The Bulk of Kony's infrastructure in Garamba was destroyed yesterday - Ugandan air force says joint operation against LRA bases in DR Congo continues

The Ugandan air force started bombing LRA bases in Garamba National Park in northeastern Congo yesterday after rebels last month failed to sign a peace agreement negotiated in 2006, military spokesman Paddy Ankunda said in a phone interview from Uganda’s capital, Kampala, today.

“The joint operations against LRA are still continuing,” Ankunda said. “DRC is coordinating the raid and we don’t know when it will end.”

Source: December 15, 2008 Bloomberg report by Fred Ojambo. Copy:

UGANDAN AIR FORCE SAYS RAIDS ON REBEL BASES IN CONGO CONTINUE

The Ugandan military is carrying out air raids on Lord’s Resistance Army rebels based in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the support of the DRC and South Sudan, an army spokesman said.

The Ugandan air force started bombing LRA bases in Garamba National Park in northeastern Congo yesterday after rebels last month failed to sign a peace agreement negotiated in 2006, military spokesman Paddy Ankunda said in a phone interview from Uganda’s capital, Kampala, today.

The Ugandan army hasn’t determined when to end the operation, coordinated with the Congolese army, and neither has it received details of casualties from the raids, the spokesman said.

“The joint operations against LRA are still continuing,” Ankunda said. “DRC is coordinating the raid and we don’t know when it will end.”

Rebel leader Joseph Kony refused to sign the peace agreement, demanding that the International Criminal Court first withdraw war crimes charges against him.

The Uganda government referred Kony and his commanders to the court, which indicted them in 2005, after they had fled to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Uganda started negotiations with the rebel movement in July 2006 with the mediation of the South Sudan government in an attempt to end a war which has claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 1.5 million people.

Kony, who is holed up in the jungles of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, didn’t attend the talks in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, for fear of being arrested for crimes against humanity under the ICC warrant.

His rebel movement, which claims to represent the Acholi people, the dominant tribe in northern Uganda, says it wants to the country to be governed according to the Bible’s Ten Commandments.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

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LRA SPOKESMAN CALLED GOSS VP RIEK MACHAR TO WARN HIM THAT IF THE REPORTED ATTACK WERE TRUE, IT WOULD BE AN ESCALATION OF THE WAR

David Nyekorach Matsanga, chief peace negotiator for the LRA, told VOA that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was using an attack against the LRA as a pretext to invade eastern Congo for that country's resources.

"We condemned this action of a few military people in the government of Uganda who are using this as a pretext to invade Congo. They have now taking their positions in Congo to loot the minerals, to loot the diamonds, to loot the timber, and everything in Congo. But that attack has taken place, the consequences are going to very dear, and the world is going to regret why this has taken place and they watched it," he said.

Source: Monday, December 15, 2008 Voice of America report by James Butty, Washington, D.C. Copy:

UGANDA REBEL SPOKESMAN CONDEMNS REPORTED ATTACK ON LRA CAMP

A spokesman for Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has said that if reports of an attack on LRA positions are true, it would be disastrous for the peace process and the people of northern Uganda.

Reports Sunday quoted three central African governments – Uganda, Southern Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo - as saying their armies launched a joint offensive against an LRA base in the Garamba forests of eastern Congo.

The three countries said in a joint statement that their forces destroyed the main camp of LRA leader Joseph Kony and set it on fire. There was no immediate word on Kony's fate.

David Nyekorach Matsanga, chief peace negotiator for the LRA, told VOA that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was using an attack against the LRA as a pretext to invade eastern Congo for that country's resources.

"First of all the action, if it is true and if it is confirmed, it is the most regrettable action that humanity in this region will have. We have negotiated an agreement, we had negotiated peace for the last two years, and it is regrettable that the government of the Republic of Uganda has decided to make a military attack on the LRA, if it is confirmed. I want to make it clear that I have not received official confirmation from General Joseph Kony of this attack. But when it unfolds tomorrow and I received instruction from General Joseph Kony, then I will make an official statement," he said.

Matsanga rejected suggestions that the LRA was responsible for the alleged attack for its repeated failure to sign a final peace agreement the rebel group and the Ugandan government.

Instead Matsanga said the nearly four years peace process has brought some stability to northern Uganda.

"You should understand that we have got gains out of these three and the half years of negotiations. There was relative peace in northern Uganda. And now if Museveni decides to attack the LRA without any consultation while he is talking to us, it is very regrettable. The world must condemn it," Matsanga said.

He accused Uganda of using an attack on the LRA as a pretext to invade the Democratic Republic of Congo with the intention to loot that country's resources.

"We condemned this action of a few military people in the government of Uganda who are using this as a pretext to invade Congo. They have now taking their positions in Congo to loot the minerals, to loot the diamonds, to loot the timber, and everything in Congo. But that attack has taken place, the consequences are going to very dear, and the world is going to regret why this has taken place and they watched it," he said.

When pressed furthe3r to give evidence that Uganda has been wanting to invade the DRC to loot that country's resources, Matsanga would only say that the LRA has its own intelligence network deep inside Uganda.

Matsanga also said he called South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar, who is also the mediator of the peace process between the LRA and the Ugandan government to warn him that if the reported attack were true, it would be an escalation of the war.

He would not say whether Joseph Kony would retaliate if the reports of an attack on his camp were true. But Matsanga said the LRA was interested in peace.

"I cannot discuss the military strength of General Joseph Kony. It is only he as a military spokes of the LRA that can discuss the modalities. Let me make it very clear negotiations are not weaknesses. Being on the peace table does not mean the LRA is weak. But if the Museveni government has taken that root, we will wait and see the consequences that will unfold in the region," Matsanga said.

He said those who think an attack against the LRA in Congo would be a quick walkover might live to regret their actions.

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UGANDAN MILITARY ATTACKS LORDS RESISTANCE ARMY REBELS (Update 1)

Monday, December 15, 2008 Bloomberg report by Fred Ojambo and Franz Wild:

The Ugandan military is carrying out air raids on Lord’s Resistance Army rebels based in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the support of the DRC and South Sudan, an army spokesman said.

The Ugandan air force started bombing LRA bases in Garamba National Park in northeastern Congo yesterday after rebels last month failed to sign a peace agreement negotiated in 2006, military spokesman Paddy Ankunda said in a phone interview from Uganda’s capital, Kampala, today.

The Ugandan military hasn’t determined when to end the operation, coordinated with the Congolese army, and neither has it received details of casualties from the raids, the spokesman said.

“The joint operations against LRA are still continuing,” Ankunda said. “DRC is coordinating the raid and we don’t know when it will end.”

The United Nations mission in Congo, known as Monuc, will tomorrow fly into the combat zone to assess the situation, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, said in an interview from Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.

“There are several hundred Ugandan soldiers in Orientale Province since yesterday,” he said. “They are putting real military pressure on the LRA.”

Rebel leader Joseph Kony refused to sign the peace agreement, demanding that the International Criminal Court first withdraw war crimes charges against him. Uganda’s government referred Kony and his commanders to the court, which indicted them in 2005, after they had fled to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

ICC Warrant

Uganda started negotiations with the rebel movement in July 2006 with the mediation of the South Sudan government in an attempt to end a two-decade war which has claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 1.5 million people.

Kony, who is holed up in the jungles of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, didn’t attend the talks in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, for fear of being arrested for crimes against humanity under the ICC warrant.

His rebel movement, which claims to represent the Acholi people, the dominant tribe in northern Uganda, says it wants to the country to be governed according to the Bible’s Ten Commandments.

The LRA justifies its rebellion by saying forces loyal to Museveni attacked the Acholi people, who formed the rank and file of the Ugandan army, after he overthrew Tito Okello, an Acholi, in 1986. The majority of the LRA are from the Acholi.

‘No Stick’

As the war intensified, the LRA targeted local villagers and abducted children to use as soldiers, porters and sex slaves, Amnesty International and other rights groups said.

The Ugandan government responded by forcing almost 2 million civilians, including about 90 percent of the Acholi people, into “protected villages,” according to rights groups such as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.

“Over the last three years Kony was given repeated carrots and no stick,” Julia Spiegel, LRA specialist for the Washington-based Enough Project, said in an interview from Kampala. “ We still need to see how successfully this operation eroded the LRA’s strength, but it could leave Kony without many options.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala via Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net. Franz Wild in Kinshasa via Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.

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UGANDAN ARMY SAYS SEVERAL LRA CAMPS DESTROYED, INCLUDING ITS MAIN BASE

Ugandan rebels say a stalled peace process has collapsed completely after a joint attack on its positions by forces from three African countries.

The Ugandan army has said that several LRA camps have been destroyed, including its main base.

Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda told the BBC that the operation had been launched because LRA leader Joseph Kony had been unwilling to end the violence in the region.

Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende Omalanga said they had decided to join in the attack out of desperation, accusing Mr Kony of being unwilling to halt his rebellion and of having attacked Congolese children.

"Or duty is to destroy terrorists and we've decided to join these neighbouring countries to do so," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"Those people they are killing are Congolese, those children they are recruiting, those girls they are raping are Congolese kids so we have to fight for them, we have to secure them, we have to crush everybody who is coming to kill them."

BBC East Africa correspondent Peter Greste says it is doubtful that any of the three governments involved are concerned about a collapse in the peace process.

Mr Kony has repeatedly refused to sign a draft agreement and his troops have continued to attack, rape and mutilate civilians and abduct children across all three countries amidst the peace process, BBC correspondent says.

Source: Monday, December 15, 2008 15:49 GMT BBC report. Copy:

ATTACK 'ENDS UGANDA PEACE TALKS'

Uganda, DR Congo and South Sudan launched a joint offensive on Sunday against bases of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in north-eastern DR Congo.

A rebel negotiator said the offensive signalled an escalation of the war.

The Ugandan army has said that several LRA camps have been destroyed, including its main base.

Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda told the BBC that the operation had been launched because LRA leader Joseph Kony had been unwilling to end the violence in the region.

Last month Mr Kony failed to sign a peace deal, despite two years of tortuous negotiations.

