Wacheni porojo...... Pres. Obama nawafwasi wake hawawezi ogopa Kagame.......Anafwata sheria........ ni ni wazi lazima achunguze mambo yalivyo..... Wa-Congo wana haki kupiganiya na kulinda mali yao, na sio bora kutodhulumiwa na Wa-Nyarwanda akina Kagame na Museveni. Panapo evidence, siku yao ya ICC Hague ianze kuhesabiwa....... Judy Miriga Diaspora Spokesperson Executive Director Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc., USA http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com Independent online (SA)2012-12-04: Goma, Congo - Congolese soldiers took back control of this strategic city of 1 million on Monday, though the rebels who occupied it for two weeks continued to stake out positions just 3km away, threatening to seize it anew if Congo fails to meet their demands. Crowds cheered the soldiers as they arrived in Goma's main barracks in trucks, and women rushed forward to kiss the troops. Their return comes 13 days after the city fell to the rebels, who are widely believed to be backed by Rwanda. In a worrying sign, however, the M23 rebels remained in tactical positions in the hills Congo army returns to Goma as M23 demand negotiations From: BBC Published On: December 4, 2012, 10:13 GMT
Congolese troops returned to the key city of Goma on Monday after M23 rebels withdrew during the weekend under a regionally brokered deal. But the rebels have warned they will retake the city if the government fails to meet their demands within 48 hours. The rebels left Goma 11 days after seizing it from Congolese troops backed by UN peacekeepers. In a separate development, a leaked UN report alleges Rwanda helped M23 capture Goma. The M23 rebels mutinied and deserted from the army in April, with more than 500,000 people fleeing their homes in ensuing unrest in the mineral-rich region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 'Absurd' report On Monday, hundreds of Congolese army troops arrived back at Goma's main barracks after rebel forces pulled out of the North Kivu provincial capital on Saturday. The city's airport is also due to reopen on Thursday to allow "humanitarian workers to get aid to displaced people", authorities told the AFP news agency. The rebels agreed to pull back to a 20km buffer zone around Goma in exchange for a series of demands, including the release of political prisoners. But their retreat could be short-lived if President Joseph Kabila failed to enter negotiations by Monday afternoon, rebel spokesman Col Vianney Kazarama said. "We gave Kinshasa a 48-hour deadline," he told the Associated Press. "You should call Congo and ask them what they plan to do. They have not yet contacted us. And we are waiting to see what happens, before pronouncing ourselves." Eyewitnesses in Goma said the rebels were much closer to the city than had been agreed. Meanwhile, in a document addressed to the Security Council, a UN panel says it has evidence that the armies of Rwanda and Uganda supplied the rebels with troops, uniforms and guns in the lead-up to and during the invasion of Goma. The group of experts quotes local people as saying more than 1,000 Rwandan troops crossed into DR Congo before the offensive and that Rwanda's commander Gen Emmanual Ruvusha helped M23 commander Sultani Makenga lead the attack. On 20 November, the day Goma was captured, some 500 Rwandan soldiers crossed into the city from the Rwandan town of Gisenyi, which lies just over the border, to back up the rebel forces, the report quotes various Congolese and Rwandan sources as saying. The report includes photos of several people it identifies as Rwandan troops on Congolese territory. Rwandan army spokesman Brig Gen Joseph Nzabamwita told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme the claims in the leaked report were "absurd" and "unsubstantiated". He said the report was drafted by a sympathiser of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group, which is opposed to the Rwandan government and includes Hutu militiamen responsible for the 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 people. The UK government has suspended aid to Rwanda, amid concerns about the country's role in the DR Congo conflict. MSNBC2012-12-03: GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Congo's government re-established control over the eastern city of Goma on Monday after rebels withdrew, and U.N. experts made new allegations that Rwandan soldiers took part in the insurgents' capture of the city. The M23 rebel movement pulled its fighters out of the North Kivu provincial capital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday after seizing it from fleeing U.N.-backed government forces and holding it for 11 days. But the situation remained tense and uncertain in the absence of any definitive peace accord to  Congo government back in Goma, says rebels still too closeBy Ed Stoddard | Reuters – Mon, Dec 3, 2012 Reuters/Reuters - A woman greets a government army FARDC soldier as he returns to Goma December 3, 2012. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Government forces re-established control over Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Goma on Monday after rebels withdrew, but a senior official said the insurgents were only a few kilometres away and still posed a threat. The M23 rebel movement pulled its fighters out of the North Kivu provincial capital on Saturday after seizing it from fleeing U.N.