Congo warlord agrees to ‘peace’

KINSHASA – The last main warlord in eastern Congo has agreed to stop fighting government forces in exchange for a government promise not to pursue war crimes charges against him, the army said Wednesday.

Under the deal, renegade warlord Laurent Nkunda would also go into exile and his troops would be integrated into the national army, a process that has already begun, said Colonel Delphin Kahindi, a top army commander responsible for east Congo’s lawless North Kivu province. Nkunda, who commands thousands of troops in the east, has been accused by the government for years of war crimes.Once a senior officer, Nkunda quit the army and gained notoriety in 2004 after his forces briefly seized the lakeside city of Bukavu.New York-based Human Rights Watch has urged the government and UN peacekeepers deployed in the mineral-rich nation to arrest Nkunda, but the government has taken little action to do so.”The government has dropped judicial proceedings against Laurent Nkunda, but he has for his part accepted to put an end to his attacks against the army and put soldiers loyal to him at our disposition,” Kahindi said.Kahindi said the deal had been agreed two weeks ago during a meeting with Nkunda that was mediated by officials from neighbouring Rwanda.Wednesday marked the first time the agreement had been implemented, with two battalions of soldiers loyal to Nkunda beginning to rejoin the army in two locations in the east.Nkunda was a commander of rebels backed by neighbouring Rwanda during Congo’s 1998-2002 war, which drew in the armies of half a dozen African nations.He quit Congo’s army and launched a low-level rebellion after the war ended, charging the country’s transition to democracy had excluded the country’s minority Tutsi community.Human Rights Watch says it has documented summary executions, torture, and rape committed by soldiers under Nkunda’s command in Bukavu in 2004, as well as in the northern city of Kisangani in 2002.The central government led by President Joseph Kabila, based in the faraway capital, Kinshasa, has struggled to regain control over the eastern reaches of the country, which had been lawless for years, carved up into fiefdoms by rival rebel groups.About 17 000 UN troops are deployed to bolster security in the Europe-sized country, which held democratic elections last year for the first time in four decades.Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorised to speak to the media, said Nkunda was likely to take up exile in South Africa.Nkunda is still in Congo, however, and will stay for the near future to help facilitate the integration of his men into the army, Kahindi said.Government troops and Nkunda’s forces last clashed in late December just outside the eastern town of Goma, near the Rwandan border.Fighting then killed 19 people, the UN said.Nampa-APNkunda, who commands thousands of troops in the east, has been accused by the government for years of war crimes.Once a senior officer, Nkunda quit the army and gained notoriety in 2004 after his forces briefly seized the lakeside city of Bukavu.New York-based Human Rights Watch has urged the government and UN peacekeepers deployed in the mineral-rich nation to arrest Nkunda, but the government has taken little action to do so.”The government has dropped judicial proceedings against Laurent Nkunda, but he has for his part accepted to put an end to his attacks against the army and put soldiers loyal to him at our disposition,” Kahindi said.Kahindi said the deal had been agreed two weeks ago during a meeting with Nkunda that was mediated by officials from neighbouring Rwanda.Wednesday marked the first time the agreement had been implemented, with two battalions of soldiers loyal to Nkunda beginning to rejoin the army in two locations in the east.Nkunda was a commander of rebels backed by neighbouring Rwanda during Congo’s 1998-2002 war, which drew in the armies of half a dozen African nations.He quit Congo’s army and launched a low-level rebellion after the war ended, charging the country’s transition to democracy had excluded the country’s minority Tutsi community.Human Rights Watch says it has documented summary executions, torture, and rape committed by soldiers under Nkunda’s command in Bukavu in 2004, as well as in the northern city of Kisangani in 2002.The central government led by President Joseph Kabila, based in the faraway capital, Kinshasa, has struggled to regain control over the eastern reaches of the country, which had been lawless for years, carved up into fiefdoms by rival rebel groups.About 17 000 UN troops are deployed to bolster security in the Europe-sized country, which held democratic elections last year for the first time in four decades.Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorised to speak to the media, said Nkunda was likely to take up exile in South Africa.Nkunda is still in Congo, however, and will stay for the near future to help facilitate the integration of his men into the army, Kahindi said.Government troops and Nkunda’s forces last clashed in late December just outside the eastern town of Goma, near the Rwandan border.Fighting then killed 19 people, the UN said.Nampa-AP