Millions displaced

The LRA has led a rebellion for more than 20 years in northern Uganda, displacing some two million people.

LRA negotiator David Nekorach Matsanga told the BBC's Network Africa programme that the involvement of troops from South Sudan - which is mediating in the conflict - meant that the peace process was now as good as dead.

He said he had not been able to contact LRA commanders since the attacks and it was not clear how much damage or casualties had been inflicted.

Mr Matsanga said he had protested to United Nations envoy at the negotiations, former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, saying: "We needed more time for peace. Peace was going to come. It was around the corner."

He said that Sudanese mediator Riek Machar had told him that the South Sudanese government was not aware of the attacks.

[But] "The intelligence that I have gathered is that… a section of the SPLA [Sudan People's Liberation Army, South Sudan's army] was involved in the attack, which is a very bad precedent because it is now an escalation of the war and it puts the peace process in total collapse," he said.

Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende Omalanga said they had decided to join in the attack out of desperation, accusing Mr Kony of being unwilling to halt his rebellion and of having attacked Congolese children.

"Our duty is to destroy terrorists and we've decided to join these neighbouring countries to do so," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"Those people they are killing are Congolese, those children they are recruiting, those girls they are raping are Congolese kids so we have to fight for them, we have to secure them, we have to crush everybody who is coming to kill them."

BBC East Africa correspondent Peter Greste says it is doubtful that any of the three governments involved are concerned about a collapse in the peace process.

Mr Kony has repeatedly refused to sign a draft agreement and his troops have continued to attack, rape and mutilate civilians and abduct children across all three countries amidst the peace process, our correspondent says.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Mr Kony has insisted that arrest warrants for him and for his associates must be dropped before any agreement is signed.

A statement announcing the joint operation was released in the Ugandan capital Kampala by intelligence chiefs of all three armed forces.

The statement said the attack targeted the "terrorists" at their bases in the forested area of Garamba, in the east of DR Congo.

"The three armed forces successfully attacked the main body and destroyed the main camp of Kony, code-named camp Swahili, setting it on fire," the statement said.

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LRA CANNOT HAVE A SAFE HAVEN IN SOUTHERN SUDAN AND THAT'S WHY THEY MOVED TO CONGO

Kinshasa, Kampala and Juba agreed earlier this year to launch joint military operations against the insurgents.

South Sudan's army spokesman, Peter Parnyang, said its soldiers would not cross into Congo to chase the LRA.

"Of course we are part (of the operation), but our work is to protect our people," he said. "There will be no attacks unless they come."

Congo's information minister, Lambert Mende, said the offensive would continue until all Kony's bases were destroyed.

"It has already been successful ... The bulk of Kony's infrastructure in the Garamba was destroyed (on Sunday)."

Source: Monday, December 15, 2008 Reuters report by Jack Kimball, Kampala. Copy:

UGANDAN SOLDIERS MOVE ON REBEL BASES: ARMY

Ugandan ground forces closed in on Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) bases in northeastern Congo after bombarding the rebels' camps, the army said on Monday, in a new push to end one of Africa's longest-running conflicts.

The offensive agreed by Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan began on Sunday with an aerial attack against the camps in the remote Garamba National Park in eastern Congo.

Analysts say regional governments were spurred to act after losing patience with LRA leader Joseph Kony who has repeatedly failed to sign a final peace deal to end fighting that has killed thousands of people.

"We can confirm that most of (Kony's) camps have been set on fire," said Ugandan army spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda. "It was an air-led operation, then the ground forces were inserted."

"We had reliable intelligence that they were preparing to attack Uganda ... and also we had the ICC warrants," he said, referring to indictments by the International Criminal Court for Kony and two of his deputies for war crimes.

The self-proclaimed mystic Kony has repeatedly demanded the ICC arrest warrants be dropped before the guerrillas would leave their camps in Congo.

Kony's fighters have waged a two-decade war against Uganda's government, mutilating victims, displacing nearly two million and destabilizing a vast swathe of central Africa.

After initial euphoria when a peace process started in mid-2006, LRA rebels have since run amok in the porous borders of Congo, Sudan and Central African Republic, opening a new front in a region racked by insecurity.

Ankunda would not comment on any Ugandan casualties, nor how many troops were involved in the operation.

DIFFICULT OPERATION?

Operating from camps in Garamba, the LRA has attacked several Congolese villages and towns in recent months. The rebels have killed dozens of civilians and abducted several hundred, including many children.

Kinshasa, Kampala and Juba agreed earlier this year to launch joint military operations against the insurgents.

South Sudan's army spokesman, Peter Parnyang, said its soldiers would not cross into Congo to chase the LRA.

"Of course we are part (of the operation), but our work is to protect our people," he said. "There will be no attacks unless they come."

Experts say a swift military victory against the LRA would be fraught with difficulties.

"The history of this conflict has shown that it is very resistant to military defeat," said analyst Levi Ochieng.

"But the political dynamics have changed ... the LRA cannot have a safe haven in southern Sudan and that's why they moved to Congo," he said. "It's a kind of a wild west."

Kony's fighters were harried by Uganda's army into southern Sudan, where they were used as a proxy force to fight Sudanese rebels battling Khartoum's central government.

In 2005, when the Sudanese civil war ended, Kony quit his southern hideouts and moved to Congo.

The 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in the Congo (MONUC) said no decision had been taken on what role U.N. peacekeepers would play in the new offensive against Kony.

Congo's information minister, Lambert Mende, said the offensive would continue until all Kony's bases were destroyed.

"It has already been successful ... The bulk of Kony's infrastructure in the Garamba was destroyed (on Sunday)."

(Additional reporting by Skye Wheeler in Juba and Joe Bavier in Kinshasa; Editing by David Clarke and Katie Nguyen)

- - -

UGANDA, CONGO AND SUDAN JOIN FORCES AGAINST REBELS

Monday, 15 December 2008 non-subscriber extract - 81 of 436 words - from Jane's Information Group:

The operation against the base of LRA leader Joseph Kony in Garamba forest, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, reportedly involved paratroopers, infantry and the air force, according to Uganda's New Vision newspaper.

Military operations were said to be continuing, with no indication given as yet on Kony's whereabouts. Nevertheless, many in northern Uganda, which has seen security improve since the launch of the peace talks in 2006, will fear that the renewed military offensive will bring fresh destabilisation to the region.

- - -

JOINT RAID SETS CAMP OF UGANDAN REBEL GROUP ABLAZE

Monday, December 15, 2008 Christian Science Monitor news round-up by Jonathan Adams:

Uganda, Congo, and south Sudan attacked the Lord's Resistance Army camp in northern Congo on Sunday.

Three African nations announced Monday they had launched military operations against the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the remote northeast forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo the previous day.

Uganda, Congo, and south Sudan said they had attacked an LRA camp and set it ablaze.

The LRA has waged a 20-year rebellion against the Ugandan government and is notorious for kidnapping children and conscripting them. Its leaders are now hiding out in the jungles of the neighboring Congo.

The Ugandan government and the LRA have been in on-and-off peace talks for more than two years, but LRA head Joseph Kony has three times this year failed to show up to sign a deal, frustrating efforts to bring peace.

The BBC reported that the three countries released a joint statement on the raid.

A statement announcing the operation was released in the Ugandan capital Kampala by the intelligence chiefs of all three armed forces.

The statement said the attack targeted the "terrorists" at their bases in the forested area of Garamba, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The three armed forces successfully attacked the main body and destroyed the main camp of Kony, code-named camp Swahili, setting it on fire," the statement said.

Agence France-Presse reported that the three governments have lost patience with Mr. Kony. It reported that both the LRA and the Ugandan government say they are still open to negotiations, despite the obvious breakdown of the peace process.

"We are attacking the camps. So for now the peace process is off," Ugandan army spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda told AFP.

But he added: "We still think that if there is an opportunity to re-open negotiations we will do it."

The attack, in which the forces raided and set an LRA rebels' camp on fire in the Garamba region, ended a two-year ceasefire between the Ugandan army and the rebels.

LRA spokesman David Nyekorach-Matsanga condemned Sunday's attacks but said they were still committed to peace.

Bloomberg reported that the Ugandan Air Force began bombing LRA positions Sunday. Quoting a Ugandan Army official, it said there weren't yet any details on casualties. It said the stumbling block to a peace deal was International Criminal Court charges against Kony.

Rebel leader Joseph Kony refused to sign the peace agreement, demanding that the International Criminal Court first withdraw war crimes charges against him.

The Uganda government referred Kony and his commanders to the court, which indicted them in 2005, after they had fled to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Uganda started negotiations with the rebel movement in July 2006 with the mediation of the South Sudan government in an attempt to end a war which has claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 1.5 million people.

The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan daily, reported that peace talks had already collapsed in November, when Joseph Kony "failed to turn up for the third time this year to sign a deal earlier agreed upon by both sides."

In a separate interview, Maj. Ankunda told Daily Monitor last night that the attack was prompted by the rebel leader's failure to sign the deal. "He continues to kill and abduct, so we decided to move and rescue the women and children," Maj. Ankunda said. "This operation is also intended to implement the warrant of arrests issued by the International Criminal Court against Kony and his top commanders."

The Monitor said the attack was believed to have included infantry and special forces, in addition to the airstrikes.

In a report last week, the International Crisis Group said the peace process was "failing." It warned that the LRA could be used as a pawn in the coming years by the Sudanese government in Khartoum. That Arab government has long been accused of sponsoring the LRA in its fight against the Ugandan government, as a tit-for-tat measure against Uganda's alleged past sponsorship of southern Sudanese Christian rebels who fought Khartoum.

[The LRA] is available again as a proxy if Khartoum wants to disrupt the 2009 national elections, Southern Sudan's 2011 referendum, or restart war on the Sudan People's Liberation Army's (SPLA) southern flank.

The Associated Press wrote that the LRA's insurgency has destabilized several countries in the region.

The LRA has been waging one of Africa's longest and most brutal rebellions for the past 20 years, drawing in northern Uganda, eastern Congo and southern Sudan. The rebels were notorious for raping children and using them as soldiers.