-backed government forces and holding it for 11 days. But the situation remained tense and uncertain in the absence of any definitive peace accord to end the eight-month-old insurgency, which has displaced thousands of civilians in a region that is a tinderbox of ethnic and political conflict. North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku, who had left Goma when rebels took it on November 20, met Congolese Interior Minister Richard Muyej in a hotel in the city, which is sited among lush green hills on Lake Kivu on the border with Rwanda. "I have come back here to work like before," Paluku told Reuters, saying his residence was looted during the rebel seizure of Goma. The city's capture triggered an international diplomatic scramble to head off an escalation of the conflict. Under a deal brokered by Uganda days after Goma's fall, M23 leaders agreed to withdraw to positions 20 km (13 miles) north of the city after Congolese President Joseph Kabila said he was ready to listen to the rebels' grievances. But Paluku said some M23 units were much closer to the city than had been agreed. "They are in Monigi. It is only 3 or 5 km away. It is not good," he told Reuters. M23 spokesman Amani Kabasha told Reuters by telephone some rebels were in Monigi, which is on the road north to Rutshuru. But he said the fighters there would form part of an M23 detachment that would join government troops and a neutral international force to be stationed together at Goma airport - one of the points agreed in the withdrawal deal. "We are waiting to move our company to the airport. After that we will decide on the line (between government forces and rebels)," Kabasha said. M23 draws most of its strength from Tutsi former rebels integrated into the Congolese army who mutinied in April. It has called for talks between Kabila and political opponents, the release of political prisoners and dissolution of Congo's electoral commission, which oversaw Kabila's re-election in 2011 in a vote judged flawed by foreign observers. Government spokesmen have not confirmed that Kabila is willing to hold such a wide dialogue, and the president faces pressure from within his own armed forces to pursue a military solution against M23. Congo and U.N. experts say the rebels are backed by Rwanda and Uganda, a charge both strongly deny. Goma's dusty streets were busy, with markets open selling vegetables and smoked fish, and roads choked with traffic. But banks remained closed. "Things are bad because no one has money to buy my fish," said one woman hawking fish. In Sake, 30 km (19 miles) west of Goma, several hundred government troops paraded, preparing to re-enter Goma. Some Congolese soldiers were already back in the city barracks. They milled around the tents and dilapidated buildings and a few smoked on the back of a vehicle. GRAPHICS Rebel advance http://link.reuters.com/kuj24t Cycles of conflict http://link.reuters.com/nav24t "THOUSANDS STILL AT RISK" Goma lies at the heart of Congo's eastern borderlands which have suffered nearly two decades of conflict stoked by long-standing ethnic and political enmities and fighting over the region's rich resources of gold, tin, tungsten and coltan - a precious metal used to make mobile phones. Successive attacks by myriad rebel and militia groups and government soldiers have made the region notorious among rights groups for mass killings, recruitment of child soldiers and rapes used as a weapon of war. The U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said at least 130,000 people were displaced and in sites and camps in and around Goma. "One cannot exclude the risk of looting or renewed violence," the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Congo, Moustapha Soumare, said in a statement. U.N. officials said a camp housing some 45,000 people about 15 km (nine miles) outside Goma had been raided by unidentified gunmen late on Friday. Several women were raped and food and supplies stolen. OCHA's Soumare said thousands more civilians were fleeing attacks by armed groups which were on the rise in other areas of North Kivu, particularly in Masisi. Neighbouring Rwanda has twice invaded its western neighbour over the past two decades, at one point igniting a conflict dubbed "Africa's World War" that drew in several countries. Aid agencies say more than 5 million people have died from conflict, hunger or disease in Congo since 1998. Kigali has justified its interventions by arguing it was forced to act against hostile Rwandan Hutu fighters who had fled to Congo after the 1994 Rwandan genocide that saw 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus killed by Hutu soldiers and militia. Rwanda's military said on Sunday that FDLR rebels crossed the border from Congo and attacked a game warden camp, killing one warden in what it said was the second raid by the Rwandan Hutu group in six days. The M23 rebels said they took up arms over what they call the government's failure to respect a March 23, 2009, peace deal that envisaged their integration into the Congolese army. Their name comes from the date of the previous deal. (Additional reporting Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Pravin Char)  Congo troops take back city of GomaBy | Associated Press – 20 hrs ago Associated Press/Jerome Delay - M23 rebel fighters are seen walking up a hill overlooking Goma, six kilometers from the center of the eastern Congo city, Monday Dec. 3, 2012. Rebels, who finally withdrew from GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congolese soldiers took back control of this strategic city of 1 million on Monday, though the rebels who occupied it for two weeks continued to stake out positions just 3 kilometers (1.6 miles) away, threatening to seize it anew if Congo fails to meet their demands. Crowds cheered the soldiers as they arrived in Goma's main barracks in trucks, and women rushed forward to kiss the troops. Their return comes 13 days after the city fell to the rebels, who are widely believed to be backed by Rwanda. In a worrying sign, however, the M23 rebels remained in tactical positions in the hills nearby, saying they were waiting for the government to respond to their grievances before deciding whether to try to retake the city. The rebels claim to be fighting for the better implementation of a March 23, 2009, peace accord, which saw them integrated into the national army. Analysts say the real reason for the rebellion is Rwanda's desire to annex territory in the mineral-rich mountains at the border between the two countries. After a nearly two-week occupation, the M23 rebels agreed to leave Goma over the weekend under intense international pressure, including fresh sanctions from the U.N. Security Council. Their withdrawal was conditional and their commanders initially they would retreat to 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the city with the caveat that Congo's government must begin negotiations with them no later than 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon. As the deadline expired, journalists saw a column of rebel fighters walking to elevated positions overlooking the city. Others were building a tent on a western hill. Some in groups of three took positions under trees along the road leading north from Goma. "We gave Kinshasa a 48-hour deadline, and we are now waiting for these 48 hours to expire," rebel spokesman Col. Vianney Kazarama said by telephone as the deadline neared. "You should call Congo and ask them what they plan to do. They have not yet contacted us. And we are waiting to see what happens, before pronouncing ourselves." Despite the rebels' retreat from Goma, which was a pre-requisite set by the Congolese government for negotiations, Congo's President Joseph Kabila has not yet made clear if the government will engage in talks. On Sunday, government spokesman Lambert Mende said the president would listen to M23's grievances and then give them an answer. As the rebels' deadline neared Monday, Mende said he had nothing new to say on the matter. Later, in a government communique, Mende said Congo "congratulates itself on the departure of M23 from the city of Goma this weekend and is happy to confirm the enthusiasm with which the population of this town greeted (the security forces) who came to secure the city." In recent weeks, the enormous, jungle-covered nation of Congo, whose capital is more than 1,000 miles away from this provincial eastern city, inched closer to war with its smaller, but more developed neighbor, Rwanda, which is accused of arming the M23 rebels, as well as sending soldiers across the border. Congo's Interior Minister Richard Muyej, speaking to reporters in Goma, said that they are working hard to fill the power vacuum that was left by the rebels' departure. "We shall work very hard to re-establish the authority of the state as fast as possible," Muyej said. Residents whose lives were upended two weeks ago when rebels invaded the town on Nov. 20 tried their best to go about their lives. Most shops had re-opened, despite uncertainty about the coming hours. A woman selling secondhand clothes at the Virunga market said she had no choice but to work. "We're not going to wait forever, are we?" said Anette Murkendiwa. "I need to feed my children." ___ Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press photographer Jerome Delay in Goma, Congo and Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo, also contributed to this report Congo: avoiding past pitfalls in a future peace deal with the M23 – By Judith Verweijen Any peace deal with the M23 must be political as well as military. The recent fall of Goma has starkly highlighted the shaky foundations of the 'peace architecture' that was built in the wake of the Second Congo War (1998-2002). Briefly, it once again seemed that the entire house of cards would collapse, drawing in the wider complex of state and non-state actors that drive conflict dynamics in the Great Lakes region. Although the situation remains volatile and renewed fighting is not to be excluded, the start of direct negotiations between the Kinshasa Government and the M23 rebel group offers hope that an all-out collapse can be averted. However, there remains a risk that the need to end Kinshasa's currently humiliating position will lead to hasty compromises that might mortgage the long-term prospects for a more stable east. Previous negotiations with the M23's 'godfather' – the CNDP – produced deals that did little more than temporarily patch up parts of the DRC's fragile post-settlement architecture, failing to lay more solid foundations. The prospect that, this time, the compromise between a short-term end to hostilities and longer-term stability might be more successful looks rather bleak. As was previously the case, the military balance of power is tilted in favour of the rebels, and Kinshasa's diplomatic room for manoeuvre is small. Kabila had hoped to capitalise upon the M23 crisis by boosting his dented domestic and international legitimacy through playing the anti-Rwanda card, but this strategy has obviously failed. The recent nation-wide anti-Kinshasa demonstrations, the unruly behaviour of the FARDC, and the exposure of its Chief of Staff Amisi as heading an arms-trafficking