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Risk of new clashes between DR Congo soldiers, rebels: army
Kinshasa (AFP) Dec 23, 2008 The commander of Democratic Republic of Congo armed forces in the country's east said Tuesday there was an increasing risk of new clashes as rebels were close to his troops in the region. Colonel Delphin Kahimbi was reacting to charges by the rebel National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), led by Tutsi ex-general Laurent Nkunda, that the Congolese army (FARDC) was advancing in eastern Nord-Kivu province to take up a combat position. "FARDC does not need to advance," Kahimbi told AFP when contacted by telephone from Kinshasa. He countered that it was the rebels who had moved to about 75 metres (80 yards) from the army troops, adding: "There is a risk of imminent clashes." A CNDP spokesman, however, repeated to AFP its claim that the Congolese army was advancing towards areas under rebel control in Nord-Kivu, claiming the soldiers were about 100 metres from the rebel camp at Kibati. In Kinshasa, the UN mission in DR Congo, known as MONUC, said it was "very concerned" that the opposing forces were close to each other near Kibati, about 15 kilometres (nine miles) north of the provincial capital of Goma. Meanwhile Kahimbi also accused Rwanda of reinforcing Nkunda's rebels, claiming the neighbouring Tutsi-dominated government was preparing some 8,500 soldiers to back up Nkunda. A United Nations-commissioned report published this month said it had proof Rwanda was helping Nkunda's rebels in a variety of ways, from recruiting soldiers including children, to furnishing military equipment. Sweden has announced that it is joining the Netherlands in suspending budgetary aid to Rwanda -- worth some 10 million dollars -- because of growing evidence Kigali is backing the CNDP rebels, who claim they are protecting ethnic Tutsis in eastern DR Congo. Nkunda arrived in the eastern town of Rutshuru Tuesday to participate in a meeting of his loyalists and local leaders aimed at developing territories under CNDP control, the group said. Rebel and government representatives have been meeting in Nairobi in a bid to halt the violence which flared in late August, but the CNDP on Saturday refused to sign a joint declaration to stop hostilities or to agree to continue respecting its own October ceasefire. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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