According to the website Globalsecurity.org, the LRA has "committed numerous abuses and atrocities, including the abduction, rape, maiming, and killing of civilians, including children."

The LRA rebels say they are fighting for the establishment of a government based on the biblical Ten Commandments. They are notorious for kidnapping children and forcing them to become rebel fighters or concubines. More than one-half-million people in Uganda's Gulu and Kitgum districts have been displaced by the fighting and are living in temporary camps, protected by the army.

Time magazine has called the LRA "one of the world's most terrifying rebel groups."

See video documentary [ See: http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=5eZCiAGTbCk ] from Journeyman Pictures on the LRA.

Three African nations announced Monday they had launched military operations against the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the remote northeast forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo the previous day.

Uganda, Congo, and south Sudan said they had attacked an LRA camp and set it ablaze.

The LRA has waged a 20-year rebellion against the Ugandan government and is notorious for kidnapping children and conscripting them. Its leaders are now hiding out in the jungles of the neighboring Congo.

The Ugandan government and the LRA have been in on-and-off peace talks for more than two years, but LRA head Joseph Kony has three times this year failed to show up to sign a deal, frustrating efforts to bring peace.

The BBC reported that the three countries released a joint statement on the raid.

A statement announcing the operation was released in the Ugandan capital Kampala by the intelligence chiefs of all three armed forces.

The statement said the attack targeted the "terrorists" at their bases in the forested area of Garamba, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The three armed forces successfully attacked the main body and destroyed the main camp of Kony, code-named camp Swahili, setting it on fire," the statement said.

Agence France-Presse reported that the three governments have lost patience with Mr. Kony. It reported that both the LRA and the Ugandan government say they are still open to negotiations, despite the obvious breakdown of the peace process.

"We are attacking the camps. So for now the peace process is off," Ugandan army spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda told AFP.

But he added: "We still think that if there is an opportunity to re-open negotiations we will do it."

The attack, in which the forces raided and set an LRA rebels' camp on fire in the Garamba region, ended a two-year ceasefire between the Ugandan army and the rebels.

LRA spokesman David Nyekorach-Matsanga condemned Sunday's attacks but said they were still committed to peace.

Bloomberg reported that the Ugandan Air Force began bombing LRA positions Sunday. Quoting a Ugandan Army official, it said there weren't yet any details on casualties. It said the stumbling block to a peace deal was International Criminal Court charges against Kony.

Rebel leader Joseph Kony refused to sign the peace agreement, demanding that the International Criminal Court first withdraw war crimes charges against him.

The Uganda government referred Kony and his commanders to the court, which indicted them in 2005, after they had fled to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Uganda started negotiations with the rebel movement in July 2006 with the mediation of the South Sudan government in an attempt to end a war which has claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 1.5 million people.

The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan daily, reported that peace talks had already collapsed in November, when Joseph Kony "failed to turn up for the third time this year to sign a deal earlier agreed upon by both sides."

In a separate interview, Maj. Ankunda told Daily Monitor last night that the attack was prompted by the rebel leader's failure to sign the deal. "He continues to kill and abduct, so we decided to move and rescue the women and children," Maj. Ankunda said. "This operation is also intended to implement the warrant of arrests issued by the International Criminal Court against Kony and his top commanders."

The Monitor said the attack was believed to have included infantry and special forces, in addition to the airstrikes.

In a report last week, the International Crisis Group said the peace process was "failing." It warned that the LRA could be used as a pawn in the coming years by the Sudanese government in Khartoum. That Arab government has long been accused of sponsoring the LRA in its fight against the Ugandan government, as a tit-for-tat measure against Uganda's alleged past sponsorship of southern Sudanese Christian rebels who fought Khartoum.

[The LRA] is available again as a proxy if Khartoum wants to disrupt the 2009 national elections, Southern Sudan's 2011 referendum, or restart war on the Sudan People's Liberation Army's (SPLA) southern flank.

The Associated Press wrote that the LRA's insurgency has destabilized several countries in the region.

The LRA has been waging one of Africa's longest and most brutal rebellions for the past 20 years, drawing in northern Uganda, eastern Congo and southern Sudan. The rebels were notorious for raping children and using them as soldiers.

According to the website Globalsecurity.org, the LRA has "committed numerous abuses and atrocities, including the abduction, rape, maiming, and killing of civilians, including children."

The LRA rebels say they are fighting for the establishment of a government based on the biblical Ten Commandments. They are notorious for kidnapping children and forcing them to become rebel fighters or concubines. More than one-half-million people in Uganda's Gulu and Kitgum districts have been displaced by the fighting and are living in temporary camps, protected by the army.

Time magazine has called the LRA "one of the world's most terrifying rebel groups."

See video documentary from Journeyman Pictures on the LRA. [ http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=5eZCiAGTbCk ]

- - -

Monday 15 December 2008 Press Release from Fathya Waberi / MONUC

ORIENTALE PROVINCE: ALAN DOSS STANDS BY THE POPULATION OF DUNGU

Alan Doss, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the DRC, travelled for the first time to Dungu, in DRC’s Orientale Province on 12 December 2008, where MONUC has been providing support to the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) against the Lord’s Resistance Army. It was the last leg of his week long tour to Eastern DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.

Accompanied by Karl Wycoff, the Deputy-Assistant of the American Under Secretary of State for Eastern and Central Africa, Alan Doss highlighted that his visit was a “show of solidarity” with a population that suffered serious exactions from the LRA, including killings and the kidnapping of children, with disastrous humanitarian consequences.

MONUC’s chief condemned in the strongest possible terms “the brutal exactions and killing perpetrated by the LRA, an organization that has no reason to exist and must be brought to justice.” The LRA is allegedly holding over a hundred children of Dungu and its surroundings, according to MONUC/Ituri’s Child Protection Unit. Alan Doss highlighted the need for “stopping such atrocities and facilitating the return of internally displaced persons.”

The Special Representative noticed that despite the territory’s isolation, the situation was beginning to return to normal in the past week, alluding to the LRA’s attacks. Local authorities and representatives of civil society organisations warmly welcomed Mr. Doss. Reassured, the local population applauded MONUC’s new mandate and the resumption of activities by the UN and humanitarian agencies.

On 8 December last, The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) resumed the airlifting of emergency aid between Entebbe in Uganda and Dungu, intended firstly for 6,000 internally displaced persons out of the total of 35,000.

But according to humanitarian actors this number may be higher. The head of WFP Ituri announced that the first phase, consisting in facilitating a convoy of 100 tons of food and non food items would take eight days to get there, and other means are also being considered. Mr. Doss reassured the humanitarian community of MONUC’s support.

Another concern expressed by the population of Dungu was the security situation and the ongoing military operations aimed at containing the LRA in Garamba Park, whose members in the DRC are estimated at 1,200 troops, not to mention the civilians, women and children enlisted by force or retained as hostages.

In this respect, Mr. Doss reiterated MONUC’s determination to continue to provide logistic support to the FARDC, in terms of transport for troops and equipment, the supply of food and medical items, the construction of the runway at Dungu and the refurbishment of the Dungu-Kiliwa-Duru road axes.

When questioned on whether MONUC envisaged increasing its forces in the region, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the DRC said that the Mission could not do so now due to its limited resources. However, MONUC would do everything in its power “to hold the negative force called the LRA in check, and to facilitate the return of internally displaced persons to their communities.”

- - -

SNAPSHOT OF GOOGLE'S NEWSREEL MONDAY 15 DECEMBER 2008 16:45 PM GMT

Ugandan army says peace process suspended
AFP - 36 minutes ago
On Sunday, forces from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the government of South Sudan began a military operation against Kony's jungle hideout ...

Ugandan Air Force Says Raids on Rebel Bases in Congo Continue
Bloomberg - 58 minutes ago
Uganda started negotiations with the rebel movement in July 2006 with the mediation of the South Sudan government in an attempt to end a war which has ...

Uganda Rebel Spokesman Condemns Reported Attack on LRA Camp
Voice of America - 1 hour ago
Reports Sunday quoted three central African governments – Uganda, Southern Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo - as saying their armies launched a ...

Uganda/DRC
Radio France Internationale, France - 1 hour ago
Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan have launched a joint military offensive against Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels camped ...

Reuters World News Highlights at 0630 GMT, Dec 15
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Govts of Uganda, Sudan and DR Congo today launch joint offensive against Uganda LRA rebels in DRC, Uganda says

Today, the governments of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan launched a joint military offensive against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) bases in Garamba, eastern Congo, an army spokesman said.

Let's hope this news is of a genuine effort to eradicate the LRA who have been on the rampage for more than 20 years, committing unspeakable crimes and atrocities that are far worse than anything that has happened in Darfur, W. Sudan.

Further details are here below in a report just in from the BBC and in a Factbox from Reuters giving some details about leader Joseph Kony and his LRA rebels, along with a profile by the Telegraph's David Blair and a recent photo of Kony who is estimated to have abducted more than 20,000 children to fight as footsoldiers in the LRA.

Also, here below is a blog post and extract from an article on the LRA by freelance journalist Rob Crilly. The whole 2000 word article is up for sale. Rob does not mention a price but in the comments at his post at From The Frontline blog he says that he is open to offers. If anyone reading this is able to sponsor Rob's article for publication here at Congo Watch (and its sister sites Sudan Watch and Uganda Watch) please email me. I have spent over four years raising awareness of the LRA and would appreciate Rob's article being published asap in the hope of it being helpful to the poor forgotten people of Northern Uganda. No doubt Rob's article is very good. It needs to be shared as widely as possible. Here are just a few of the reasons why, in pictures:

See Sudan Watch, February 06, 2006: One of the world's most wanted men: Ugandan LRA terrorist group chief Joseph Kony flees Southern Sudan into DR Congo - UN calls NGOs into Kony hunt



Photo: Gulu victim. The LRA use torture to instil fear. Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has become synonymous with torture, abductions and killings. (BBC photo) from Sudan Watch archives.



Photo: Two young boy's get treated for severe burn wounds in the Lira hospital in northern Uganda, Feb 23, 2004, after a massacre believed to be committed by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group in the Barlonyo camp 26 kilometers north of the town that killed at least 200 people. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo) from Sudan Watch archives.