ring, have all served to underscore the incompetence and unpopularity of his government. The rebels, for their part, have attempted to gain a veneer of legitimacy by recasting themselves as a revolutionary movement with a broad basis of support. Only some time after its launch as a military mutiny, the M23 formulated a political agenda, first focusing on the implementation of the March 23 peace agreement and the grievances of the Tutsi community. On the wings of its military successes, it then re-styled itself as a group advocating fundamental political reforms – as became clear from the list of demands voiced this week by Bishop Runiga, the M23's political leader. Amongst other things, Runiga called for disbanding the Electoral Commission (CENI), freedom of movement for opposition leader Tsishekedi and the arrests of Generals John Numbi and Amisi. Unsurprisingly, Kinshasa has dismissed these demands as a "farce" and rejected the M23's call for broad peace talks that include the political opposition, civil society and the diaspora. On the one hand, the M23's demands risk generating a diplomatic stalemate. On the other, they could be seen as an entry point for the construction of a more solid governance framework that might accommodate conflicting demands in a non-violent manner. Much will depend on the diplomatic horse-trading currently taking place behind closed doors. Hopefully, the biggest aid donors to countries in the region will use their leverage over this process for the better, and not to protect long-standing ties with certain "pet statesmen". In particular, they should ensure that any potential peace deal will avoid the pitfalls of previous peace processes. In the following, I will discuss four of the root causes of failure. 1. Prioritising political grievances and politico-administrative integration Most previous peace agreements have been essentially military deals, negotiated by military leaders and focusing on military issues. The 'political' part has been little more than a sideshow. Although the M23 only progressively developed a political agenda, there is no reason to dismiss the grievances it now brings to the table. In particular, its calls for anti-corruption measures, more respect for civil liberties and democratic reforms, are concerns that are widely shared. This agenda could be seen as hypocritical, as most vote rigging in the Kivus during the 2011 elections took place in areas controlled by the ex-CNDP, and the latter's leadership was involved in large-scale corruption and shady business dealings, while the M23 has shown to have a blatant disrespect for human rights in the areas under its control. However, given that these grievances are among the main causes for discontent with the current government, using them as a catalyst for change could ultimately contribute to stabilisation. This also applies to the rebels' demand for federalism for the Kivus. Whilst this is not presently politically viable, these demands could be met by making a long overdue start with decentralisation, the organisation of local elections and the development of the Kivus' administrative infrastructure. Furthermore, efforts should be made to rescue the clauses of the March 23 Agreement that voice some long-standing concerns of the Tutsi community. These include facilitating the return of Congolese refugees from Rwanda, the elaboration of a reconciliation policy and the creation of local conflict mediation committees. Addressing these grievances will be more effective if the M23 are made partly responsible for their implementation. This will require their integration into the politico-administrative apparatus, including at the national level. The past strategy of prioritising military over political inclusion has proven to be ineffective, as it did little to tackle the roots of violent conflict. Political representation, by contrast, will allow rebels to maintain their grievances on the political agenda and address them through high-level channels. Furthermore, it might give the wider political-economic network to which the M23 is connected a stake in making them remain committed to the agreements. This will not be feasible without pay-offs, but the challenge is to make these pay-offs less dependent upon the use of violence. 2. Dealing simultaneously with other armed groups and communities Due to the complexity of conflict dynamics in eastern DRC, addressing one piece of the puzzle at a time has thus far proved ineffective. The peace deal concluded in 2009 with other armed groups was entirely overshadowed by CNDP integration. It is therefore unsurprising that several such groups eventually withdrew from the process, partly to protest the CNDP's privileged treatment within the FARDC. This allowed such dissident groups to reinforce mobilisation and popular support, thus contributing to further destabilisation. The laws of action and reaction in the Kivus make it likely that any agreements with the M23 will have wider repercussions, all the more so given their loose alliances to other groups. