UN hands out food in DRC
2008-11-14 22:03
Kiwanja - The United Nations began distributing food Friday deep in rebel-held territory in eastern Congo, the first large-scale delivery in the area since fighting broke out in late October.
More than 100 tons of food were going to 60 000 civilians in the area north of the provincial capital of Goma over the next four days, UN World Food spokesperson Marcus Prior said.
Fighting between the army and fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda has displaced at least 250 000 people despite the presence of the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, with about 17 000 troops.
Prior said that fear of violence has kept many from harvesting their fields.
"They may have missed two, three or even four planting seasons by now," he said. "Anything can grow here, but that's only if you're actually able to plant it in the first place."
There are fears the country could slide back into a ruinous war such as the one in 1998-2002 that drew in more than half a dozen African nations and tore Congo into rival fiefdoms.
Rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda seized vast swaths of territory rich in coffee, gold and tin in the east. Angola and Zimbabwe sent tanks and fighter planes to back Congo's government in exchange for access to lucrative diamond and copper mines to the south and west.
Eastern Congo has been unstable since millions of refugees spilled across the border from Rwanda's 1994 genocide, which saw more than 500 000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus slaughtered.
Many of the Hutu extremists who orchestrated the mass killings have remained in Congo, prompting Tutsi-led Rwanda to invade the mineral-rich nation twice.
Nkunda, who quit Congo's army in 2004, claims he is fighting to protect Tutsis, who like Hutus are a minority and one of an estimated 200 ethnic groups in Congo.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he will support a UN plan to send 3 000 more troops to Congo, but he said the force must have better leadership and equipment.
- AP