Photo: Ochola John was deformed by rebels from Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (BBC) Read the victim's heartbreaking testimony: June 30 2006 Sudan Watch and Uganda Watch - LRA victim: 'I cannot forget and forgive'

ARMIES 'ATTACK UGANDA REBELS'
From the BBC Sunday, 14 December 2008 7:36 PM GMT:

Three African armies have launched a joint offensive against Ugandan rebels based in eastern DR Congo, military officials say in Uganda.

Uganda, DR Congo and the government of South Sudan reportedly moved against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Garamba region of DR Congo.

LRA leader Joseph Kony, wanted by the International Criminal Court, has recently stalled on a peace deal.

The LRA has led a rebellion for more than 20 years in northern Uganda.

The fighting has displaced some two million people.

Uganda's government has been involved in lengthy peace negotiations with the LRA, but the rebels' leader has demanded that arrest warrants for him and his associates are dropped before any agreement can be struck.

A statement announcing the operation was released in the Ugandan capiital Kampala by the intelligence chiefs of all three armed forces.

The statement said the attack targeted the "terrorists" at their bases in the forested area of Garamba, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, AFP news agency said.

"The three armed forces successfully attacked the main body and destroyed the main camp of Kony, code-named camp Swahili, setting it on fire," the statement said.

- - -

FOR SALE: LORD'S RESISTANCE ARMY FEATURE
December 10, 2008 blog post by Rob Crilly:

Earlier this year photographer Kate Holt and I chartered a plane to fly from Dungu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the tiny village of Doruma which was recovering from repeated attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army. We found people living in fear of the next assault, as LRA raiding parties roamed the jungle looking for sex slaves, porters and fighters.

We uncovered evidence that Joseph Kony was cynically using a halt in hostilities - called to allow peace talks - in order to rearm, recruit and reorganise. With food distributed by aid agencies and satphones delivered by the Ugandan diaspora, his fighting force was more efficient that ever. And one his key aides, a recent defector, told us that Kony would never sign up to peace.

FOR eight days Raymond Kpiolebeyo was marched at gunpoint through the steaming Congolese jungle, not knowing whether he would live or die. For six nights he slept with eight other prisoners pinned under a plastic sheet weighted down with bags and stones to prevent escape. Their sweat condensed on the sheeting inches above their faces before dripping back and turning their plastic prison into a stinking, choking sauna.

He was a prisoner of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a cult-like band of brutal commanders and their brutalised child soldiers.

“They told us that if one of use tried to escape we would all be shot,” said Raymond, a 28-year-old teacher from the town of Doruma, close to the border with South Sudan.

In the end the story was commissioned but never ran. So, I am offering a 2000wd feature, an unparalleled insight into the bizarre world of Joseph Kony, for sale. Please contact me by the using the comments section below…



Photo: Two young children stand outside their hut in the moonlight in Dungu, in North Eastern DR Congo, on 19 June, 2008. (Photo by Kate Holt kateholt.com)

Note, although Rob does not mention a price, in the comments at his blog post, he says he is open to offers. I would be most grateful for any ideas or suggestions that would help the article get published. If anyone reading this is able to sponsor the article (or knows someone who can) for publication here at Congo Watch, Uganda Watch and Sudan Watch, please email me. The plight of the poor people of Northern Uganda and LRA victims must not be forgotten. Please help in any way possible. Thank you.
- - -

WHO ARE UGANDA'S LRA REBELS?
December 14, 2008 factbox from Reuters:

WHAT HAS HAPPENED:

Thousands of people have been killed and 2 million displaced during the 22 years of fighting between Kony's rebels and the Ugandan government. The conflict has destabilised parts of oil-producing south Sudan and mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last October LRA fighters carried out a series of raids near Congo's porous northern border with Sudan, looting homes and burning buildings in a pattern similar to months of violence. LRA fighters killed at least 52 people, and abducted another 159 children and 10 adults during attacks in northern Congo in September, that country's U.N. peacekeeping mission, MONUC, said.

A landmark truce was signed in August 2006 and was later renewed. But talks brokered by south Sudan collapsed last April after Kony failed to sign the pact as planned.

Mediators gave Kony until the end of November to give his final approval to the peace deal. However, he again failed to appear to sign a final peace deal and told traditional elders at the end of last month he would still not sign a final peace deal until an international arrest warrant for him is scrapped.

Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his role in a conflict that has destabilised a swathe of central Africa.

THE LRA AND A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS:

Self-proclaimed mystic Kony began one of a series of initially popular uprisings in northern Uganda after President Yoweri Museveni seized power in 1986. But his tactics of kidnapping recruits and killing civilians alienated supporters.

The LRA was infamous for abducting children for use as soldiers, porters and "wives". Although there are no universally accepted figures, the children are believed to number many thousands. Some are freed after days, others never escape.

Kony's force was once backed by Khartoum as a proxy militia, although Sudan said it cut all ties with it. Kony quit his hideouts in south Sudan in 2005 for the Democratic Republic of Congo's remote Garamba forest.

Many northerners reviled the LRA for its atrocities, but also blamed Museveni for setting up camps for at least 2 million people as part of his counter-insurgency strategy, fuelling one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

WHAT DOES KONY WANT?

Kony has said he wants to rule Uganda by the Biblical Ten Commandments, but at peace talks his group also articulated a range of northern grievances, including the theft of cattle by Museveni's troops and demands for more political power.

- - -

PROFILE: Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army

By David Blair
The Daily Telegraph
November 29, 2008

When Joseph Kony's minions began peace talks with Uganda's government in 2005, their first task was to think of some coherent aims on behalf of their psychotic leader.



Photo: Joseph Kony is estimated to have abducted more than 20,000 children to fight as footsoldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army (Reuters photo)

Kony, who is about 47 and holds the distinction of being the first man ever to be indicted by the International Criminal Court, has waged war with no purpose since 1988.

He began his campaign in Northern Uganda, posing as a messianic figure who communed with holy spirits. The nearest Kony ever came to a political goal was a pledge to rule Uganda according to the Ten Commandments.

At the beginning, he won some followers largely because President Yoweri Museveni had ignored Northern Uganda and excluded Kony's Acholi people from power.

By 1992, Kony had staked his claim to be fighting in the name of the Lord by naming his movement the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). But his rebellion amounted to a vicious cult, not a classic insurgency, and had no purpose save rebellion itself.

Consequently, no-one would volunteer to fight for Kony's non-existent cause, leaving him with little choice but to abduct children and force them to become his footsoldiers. How many innocents have suffered this fate is unknown – but the official estimate of 20,000 is almost a decade out of date. The real total may be two or three times higher.

The peace talks with Uganda's government have yielded a draft agreement, which Kony's representatives insist he will sign.

But a paper deal may not abate his murderous campaign.

Kony has been driven from Uganda, where no LRA attacks have occurred for almost three years. Instead, Congo's defenceless people are now his chosen victims.

Even if Kony makes peace with Uganda, his onslaught in Congo may continue.

Africa's children will only be safe when this mystical psychopath meets his well-deserved end.

- - -

MAP OF SUDAN SHOWING JANUARY 1, 1956 LINE OF DEMARCATION

This is an interesting map. Click here for a larger view.



Source: US Government
U.S. Policy Toward Sudan
Robert B. Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State
Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Washington, DC
September 28, 2005

[Cross posted today at Sudan Watch and Uganda Watch]

UPDATE SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER 2008

December 14, 2008 Voice of America News report - excerpt:

A joint statement, signed by the three governments' chiefs of military intelligence, say the forces destroyed the main camp of LRA leader Joseph Kony and set it on fire. There was no immediate word on Kony's fate but the statement said the operation was still in progress.

Full story: AFRICAN NEIGHBORS ATTACK UGANDAN REBELS.

SNAPSHOT - GOOGLE'S NEWSREEL SUNDAY EVENING GMT 14 DECEMBER 2008

Regional forces launch offensive against Uganda's rebel group
Xinhua, China - 28 minutes ago
KAMPALA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Military forces from Uganda, southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) launched an attack on Sunday morning on ...

UPDF attacks Kony
Daily Monitor, Uganda - 1 hour ago
The UPDF yesterday attacked the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, ending a 29-month ceasefire and signalling the complete failure of peace talks meant to end ...

UPDF planes attack Kony's Congo base
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By Henry Mukasa UGANDA, South Sudan and DR Congo yesterday morning jointly attacked Joseph Kony’s rebels hiding in Garamaba forest. ...

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By Samuel Balagadde THE political turmoil in DR Congo is frustrating cross-boarder trade between the with Uganda, a top businessman complained over the ...

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By George Kalisa THE Foreign ministers of the member states of the Tripartite Plus Joint Commission have called on the UN Security council to impose travel ...

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Troops from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan have attacked the bases of Uganda's Lord's
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Military forces from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan have begun a joint operation against Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), ...

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By Africa correspondent Andrew Geoghegan Three central African countries have launched a joint offensive against Ugandan rebels in the Democratic Republic ...

African neighbours in joint raid on Ugandan rebels
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KAMPALA (AFP) — Forces from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan launched a joint military operation Sunday against Uganda's rebel ...

Governments launch military offensive on Uganda rebels
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By Jack Kimball KAMPALA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and south Sudan launched a joint military offensive on Sunday against ...

Armies 'attack Uganda rebels'
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Three African armies have launched a joint offensive against Ugandan rebels based in eastern DR Congo, military officials say in Uganda. ...

FACTBOX-Who are Uganda's LRA rebels?
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Dec 14 (Reuters) - The governments of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan on Sunday launched a joint military offensive against the ...

African Neighbors Attack Ugandan Rebels
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By VOA News Three central African governments say their armies have launched a joint offensive against Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army. ...

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By Jack Kimball KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan launched a joint military offensive on Sunday against Ugandan ...

African Armies Conduct Joint Offensive Against Ugandan
TransWorldNews (press release), GA - 2 hours ago
Armies from Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan have reportedly engaged in a joint offensive against Ugandan rebels based in the eastern DR ...

