situation has begun to deteriorate in the last [few] weeks."

"There is an enormous need for the women who have been abused," he added, saying that half the number of rapes in DR Congo are committed in Kivu.

EAST DR CONGO ARMED GROUPS

The UN says that the population needs 33,000 tonnes of food or $46m (£29m) worth of supplies by March 2009.

A UN force has failed to halt fighting in the east, where violence has intensified since August between government troops and Gen Nkunda's forces.