Scramble to save DRC peace

2004-06-07 18:52

Kinshasa - Crisis talks were being held in Democratic Republic of Congo, Europe and at the United Nations on Monday to try to prevent more bloodshed in the central African country after at least 100 people died in 10 days of unrest.

Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel, who arrived here on Sunday on an "emergency mission", held talks with President Laurent Kabila and other high-ranking members of the transition government, to try to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis in DRC.

It was sparked last week when rebellious soldiers overran Bukavu, a key town in the east.

Michel said on Monday the European Union was considering sending peacekeepers to Bukavu, where scores have died since the town fell.

If an EU mission were to be mounted for Bukavu, it would "work alongside Monuc," the UN mission in DRC, said Michel.

UN inertia sparks protests

He also said he was in favour of "reinforcing the UN mission in DRC and the means at its disposal".

Monuc has about 11 000 soldiers in DRC.

Troops led by dissident general Laurent Nkunda drawn from a former rebel group, now incorporated into DRC's transition government, captured Bukavu last week, despite the presence there of UN peacekeepers.

At least 88 people are believed to have died in 10 days of fighting in and around the town.

The UN peacekeepers' inertia as the renegade troops seized Bukavu triggered protests against Monuc in Kinshasa and other cities, in which at least 12 people were reported to have died.

Nkunda began pulling his troops out of Bukavu on Sunday, but tension was still high in the volatile east, with Kabila openly accusing neighbouring Rwanda of backing the dissident soldiers.

DRC armed forces head of staff Admiral Liwanga Mata-Myanumyobo reiterated this on Monday, and said his soldiers will "fight and kick out... Rwandans who are on our territory".

Regular DRC troops were advancing towards Bukavu on Monday, and the dissident soldiers were "everywhere in town, taking up defensive positions," said a Monuc official in Bukavu.

French had contacts with partners

In a phone conversation on Friday with Barnier, Kabila asked the world for help in containing the unrest in eastern DRC, which many feared would cause the country's fragile peace to shatter, diplomats said.

The UN security council was holding talks on the situation in Bukavu, diplomats said on Monday, and the French government said it had "in the past few days, had numerous contacts with partners" about the unrest in eastern DRC.

French foreign ministry spokesperson Marie Masdupuy said: "The international community is mobilised, notably through the UN security council... We are seeking the most-effective means to resolve this crisis, in particular through diplomacy and with special concern that the transition process is respected."

- AFP