DR Congo: CNDP Nkunda's demands include renegotiation of a $9 billion infrastructure & mining investment deal struck by the gov't with China

Rwanda and Congo, which have long accused each other of backing rebel groups in east Congo hostile to their governments, agreed on Friday [Dec. 05] to joint operations against the FDLR.

But action on the ground seems a long way off as analysts say Congo's army is in no state to carry out effective anti-guerrilla operations. Rwanda has agreed to help with planning and intelligence but not to send its own soldiers.

Kenya was to host peace talks on Monday [Dec. 08] between Democratic Republic of Congo's government and eastern rebels led by dissident Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda.

Neither Kabila nor Nkunda will take part in the Nairobi talks.

Nkunda's economic demands include better governance and renegotiation of a $9 billion infrastructure and mining investment deal struck by the government with China.

Nkunda also says he and his rebels should be integrated into the national army. [Note: recently the same request was made of the Ugandan government by LRA leader Joseph Kony. See Congo Watch's sister site Uganda Watch.]

Source: December 08, 2008 Reuters report:

Q+A - Can Nairobi talks deliver peace to east Congo?

Kenya was to host peace talks on Monday [Dec. 08] between Democratic Republic of Congo's government and eastern rebels led by dissident Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda.

The talks follow weeks of fighting in Congo's North Kivu province which has displaced more than a quarter of a million civilians and during which the rebels have extended the area under their control, routing the government army.

The negotiations were meant to be the first direct talks between the two sides. However, over the weekend, Congo's government said it was expanding the talks to include another 20 armed groups operating in North Kivu. This has angered the rebels, who want only to negotiate directly with President Joseph Kabila's government.

This latest development will add confusion to the already daunting task of trying to end a chaotic conflict that has its roots in Rwanda's 1994 genocide but has also been fuelled by years of poor governance and illegal mineral exploitation.

The following are some questions and answers about the meeting and whether it can help resolve the east Congo conflict.

WHO IS IN NAIROBI?

Neither Kabila nor Nkunda will take part in the talks. Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebel delegation is led by Jean-Michel Kambasu Ngeve, Nkunda's No. 2, and includes legal and military assistants who have been involved in previous talks.

The government team is being led by Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu, and Raymond Tshibanda, Minister for Regional Cooperation and formerly head of Kabila's cabinet.

Also present will be Apollinaire Malu Malu, who oversaw a January 2008 peace process for east Congo that included Nkunda's CNDP and more than 20 other rebel and militia groups. Nkunda has since repudiated this deal as favouring the government.

The other groups who have been invited include various pro-government militia broadly known as Mai Mai and Rwandan Hutu rebels who are based in Congo's east. Some of these Hutu rebels, now known as the FDLR, took part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus and have since been used as allies by Congo's weak government army during a decade of war.

WHY ARE ALL THE GROUPS BEING INVITED?

The rebels have rejected a return to the January peace process -- known as Amani, Swahili for "Peace" -- as they say it has failed and insist on face-to-face talks with the government.

The government's decision to invite other groups reflects the myriad of fighters on the ground in North Kivu, where confused clashes have continued despite a ceasefire declared by Nkunda in late October.

Both the government and the rebels have said that the first aim of the Nairobi talks should be formalising a broad ceasefire, which includes the government's allied factions.

But this is also likely to complicate matters as the various armed groups have confusing and often changing agendas. The move to include many groups is rejected by Nkunda's rebels, who may feel the government is trying to undermine their military dominance by diluting the focus of the talks.

WHAT DO NKUNDA'S REBELS WANT?

When he launched his rebellion four years ago, Nkunda said he was fighting to protect fellow Tutsis from attacks by the FDLR Hutu rebels. Questions of minority representation in the government and the disarmament of the FDLR remain key.

But Nkunda has broadened his agenda and has spoken of seeking "national liberation" and of "marching on Kinshasa". He is unlikely to cross 1,500 km (900 miles) of mostly bush and take the capital but he is playing on popular frustrations with Kabila's rule in the vast, mineral-rich former Belgian colony.

Consequently, his economic demands include better governance and renegotiation of a $9 billion infrastructure and mining investment deal struck by the government with China.

Nkunda also says he and his rebels should be integrated into the national army.

WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF PROGRESS AT THE TALKS?

After numerous previous peace processes, many are sceptical about the chances for success.

But diplomats say it is better for the sides to be talking rather than fighting. Numerous war crimes have been reported and over 250,000 people have fled their homes since late August in what the United Nations calls a "humanitarian catastrophe".

In persuading the government to reluctantly talk to the rebels, Olusegun Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president who is now the U.N.'s envoy for the region, has achieved an advance.

But the invitation to the other 20 armed groups could leave the Nairobi meetings bogged down in rows and procedure.

There is also the thorny question of the FDLR Hutu rebels, which have been at the heart of two Great Lakes region wars.

Rwanda and Congo, which have long accused each other of backing rebel groups in east Congo hostile to their governments, agreed on Friday to joint operations against the FDLR.

But action on the ground seems a long way off as analysts say Congo's army is in no state to carry out effective anti-guerrilla operations. Rwanda has agreed to help with planning and intelligence but not to send its own soldiers.

(Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Pascal Fletcher) (Dakar Newsroom +221 33 864 5076)

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)

EU split on UN call for Congo bridging mission - France, UK, Germany have ruled out an EU intervention force

The European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers postponed the sending of a temporary military mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The EU remained divided Monday Dec. 08 over whether to dispatch peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo despite a UN request.

France, the UK and Germany have ruled out an EU intervention force.

Belgium, former colonizer in Congo, was the only country in favour of the request, which also received support from Spain, Ireland, Czech Republic, Holland and Luxembourg, after a deeper study on the situation.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said before the discussions there was an urgent need for bridging mission of 2,500-3,000 troops.

"It will take four to six months before the additional troops for MONUC will arrive and the humanitarian situation is dramatic over there," De Gucht told reporters.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters beefing up the U.N. peacekeeping force was the priority.

"Our position has always been that there is a ... a U.N. commitment to increase the size of the MONUC force, so the first port of call is for countries to see whether they can add, either at a planning or operational level to that MONUC force," said Miliband.

Monday's gathering was largely designed to prepare the groundwork for this week's EU summit of heads of state.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said ministers would discuss Mr Ban's appeal, but added: "Let me also underline that the situation on the ground is getting slightly better, and politically also."

The Brussels meeting came as the first direct talks between representatives of the Congolese government and CNDP rebels were held in Kenya.

Sources: The following news reports:

BELGIUM ASKS FOR TROOPS FOR CONGO

December 08, 2008 report from The Scotsman:

BELGIUM will appeal to the European Union to send peacekeepers to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, its former colony.

Karel De Gucht, Belgium's foreign minister, was due at EU talks today. France, the UK and Germany have ruled out an EU intervention force.

- - -

EU SIDESTEPS URGENT APPEAL FOR CONGO FORCE

December 08, 2008 report from the Financial Times by Helen Warrell in Brussels and Harvey Morris at the United Nations:

The European Union sidestepped an appeal by the United Nations on Monday to dispatch troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the east of the country where war has displaced a quarter of a million civilians.

Although a statement by EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said a formal response to the request from Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, would be forthcoming in due course, it was clear that differences among member states made the deployment unlikely.

The statement came four days after Mr Ban wrote to the EU saying a European-led force was urgently required to ensure humanitarian aid supplies reached those who had fled fighting between government and rebel forces in Congo’s North Kivu province.

The EU deployment would fill the security gap until the UN’s own peace force, Monuc, was reinforced, a process Mr Ban said could take another four months.

Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands have expressed support for dispatching troops, but the deployment was strenuously opposed by the UK and Germany. Bernard Kouchner, French foreign minister, expressed frustration that no firm decision had been made.

As EU ministers met in Brussels, rebel and government representatives gathered in Nairobi, Kenya for their first face-to-face talks since fighting erupted in August. Government forces have almost disintegrated in the face of an offensive by Tutsi rebels led by the renegade general Laurent Nkunda, leaving Monuc as the only organised force in the region.

Neither Mr Nkunda nor Joseph Kabila, the Congolese president who has also appealed for European peacekeepers, were present for the Nairobi talks.

Mr Ban did not specify the size of the requested European contingent but UN officials were understood to have in mind a mobile force of about 1,000 to 1,500. One of its specific tasks would be to protect the airport and government installations in Goma, where the Monuc force is based, and other centres of population in the province.

The UN Security Council approved last month an extra 3,000 troops to reinforce the 17,000-strong Monuc, already the UN’s largest peacekeeping deployment.

Alain Le Roy, the UN’s head of peacekeeping, wrote in an article at the weekend: “Civilians have suffered from intense and often chaotic fighting, driven from their homes.”

- - -

EUROPE POSTPONES TROOPS TO DEMOCRATIC CONGO

December 08, 2008 report from Prensa Latina, Brussels:

The European Union Foreign Ministers postponed the sending of a temporary military mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo despite the formal request of the United Nations.

By now, the representatives of the 27 member countries of the EU did not join criteria, and just limited themselves to reassert the support of the United Nations Organization Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC, in French).

Javier Solanas, EU High Representative for International Relations and Common Security, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon sent a letter to him, in which Ki Moon asked him to think about sending troops to Democratic Congo for six months.

In that time, MONUC would increase the number of soldiers from 17,000 to 20,000.

Belgium, former colonizer in Congo, was the only country in favour of the request, which also received support from Spain, Ireland, Czech Republic, Holland and Luxembourg, after a deeper study on the situation.

Other countries such as Germany expressed their disagreement and did not take a definite position on the matter.

All the EU members will wait for the decision of the European Commission on a possible direct operation in the Congolese region of North Kivu.

The purpose of MONUC is to pacify the east of Democratic Congo, where the rebel movement led by Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda is facing governmental forces. (ef tac por)

- - -


EU SPLIT ON CONGO TROOP MISSION

December 09, 2008 report from FOCUS News Agency, Brussels:

European foreign ministers are divided over calls to send troops to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, the BBC revealed.

Belgium urged the deployment of a "bridging" force but other members of the bloc were lukewarm on the idea.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the EU on Friday to send in troops until UN reinforcements arrive.

