Truce for DRC
2003-05-16 14:40
Dar Es Salaam - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila and five armed ethnic factions vying for the control of the country's northeastern Ituri region signed a truce agremeent in Tanzania on Friday, an AFP journalist reported.
The agreement, due to come into effect at 23:00 on Friday, provides for the cessation of hostilities, the cantonment of fighters, the demilitarisation of Bunia, Ituri's battle-ravaged capital, and the deployment of foreign troops in the region.
It also warns foreign governments against arming groups involved in the conflict.
Other signatories included Thomas Lubanga, the leader of the the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), an ethnic Hema-led group now in control of Bunia, and Justin Gopa Lobo the commander of the Front of Nationalists and Integrationists (FNI), a Lendu faction that has battled to recapture Bunia.
- AFX