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the dozens of armed groups currently active in eastern DRC, and continuing to integrate them into the military does not appear to be a viable option. Moreover, simultaneously signed agreements have tended to foster dynamics of competition, with each faction claiming equal rights to the most favoured group. Although armed groups are commonly projects of the elites of divided communities, in many cases they do voice concerns that the wider population identify with. Inter- and intra-community tensions and armed group activity are interlocking processes, and both are again strongly interwoven with the way in which the national army operates. This makes it essential to address these components simultaneously. It may, once again, be possible to organise a Kivus-wide peace conference, as the M23 appears to have hinted at, but without repeating the mistakes of the 2008 Goma Conference. This would necessitate inviting community delegations and local authorities (in place of armed groups) and avoiding doling out lucrative positions and generous per diems. It should then be up to the (civilian) delegates of such a conference to develop proposals for how to deal with the armed groups in their constituencies, and calculate whether demobilisation is a feasible option. 3. Army reintegration without rewarding insurgent violence Earlier peace deals always involved the military integration of rebels. As I have explained in more detail elsewhere, both the terms of these integration deals and the way in which they were implemented eventually led to greater instability – they ended up rewarding those who took up arms, thus sending the message that insurgent violence pays. A crucial part of this mechanism was the impunity granted to senior leaders suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as the provision of pay-offs in the form of control over lucrative deployment locations. If the decision is made to reintegrate elements of the M23 back into the FARDC, careful deliberation is needed to see how such detrimental effects can be mitigated. Putting higher officers back into top positions in the Kivus will certainly send the wrong signal – in particular to current FARDC troops, including the part of the ex-CNDP that have remained loyal. Furthermore, it will deal a further blow to Kabila's domestic and international legitimacy. However, the fact that Makenga and Baudouin Ngaruye (respectively commander and deputy-commander of M23) refer to themselves as "General" and the recent promotion of other officers to higher ranks, indicates that the M23 aims to obtain ranks and positions in the FARDC. It is therefore crucial to find a more balanced way of integration, for instance by spreading M23 fighters in an even manner among units, training these units before redeployment, and appointing top officers only to positions they are qualified for and outside of the Kivus. Integration should also address the serious identity-based tensions that exist within the army. As long as Tutsi troops do not feel safe, specifically when deployed far from their home areas, they will continue to be susceptible to dissidence. Preventing this requires investment in the sensitisation not only of troops, but also of populations in deployment locations. 4. Credible sanctions for violations on both sides One of the biggest obstacles to the implementation of peace agreements in the DRC has been the lack of credible sanctions for violations and delays. Peace deals have generally been half-implemented , andnon-respect has been facilitated by vague formulations and the absence of clear time-lines. Enforcement will continue to be a major challenge for any future peace deal, and it is precisely here that international actors could play a more pronounced role. The UN Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) must consider how far its role should include (threatening) the use of force. If anything, the latest crisis has demonstrated that the MONUSCO is not a credible player when it comes to deterrence and sanctioning spoiling behaviour. Either their mandate should be changed, or their contribution to implementation should be limited to monitoring and verification, technical and logistical assistance, as well as coordinating mediation and political pressure. Such an emphasis on political instruments for enforcement is only possible if bilateral donors with more diplomatic leverage step up engagement and apply pressure where and when needed. These donors should stop using the UN as an easy scapegoat to mask their own lukewarm commitment to previous peace processes. An overall political solution to the crisis, however difficult to imagine in the face of current military realities, can only be possible if key diplomatic players put their full weight behind it. As was painfully exposed by the fall of Goma, 'engagement light' will fail to address the complexities of the Great Lakes region. Judith Verweijen is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Conflict Studies at Utrecht University. Congo: UK and US must play more consistent support to end world's worst war – By Richard Dowden Africa is covered in epithets, like graffiti. It has been labelled dark, lost, hopeless. But generalisations about Africa are dangerous. The only certainty is its size: it could contain the United States, China and India and still have room to spare. Recently it has been dubbed rising, hopeful, the continent of the future. But Africa cannot be declared successful until its vast, rich heart, the Congo, is peaceful and prosperous. Most other African countries have more or less emerged from the uprisings and chaos of the 1990s that followed the end of the Cold War. But Congo lies broken and wasting. The last two elections have not produced a government capable of delivering services or security. The legacy of Mobutu Sese Seko's 32 year corrupt kleptocracy remains the zeitgeist of its ruling class. The people must fend for themselves. Congo's potential, like most of Africa's, is immense