The Brussels meeting came as the first direct talks between representatives of the Congolese government and CNDP rebels were held in Kenya.

Opening Monday's discussions in Nairobi, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said the crisis in eastern Congo was "a scar on Africa". And Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said before the talks got underway: "Please don't let Africa down. Don't let your country down. Let this be the beginning of the end."

But the BBC says expectations for the talks are low and wider negotiations involving many of the other armed groups in the region will be needed.

About 20 armed groups were asked to join the meeting, but only representatives of Gen Laurent Nkunda's CNDP faction turned up and the two delegations met behind closed doors.

Until now the government in Kinshasa has treated the CNDP - which stands for National Congress for the Defence of the People - as just another armed rebel group.

Neither DR Congo President Joseph Kabila nor Gen Nkunda is present at the meeting. But the fact it is taking place at all is a tacit acknowledgement of the CNDP's military dominance in the region, says our correspondent.

The fighting in eastern Congo has displaced some 250,000 people since August, and the rebels have the North Kivu province capital of Goma surrounded.

At Monday's meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers took no decision and asked the European Commission to prepare a response to the UN secretary general.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said ministers would discuss Mr Ban's appeal, but added: "Let me also underline that the situation on the ground is getting slightly better, and politically also."

But non-governmental organisations poured scorn on any suggestion things in eastern DR Congo were improving, saying rape, murder and pillage was still rife in the region.

- - -

EU MULLS TROOP PRESENCE IN DR CONGO

December 08, 2008 report by DPA news agency (dfm):

Despites appeals from the United Nations for peacekeeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the European Union is hesitant to commit. Germany, in particular, prefers a diplomatic solution.

EU foreign ministers were meeting in Brussels on Monday, Dec. 8, to discuss the UN request to send peacekeeping troops to DR Congo.

France, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, had ruled out the deployment of European forces.

But pressure on ministers to act has increased following an appeal from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who said Europe should help reinforce UN peacekeepers in the former Belgian colony until more UN troops can be deployed.

"It is urgent that we take a decision on such a bridging force (to DR Congo), which to my mind is absolutely necessary," said Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht.

De Gucht had said earlier December that an EU peacekeeping force for DR Congo would be unlikely as no one country was prepared to lead such a mission.

EU troops ready

Some 250,000 civilians have been displaced in the east of the DR Congo since the summer as a result of renewed clashes between government forces and Tutsi rebels led by renegade general Laurent Nkunda.

De Gucht said an EU mission would need up to 3,000 heavily-armed soldiers, which would fill in immediate shortages.

Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said the EU should consider deploying its battle groups.

The EU has two such corps, each consisting of about 1,500 soldiers, on standby. These troops are deployable at short notice anywhere in the world but have remained unused to date.

"If we don't send them to Congo, where do we send them?" Stubb asked.

Germany urges diplomacy

However, EU heavyweight Germany is among those pushing for a diplomatic solution to the DR Congo crisis.

Ministers were greeted by a few dozen protesters who were calling for action on the DR Congo question, but diplomats said they did not expect any major decision to be taken on the issue at the meeting.

Monday's gathering was largely designed to prepare the groundwork for this week's EU summit of heads of state.

The situation in Zimbabwe and relations with Pakistan were also to be discussed.

Ministers were also expected to take a look at the EU's EULEX mission in Kosovo and its naval mission off the coast of Somalia. Both missions formally begin this week.

- - -

EU SPLIT ON UN CALL FOR CONGO BRIDGING MISSION

December 08, 2008 report from Reuters by Ingrid Melander and David Brunnstrom, Brussels:

European Union ministers were split on Monday over the U.N.'s call for an EU force to boost peacekeepers in Congo, with Belgium urging the bloc send a bridging mission and Britain wanting it to bolster U.N. troops.

Last Friday, United Nation's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeated a call for a EU "bridging force", saying it may take up to six months for the U.N. to deploy 3,000 more peacekeepers to Congo to boost its 17,000-strong force, known as MONUC.

The foreign ministers took no decision at a meeting in Brussels on Monday and tasked EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the European Commission to prepare a response to Ban's letter, an EU official said.

The idea of an EU mission has been in the air for a few weeks but the bloc has so far been reluctant to commit troops, and prospects appeared to dim after Belgium said last week there was little appetite for such a mission.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said before the discussions there was an urgent need for bridging mission of 2,500-3,000 troops.

"It will take four to six months before the additional troops for MONUC will arrive and the humanitarian situation is dramatic over there," De Gucht told reporters.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters beefing up the U.N. peacekeeping force was the priority.

"Our position has always been that there is a ... a U.N. commitment to increase the size of the MONUC force, so the first port of call is for countries to see whether they can add, either at a planning or operational level to that MONUC force," said Miliband.

Some 250,000 people have been displaced by the violence in Congo, in which forces of renegade Congolese Tutsi Gen. Laurent Nkunda has been battling pro-government militias.

Two EU "battle groups" are on standby for missions at any given time. One of those on standby until the year-end is British, while the other is led by Germany with contributions from France, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg.

"EUROPE SHOULD BE EFFECTVE"

From January 1, Italy will head one standby battle group with forces from Spain, Portugal and Greece, and Greece the other, with troops from Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said it was premature to say if his country would be ready to send troops in a battle group but added that some countries would call for such a deployment and he was willing to discuss it.

"One point is very clear, Europe should be effective. We cannot stay as inactive as we are now," he told reporters.

The EU's Solana said ministers would discuss Ban's call, but added: "Let me also underline that the situation on the ground is getting slightly better, and politically also."

The U.N. says fighting in Congo has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe and aid groups have criticised the EU's failure to respond with troops.

"We have had a month of every possible excuse as to why Europe will not send forces to bolster U.N. peacekeepers," said Elise Ford, Head of Office at Oxfam International in Brussels.

"Without an adequate professional force supporting U.N. peacekeepers to provide a measure of security for the population, the killing, raping and looting will continue unabated. We cannot stand by and watch."

Congo's 1998-2003 war sucked in six neighbouring armies and caused more than 5 million deaths. EU soldiers intervened in the country in 2003 to halt militia violence that grew out of the broader war and to protect 2006 elections that returned President Joseph Kabila to office.

- - -

Is UPDF about to attack Kony’s Congo camps?

IS UPDF ABOUT TO ATTACK KONY'S CONGO CAMPS?
December 07, 2008 article from the Monitor by Tabu Butagira and Risdel Kasasira in Kampala, Uganda:

Last week’s refusal by Lords Resistance Army rebel leader, Joseph Kony to sign a peace deal with Uganda government could give him safer days in the bush, but the trick could soon backfire to trouble, if not a pre-emptive strike against the insurgents amid pronounced shifts in regional geo-politics.

Analysts say Uganda has a number of options to deal with the rebels hiding in Garamba, the DR Congo. One such proposal, that Kampala appears to be considering seriously, is to confront Kony and his fighters militarily or rally regional neighbours for a joint offensive.

Dr Simba Kayunga, a political science lecturer at Makerere University, suggests though that since a scattered LRA, very distant from Uganda’s borders poses no direct threat to the country; they could as well be ignored.

“Instead of chasing for the signature of Kony, I think the best thing for government to do is address the fundamental political grievances that produced the rebellion,” said Dr Kayunga.

Pundits fear that Kony could use the present cessation of hostilities to recruit and re-arm, and return with a more lethal force to terrorise northern Uganda.

Dr Kayunga said war-affected areas should be rebuilt and national jobs/resources allocated in a way that makes disaffected societies feel accepted as part of the incumbent government and Uganda.

It is understood this approach will eliminate pockets of internal discontent and deny any overt or covert indigenous support to the LRA, who have fought President Museveni’s government for the last 20 years.

But radicals within government want quick war. Anti-Personnel Carriers (APCs) and other armoured vehicles that have been idle at the UPDF 4 Division headquarters were early this week serviced and driven around Gulu town, causing tension among civilians.

A group of soldiers in Koboko are reported to be undergoing ‘refresher drills’ near Oraba border post. Col. Sam Kavuma, the commanding officer of the Pader-based UPDF 5 Division has met a joint team of senior security officers, and a press statement issued after the sitting said Uganda was set to tackle the LRA. The officers, sources say, were drawn from the core of the command that will lead what is increasingly looking like the next violent phase in the two-decade conflict.

This paper has heard that the military has intensified security reconnaissance along the porous frontier with Sudan and DRC after Kony, for the fourth time this year, refused to put his signature to the Juba agreement. The army, however, says these are but just routine exercises.

The United States has joined the fray, expressing “disappointment” over the failure by Kony to sign the Final Peace Agreement as scheduled on November 29, suggesting that pursuing negotiations with the LRA is now a futile exercise.

Mr Steven Browning, the US Ambassador to Uganda, said: “This latest failure to sign, combined with recent atrocities committed by the LRA in eastern Congo, indicate that the LRA leadership is not committed to peace. This in turn calls into question the value of continuing the efforts of regional and international facilitators to advance the Juba peace process.”

The Friday statement, sent in reply to inquiries by Sunday Monitor, called on the rebels to immediately halt brutal attacks on civilian targets in the DRC and Western Equatoria State of Sudan, that have suffered the brunt of bloody LRA attacks in the past several months.

“The US continues to encourage the governments of Uganda, the DRC, and southern Sudan to consult together on resolving the LRA issue,” said Mr Browning.

Incidentally, the Tri-partite Plus regional grouping, comprising Rwanda, Uganda, the DRC and Burundi starts meeting tomorrow in Kigali to devise a common strategy to handle the LRA, a group that is believed to have the capacity to destabilise the entire region.

These countries, that ironically are political foes of sorts, will be carrying their differences to the negotiating table. This may impinge on consensus.

It is, however, telling that in writing off continued peace talks, Ambassador Browning appears to revive the push for a military option that Ms Jendayi Frazer, the top American diplomat for Africa, advanced earlier this year.

Uganda is sending State Defence Minister, Ruth Nankabirwa to lobby unconditional support of the neighbouring countries for military action. This would help the country, build an agreeable case for stern action against LRA based on regional consensus, when Mr Joacqim Chissano, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy for LRA war-affected areas, briefs the Security Council later this month.

Ms Nankabirwa said Uganda cannot yet attack Kony in Garamba without authorisation by regional neighbours, particularly President Joseph Kabila’s regime and the Khartoum government.

“We cannot do this (attack) alone, it must be done with the consent of other members because the LRA rebels are hiding in Congo,” she said, adding, “President Museveni is in touch with the Presidents of Rwanda, DRC, Burundi and Southern Sudan to come up with a common position on Kony.”

But the UK, one of Uganda’s key development partners, appears reluctant to support a military campaign against the rebels, which is not endorsed by the United Nations.

The British High Commission in Kampala said, “The UK is a strong supporter of the Juba process.

We regret that, despite commitments, the LRA have not signed the Final Peace Agreement. Reports of the rebels attacking in the region are deeply worrying and must stop. There will be further discussions at the UN after [former] President Chissano presents his report.”

The statement sent to Sunday Monitor urged the Uganda government to fully implement the delayed Shs1 trillion Peace, Recovery and Development Plan, expected to revive the economy and spark development besides restoring State authority in war-affected northern and far eastern regions.

This may explain why the Nairobi-branch of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says Kony may continue to hibernate in Congo forests as long as his forces do not disturb Congolese or Sudanese citizens.

“If the LRA provoke hostility by causing havoc in the surrounding communities, the regional governments will collectively or unilaterally pay him in the same currency,” said Mr Xavier Ejoyi, a researcher with the think-tank.

The four truckloads of food, delivered to the rebels at the weekend when Kony promised to sign the pact, could settle the fighters, for now. But once the rations run out, they will likely resume raids, attracting immediate counter-attacks?

For now, indications from almost all quarters are that the UPDF are just about to commence a pre-emptive engagement against the LRA. The question is: will it succeed?

Cross posted to Uganda Watch,

UNHCR-run camps in the Rutshuru area -- Nyongera, Kasasa and Dumez -- were forcefully emptied and destroyed several weeks ago

GENEVA, December 05 2008 Reuters report:

UNHCR SAYS 90,000 CONGOLESE UNACCOUNTED FOR

More than 90,000 people who fled their homes in eastern Congo because of violence are unaccounted for, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.

Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said aid workers visiting parts of North Kivu province that had been inaccessible during recent fighting had found three makeshift displacement sites empty.

Three other UNHCR-run camps in the Rutshuru area -- Nyongera, Kasasa and Dumez -- were forcefully emptied and destroyed several weeks ago, Redmond said.

"With the latest findings, the total number of IDPs who cannot be accounted for in the area has surpassed 90,000," he said, using the acronym for "internally-displaced persons", the official term for people who have fled their homes but have not crossed an international border.

The fate of those who abandoned or were forced out of the camps is unclear, but Redmond said many were thought to have returned to their villages or be staying with host families in the area.

The UNHCR and its aid partners are distributing emergency supplies in the region, hit by fighting between government troops and forces loyal to Congolese Tutsi leader General Laurent Nkunda. (Reporting by Laura MacInnis; editing by Andrew Roche)

- - -

See this site's sister blog Uganda Watch: November 27, 2008 - 27,000 Congolese civilians have fled into Uganda since August to escape violence in Rutshuru, DR Congo

DR Congo govt peace talks with Tutsi rebels Monday

GOMA, DR Congo, Dec 05 2008 Reuters report:

CONGO GOV'T TO TALK PEACE WITH TUTSI REBELS

Congo's government will meet eastern Tutsi rebels for talks in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday to formalise a ceasefire and discuss a peace process, Foreign Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba said on Friday.

He made the announcement following talks with his Rwandan counterpart in Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

(Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)

UNICEF: 3 million people in east DR Congo affected by conflict - more than 100,000 children are “on the run” in N. Kivu and S. Kivu provinces

The latest UN appeal for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is up from $600 million last year to $830 million. 3 million people in east DRC are affected by conflict and more than 100,000 children are “on the run” in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

Source: November 19, 2008 report from UN.org - excerpt:

UN seeks $7 billion in humanitarian aid for 2009, by far its largest ever appeal

The biggest requirement is for Sudan at just over $2 billion, with the appeal for the DRC up from $600 million last year to $830 million.

“In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), around 250,000 people are believed to have been displaced in the last two months and the situation is becoming increasingly desperate,” UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Deputy Executive Director Frafjord Johnson said, referring to the surge in fighting between Government and rebel forces in the east of the vast country.

She said more than 100,000 children were “on the run” in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, either with their families or separated from them. Some 3 million people in the east were affected in one way or another, either fleeing fighting or hosting the displaced. There was no doubt that there had been a spike in recruitment of children by armed groups and sexual violence had increased, with clear evidence of children and women being raped.

Envoys complete second round of talks in region to end crisis in DR Congo

From UN HQ, New York, highlights of the noon briefing by Michele Montas, Spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Tuesday, December 02, 2008:

ENVOYS COMPLETE SECOND ROUND OF TALKS IN REGION TO END CRISIS IN D.R. CONGO

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo Olusegun Obasanjo and Co-Facilitator former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa have completed their second round of consultations in the region beginning late last week.
 
On Thursday, the Mr. Obasanjo met with President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo
.
On Friday, the Co-Facilitators consulted with President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as with the Foreign Minister of that country.
 
On Saturday they met with the Head of the National Congress in Defense of the People (CNDP), Laurent Nkunda.
 
The Special Envoy intends to remain closely engaged with the principals and other actors in the region.
 
He looks forward to the holding of a second regional summit of Heads of State, tentatively scheduled for mid-December 2008.

DR Congo: British surgeons save boy's life by text

A British doctor volunteering in DR Congo with MSF used text message instructions from a colleague to perform a life-saving amputation on a boy.

Vascular surgeon David Nott helped the 16-year-old while working 24-hour shifts with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Rutshuru.

The boy's left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous.

Mr Nott, 52, had never performed the operation but followed instructions from a colleague who had.

The surgeon, who is based at Charing Cross Hospital in west London, said: "He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him."

The boy had been bitten by a hippo, the Daily Mail reports.

Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, which requires the surgeon to remove the collar bone and shoulder blade.

He contacted a colleague who had performed the operation before.

"I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said.

The surgeon had just one pint of blood and an elementary operating theatre, but the operation, performed in October, was a success and the teenager made a full recovery.



Photo: David Nott (C) volunteers for a month a year with the medical charity MSF

Source: BBC 03 Dec 08: SURGEON SAVES BOY'S LIFE BY TEXT

Rwandan singer Simon Bikindine sentenced to 15 years in prison by ICTR

Good news. After being arrested seven years ago in the Netherlands, the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has sentenced Rwandan singer Simon Bikindine to 15 years in prison.

"Simon Bikindi used a public address system to state that the majority population, the Hutu, should rise up to exterminate the minority, the Tutsi," the judgement read.

"On his way back, Bikindi used the same system to ask if people had been killing Tutsi, who he referred to as snakes."

Source: December 02, 2008 report from the BBC - copy:

SINGER URGED RWANDANS TO GENOCIDE



Photo: Simon Bikindi founded a ballet company in Rwanda (AP/BBC)

One of Rwanda's most famous singers, Simon Bikindi, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for inciting violence during the 1994 genocide.

His conviction stems from a speech he made from a vehicle equipped with a public address system encouraging ethnic Hutus to kill Tutsis.

Prosecutors at the UN-backed tribunal based in Tanzania had called for the singer to be given a life sentence.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days.

In its judgement, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said that several of Bikindi's songs, which were widely broadcast in Rwanda at the time, had incited hatred against Tutsis.

However, the judges said the songs were written before the genocide and there was no evidence to suggest Bikindi had performed or played them in 1994.

'Snakes'

Bikindi was convicted for a speech he made in June 1994 on the main road between Kivumu and Kayove, in north-western Rwanda.

"Simon Bikindi used a public address system to state that the majority population, the Hutu, should rise up to exterminate the minority, the Tutsi," the judgement read.

"On his way back, Bikindi used the same system to ask if people had been killing Tutsi, who he referred to as snakes."

The BBC's Jamhuri Mwavyombo at the ICTR says his lawyers are considering whether to appeal against the sentence.

Bikindi was also a sports ministry official and founded Rwanda's Irindiro Ballet.

He was arrested seven years ago in the Netherlands.

The most high-profile genocide cases are being tried by ICTR in Arusha.

Since 1997, the ICTR has convicted 29 people and acquitted five.

DRC: 250,000 Congolese forced to flee and scores of women raped are nothing more than pawns in Nkunda’s game and used as negotiating chips

From London-born Irishman Rob Crilly via From The Frontline, Dec. 01, 2008:

NKUNDA'S AT IT AGAIN

It’s 10 days or so since I left Goma and I see that it remains business as usual. A bunch of thugs are still trying to hold an equally thuggish government to ransom and the media continues to give General Laurent Nkunda far more credit than he’s due…

General Nkunda and UN special envoy, Olusegun Obasanjo

Rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda has threatened war unless the government of DR Congo holds a new round of talks.

He was speaking after a meeting with UN envoy Olusegun Obasanjo in the rebel-held eastern town of Jomba.

The 250,000 people forced out of their homes by clashes over the past months, and the scores of women raped, are nothing more than pawns in Nkunda’s game. They are being used as negotiating chips and news reports like this only encourage him.

- - -

Note, Rob's unfair dig at the BBC for reporting Nkunda's warning of war.

Given Rob's statement that "the media continues to give General Laurent Nkunda far more credit than he’s due…" I wonder why Rob labels Nkunda as a thug but respectfully refers to him as a General.

My understanding is that Nkunda is a civilian and a self-appointed General. A thug and terrorist group leader. A General, no.

Surely, respectfully referring to Nkunda as a General gives him far more credit than he's due?

NKUNDA'S MEDIA WAR



Photo: Laurent Nkunda and Olesegun Obasanjo inspect rebel troops (Source: Rob Crilly's report Nkunda's Media War Nov. 17, 2008.