and unmeasured. It has everything that the rest of the planet needs for the future; the highest reserves of mineral ore, thousands of square miles of fertile land and the second largest rainforest in the world. The energy of its huge, fast flowing river could power up much of southern Africa. The kneejerk reaction of Britain and other western countries is therefore to give Congo aid. And the only way of spending 0.7 percent of our GDP on aid is to give it to governments. But has Congo got a government? In 1997 the remnants of the Mobutu regime were pushed out by the armies of Rwanda and Uganda. They replaced him with Laurent Kabila, a former revolutionary and cafe owner, living in exile. When he rejected the Rwandans' tutelage, they had him murdered and replaced him with his son, Joseph. To legitimise Joseph the aid donors paid for and organised two elections each costing more than a billion dollars. In 2011 that came out of a national budget of £4.6 billion ($7.3 billion). The elections satisfied the western political need to give Kabila international legitimacy so he could now receive aid. But the elections in Congo divided rather than united. The losers saw them as fraudulent. After the election supporters were rewarded, opponents shunned but they live in different parts of the country so a small war broke out. At the very moment when the country needed to come together, the western solution deepened the divisions. It also handed total political and economic power to a greedy elite incapable of constructing a viable state – even, as one Congolese academic said, in their own narrow interests. What has wrecked the Congo is not lack of aid. It is politics. Aid has probably made things worse by offering development which may never be delivered. There is no state capable of delivering it. If ever there was a case for a country to be under a UN mandate, it is Congo. The United Nations' current half-baked, ill-thought-out mandate was cruelly exposed last week as UN troops stood back to allow rebels to take the city of Goma in eastern Congo. But there was a second, even more catastrophic contradiction in Western policy. After the Rwandan genocide, western governments, ridden with guilt, supported the incoming Rwandan regime, a rebel group led by the charismatic Paul Kagame. He now runs a capable state – perhaps too capable. Rwanda is a tightly controlled dictatorship, with almost no press or political freedom. But it uses aid well, it is not stolen. A succession of British aid ministers from Clare Short to Andrew Mitchell see Kagame as the saviour of Africa. They gave him money – currently £83 million a year, knowing it will be spent on education, health and other good things. Rwanda's success however is Congo's loss. Fearful that political opponents will gather in the forests and mountains across the border in eastern Congo, the Rwandan and Ugandan regimes have armed militias there, most recently the M23, Mouvement de 23 Mars. This militia protects the Tutsis of Eastern Congo, Kagame's ethnic group, and guards mines and plantations controlled by senior Rwandan and Ugandan officers. They control and tax trade routes and bring the loot across the border to Uganda and Rwanda. Above all, they ensure that there is no order, security or justice in eastern Congo. Every village has a militia and many have turned into roving gangs killing, raping and stealing at will. Controlled anarchy in Eastern Congo suits Rwanda and Uganda – as long as the anarchy does not get out of hand. Unfortunately, and embarrassingly for the British and American governments, Rwanda and Uganda, their closest allies in the region, have been fingered by a well-researched United Nations report, as the suppliers of weapons to M-23 as well as the beneficiaries of the free-for-all in eastern Congo. The US tried to suppress the report. The British suspended aid to Rwanda. On his last day at Dfid Mitchell restored it. The war in eastern Congo is the worst war in the world, costing according to some estimates five million lives. It is time the US and UK took it seriously and played a more even and consistent hand in trying to bring peace. Richard Dowden is Director of the Royal African Society and author of Africa; altered states, ordinary miracles. For more of Richard's blogs click here. UN report says Rwanda helped M23 take Goma Mail and Guardian United Nations sanctions experts have claimed soldiers from the DRC's neighbouring countries assisted M23 rebels in their offensive in Goma.  A report obtained by Agence France-Presse on Monday showed United Nations experts said Rwanda and Uganda helped rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stage a major offensive in the east of the country last month. Hundreds of Rwanda's troops bolstered M23 rebels as they took the key city of Goma, while Uganda provided "logistics" support, said a report by the United Nations (UN) sanctions experts sent to the UN Security Council. The new investigation by the experts piles more pressure on Rwanda's government over its role in the DRC conflict as it prepares to take up a seat on the Security Council on January 1, diplomats said. The 15-member council and UN leader Ban Ki-moon have repeatedly condemned external support for the rebels without naming any country. The experts said their inquiry "strongly upholds" previous accusations that the neighbouring countries provided major backing to the rebels who routed government forces before withdrawing from Goma at the weekend under a ceasefire accord. Rwanda and Uganda have strongly denied