FDLR's goal is to return to Rwanda and topple President Kagame - Murwanashyaka's Hutu FDLR and Nkunda's Tutsi CNDP will remain enemies forever

The gunmen who executed the Rwandan genocide and now fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo will "always" kill Tutsis because the two sides "cannot mix", according to Major Vincent Habamungu, who commands the Hutus FDLR "Tiger" unit. Read more:

From The Daily Telegraph
By David Blair in Goma, 30 November 2008

CONGO: HUTUS AND TUTSIS 'WILL ALWAYS KILL EACH OTHER'

At the root of Congo's turmoil is the presence of the militias who exterminated at least 800,000 people, largely the minority Tutsis, in neighbouring Rwanda 14 years ago.

Once, they called themselves the "Interahamwe", or "those who kill together". Now, they seek respectability under a new name – the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by their French acronym FDLR – and their fighters are deployed in Eastern Congo's lawless provinces of North and South Kivu.

They are bitter enemies of General Laurent Nkunda, the renegade Congolese Tutsi who has thrown a noose around Goma, North Kivu's capital.

While global attention has focused on Gen Nkunda, the FDLR's presence is the central cause of the bloodshed.

Major Vincent Habamungu, who commands the FDLR's "Tiger" unit, told The Daily Telegraph that nothing could stop their campaign. "We are fighting every day because we are Hutu and they are Tutsis. We cannot mix, we are always in conflict," he said. "We will stay enemies forever."

The FDLR's official goal is to return to Rwanda and topple President Paul Kagame. Although the movement tries to disown the genocide, many believe the FDLR also wants to complete the extirpation of the Tutsis.

Gen Nkunda portrays himself as the protector of the Tutsis, who also live in eastern Congo. Hence the FLDR's presence provides the justification for his rebellion.

Today, Congo is trapped in what one United Nations official calls a "vicious circle" of conflict. As long as the FLDR fights on, Gen Nkunda's campaign will continue. But the FDLR says it will only disarm if Gen Nkunda does the same.

Major Habamungu, who spoke from the Ishasha area of North Kivu, said the FDLR would fight all the way back to Rwanda. "We came from Rwanda and we always want to go back to our homeland. We are soldiers and we want to go back as soldiers," he said.

Major Habamungu, 38, joined the army of Rwanda's previous regime 15 years ago. He denies any part in the genocide of 1994.

"I cannot be accused because personally I did nothing in the genocide. I was only a soldier and a soldier protects people," he said.

As for the FDLR's responsibility, Major Habamungu said: "Everybody killed, Tutsis and Hutus. They accuse us of carrying out the genocide, but everybody killed."

This revisionism infuriates Rwanda's government. Mr Kagame also believes that European countries have shown inexcusable lenience towards the FDLR, despite its genocidal history.

The movement's overall leader, Ignace Murwanashyaka, has found refuge in Germany, where he lives in Mannheim. Also living in Germany is the FDLR's secretary-general, Callixte Mbarashimana.

The German authorities have arrested both men from time to time – but they have always been released.

America has criticised Germany's attitude, expressing "disappointment" that both men are "able to operate with impunity although they continue to support FDLR efforts to evade justice, propagate violence, abuse civilians, and illegally exploit Congo's mineral wealth".

Under UN Resolution 1804, President Joseph Kabila of Congo is obliged to disarm and repatriate the FDLR. Instead, he views them as tacit allies against Gen Nkunda's forces.

Meanwhile, the UN is making its own efforts to encourage FDLR fighters to surrender, but these move at a snail's pace.

For his part, Major Habamungu candidly summarised his movement's ideology. "We will never live in peace with them [Tutsis]. We have to fight them all the time," he said.




Photo: FDLR soldiers at a base in Lushebere in the Massasi district, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Congolese terrorist group leader Nkunda threatens 'war' after taking border town of Ishasha, nr Goma, DR Congo

This is a vent. Why do reporters refer to Laurent Nkunda as "General"? Going by what I have gathered here at Congo Watch, he is a civilian criminal with a gang of terrifying gunmen and rapists.

In my view, Nkunda and his ilk are terrorists: terrorising, raping, maiming and murdering civilians, especially women and children, at random. They all belong in jail. I liken Nkunda to a deluded cult leader, like the drug addled Ugandan psycho LRA leader Jospeh Kony. Any evil psychopath with delusions of grandeur can get hold of a gun and call himself a General.

Look at the AFP photo here below, of Nkunda dressed all in white. Who does he think he is, the Pope or what? Why aren't the law enforcers sorting out these cretinous lowlifes?

How is Nkunda affording his luxurious array of expensive clothes and munitions? Why is he free to behave like an actor on the world's stage, lording it over the media like a pop star? Why aren't professional reporters telling us what is going on? So far, The Daily Telegraph's Africa correspondent David Blair is the only journalist giving us a clue as to what is really behind Nkunda.

If Nkunda and his ilk are not arrested soon for questioning, and put on trial to air and document their crimes, one might start suspecting that their backers are using power to influence the UN Security Council and, in the case of DR Congo, MONUC.

How else are Nkunda et al remaining free to do press interviews while roaming around with guns, instigating anarchy, rape, looting, pillaging, mass murders and environmental destruction, costing the world a fortune. What about the unimaginable misery and suffering of millions of poor defenceless locals and children. I wonder, who has such a power? I smell some rats.

Here is an excerpt from yesterday's BBC report, copied here below:

"If there is no negotiation, let us say then there is war," Gen Nkunda told reporters. "I know that (the government) has no capacity to fight, so they have only one choice - negotiations," he said.

"We asked for a response as to where, when, and with whom we are going to do these talks. For us, we propose Nairobi and for the mediator we proposed chief Obasanjo," Mr Nkunda said.

What a nerve! I say, the where, when, and with whom they are going to do these talks should be at:

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT IN THE HAGUE, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, WITH PROSECUTOR MORENO-OCAMPO.

And, while you're at it, take along other terrorist group leaders SLA's Nur, JEM's Ibrahim and LRA's Kony and get them to sing.



Photo: Nkunda (in white) proposes Mr Obasanjo as the mediator of talks (AFP)

Vent continued. After 4.5 years of blogging hotspots in Africa, I am getting angry at continued reporting of neverending billions of taxpayers dollars being poured into Africa that ends up maintaining the careers of so-called "rebels".

African thugs without gainful employment are getting as media savvy as the Somali pirates. They pretend to be freedom fighters. All of them are only in it for themselves and the money. Their macho adventures attract so much media attention and publicity that they are being turned into celebrity heroes while they pose for photos with gun in hand, acting as role models for youngsters who may grow up believing that being a criminal is easier than doing an honest day's work to put bread on the table.

What has any of this to do with me one might ask. Ever since I was a child, I have given generously to a countless number of charities for Africa, especially Oxfam. Recently, I stopped donating because I no longer believe that the hard saved money I give is of any help. I am angry that a handful of thugs are using tax payer's money, garnered from the pockets of millions of decent hard working people, as a cash cow to milk and laugh at all the way to the bank while milliions of locals and children continue to be either raped, maimed, starved, murdered en masse or traumatised for the rest of their lives.

Genocide has become a rebels game. There's a method to their madness. I've tracked news on Sudan, South Sudan, Northern Uganda, DR Congo, Ethiopia and Niger for over 4 years, almost 24/7, and sense a pattern. The same thread of terror and land grabbing is running throughout those countries and, in my opinion, it all boils down to oil.

I say, arrest and question all rebel leaders, air and document their grievances and victims. Compared to the six billion other people on this planet, money grabbing power hungry lowlife terrorists are nothing but a handful of mosquitoes. Squash, get rid of them. They are infecting and killing the world. They are worse and more costly than AIDS and crazier than Al-Qaida.

CONGO REBEL CHIEF THREATENS 'WAR'

Saturday, 29 November 2008 report from the BBC:

Rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda has threatened war unless the government of DR Congo holds a new round of talks.

He was speaking after a meeting with UN envoy Olusegun Obasanjo in the rebel-held eastern town of Jomba.

Troops loyal to Gen Nkunda have been battling government forces in North Kivu province since August, forcing 250,000 people to flee their homes.

Two weeks ago Mr Obasanjo negotiated a ceasefire, but renewed fighting has since broken out.

"If there is no negotiation, let us say then there is war," Gen Nkunda told reporters.

"I know that (the government) has no capacity to fight, so they have only one choice - negotiations," he said.

"We asked for a response as to where, when, and with whom we are going to do these talks. For us, we propose Nairobi and for the mediator we proposed chief Obasanjo," Mr Nkunda said.

Government ministers this week rebuffed the possibility of direct negotiations with the rebel leader, calling for him to return to an earlier peace pact signed in January.

Emerging from his one-hour meeting, Mr Obasanjo avoided questions but said: "We have advanced the course of peace."

Mr Obasanjo - Nigeria's former president - is on his second visit to the region in two weeks.

He has been trying to broker direct talks between Gen Nkunda and Congolese President Joseph Kabila, but so far these have not taken place.

The UN envoy is travelling with former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who is representing the African Union.

"I'm going to listen to him," Mr Mkapa said ahead of the meeting with Gen Nkunda.

"I want to know how he thinks we can get the restoration of peace, stability and unity in this country."
Truce violated

A ceasefire declared by Gen Nkunda has halted battles with government troops and brought nearly two weeks of relative calm.

But his men have continued attacking Congolese and Rwandan militia allies of the government, sending thousands of refugees fleeing east into Uganda.

Gen Nkunda says the ceasefire does not apply to operations against foreign militia.

On Thursday, the rebels took the border town of Ishasha, about 120km (75 miles) north of regional capital Goma.

His Tutsi-dominated forces say they are attacking Rwandan Hutu fighters, some of whom are accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

On Friday, the UN began an operation to relocate people from camps near the front line.

Some 65,000 people displaced by fighting have been living only a few hundred metres from fighting positions in Kibati, near Goma.

The UN is trying to transfer people to safer locations west of Goma.

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 - 6,000 in North Kivu, including about 1,000 in Goma (17,000 nationwide)
DRC army - 90,000 (nationwide)
Source: UN, military experts (BBC)

(Cross posted today at Sudan Watch and Uganda Watch)