involvement in resource-rich North Kivue province. Neither country immediately commented on the new report into external backing for M23 as it forged out of its stronghold near the DRC border with Rwanda in early November. More than 40 killed At the start of the offensive, the DRC army killed more than 40 rebels and Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) soldiers, "many of whom wore RDF uniforms and carried weapons used by the RDF", said the experts. "When M23 progressed towards Goma on November 19 2012, RDF units operated alongside M23 in combat at the airport and close to one of Goma's border posts into Rwanda," their report added. Rwandan forces and rebels "together" took Goma, "marching through downtown dressed in a combination of RDF and new M23 uniforms". The report quoted DRC army commanders and former Rwandan officers as saying that more than 1 000 Rwandan troops joined the M23 campaign and about 500 were inside Goma. They named RDF western Commander General Emmanuel Ruvusha and M23 military chief Sultani Makenga as the joint heads of the campaign. Uganda deployed troops near the DRC border at the end of October to make sure M23 territory "was not left unprotected during the imminent offensive". The experts said they witnessed the delivery of hundreds of rain boots to the rebels at the Uganda-DRC border town of Bunagana on October 14. 'Create confusion' The rebels also acquired camouflaged uniforms similar to those used by Rwandan forces. Former rebels and M23 members told the experts "the aim of using nearly indistinguishable uniforms was to create confusion" when RDF units joined the rebels. The Security Council has already ordered sanctions against three M23 military commanders including Makenga. Last week the council passed a resolution which threatened action against "those providing external support" to the rebels. The council called on Ban to provide a report on foreign backing for the rebels and the experts sent their letter as part of this. Rwandan troops have repeatedly intervened in conflict across the border as part of more than a decade of war after 1998 which aid agencies say has caused more than five million deaths. The UN experts said that a military monitoring mission from International Conference of the Great Lakes Region countries obtained "credible accounts" with photographs of Rwandan and Ugandan military assistance for the rebels when they went to border villages on November 1. Rwandan officials refused to endorse the findings "and forced the other conference members to weaken the text of the mission report," the experts said. – AFP M&G Congolese rebels take over Goma [CNN 11-22-2012] Published on Nov 24, 2012 by SimplyBestNews2013 Click http://MeTee.com/coupon/SubscribeForNews --- On Tue, 12/4/12, abduldello@gmail.com <abduldello@gmail.com> wrote: From: abduldello@gmail.com <abduldello@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Mabadiliko] Akina Obama wanavyomwogopa Kagame To: mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com Date: Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 11:09 AM Utaogopwa na wenyeviti wa CCM mkoa na wilaya Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the Tigo Tanzania Network From: assegelile@gmail.com Sender: mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2012 16:07:01 +0000 To: Mabadiliko<mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com> ReplyTo: mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: [Mabadiliko] Akina Obama wanavyomwogopa Kagame Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Tanzania. From: Mobhare Matinyi <matinyi@hotmail.com> Sender: mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2012 13:25:08 +0000 To: Wanabidii googlegroups<wanabidii@googlegroups.com>; Mabadiliko<mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com> ReplyTo: mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com Subject: [Mabadiliko] Akina Obama wanavyomwogopa Kagame Posted By Colum Lynch Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:24 PM Share On October 1, Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador and the president's presumptive nominee to be the next U.S. secretary of state, met at the French mission here in New York with top diplomats from Britain and France, where they discussed the crisis in eastern Congo, a sliver of territory along the Rwandan border, where mutineers were preparing a final offensive to seize the regional capital of Goma. France's U.N. ambassador, Gerard Araud, pressed Rice and Britain's U.N. envoy, Mark Lyall Grant, to apply greater political pressure on the mutineers' chief sponsor, Rwanda, a close American ally, that stands accused by a U.N. panel of sponsoring, arming, and commanding the insurgent M23 forces. The French argued that threats of sanctions were needed urgently to pressure Kigali to halt its support for the M23 and prevent them from gobbling up more Congolese territory. But Rice pushed back, reasoning that any move to sanction Rwandan leader Paul Kagame would backfire, and it would be better to work with him to find a long-term solution to the region's troubles than punish him. "Gerard, it's eastern Congo. If it were not the M23 killing people it would be some other armed groups," she said, according to one of three U.N.-based sources who detailed the exchange. The U.S. mission declined to comment on the meeting, which was confidential. http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/03/susan_rice_dialed_down_the_pressure_on_rwanda |
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