Insurgents loyal to ex-general surrender in DR Congo: UN
GOMA, DRCongo (AFP) — Some 15 insurgents loyal to ex-General Laurent Nkunda surrendered to UN authorities Tuesday in the volatile eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN mission in the country said.
The insurgent battalion had attempted to retake a strategic hill with a telephone transmitter overlooking the town of Sake, according to a statement from the UN mission, which is known as MONUC.
Early Tuesday morning, the insurgents approached a position held by UN troops and ordered them to retreat. UN troops refused and threatened to disarm the insurgents by force if they persisted, MONUC said.
After more than an hour of discussion, the rebels accepted to "lay down their arms and surrender" to be reintegrated into the regular army, according to MONUC.
MONUC had taken the hill from insurgents in September.
Their surrender came amid high tensions in the country's east, where the army has massed more than 20,000 troops who have fought some 4,000 insurgent soldiers loyal to Nkunda. Heavy clashes have occurred since the end of August.
Nearly 400,000 civilians have fled their homes due to the fighting in Nord-Kivu since the end of last year and some 800,000 people are now displaced overall in the eastern province, according to UN figures.
Villagers have been displaced by fighting not only between the army and Nkunda, who claims to be protecting the minority Congolese Tutsi population, but also between Mai-Mai militia and Hutu rebels from Rwanda, who are hostile to Nkunda.
The United Nations has stepped up its criticism of Nkunda in recent days, leading the renegade general to accuse the world body's mission in the country of siding with government forces and warn of retaliation.
Community leaders on Tuesday joined forces to demand that the government track down Nkunda and hand him over to the courts.
"Civil society groups condemn the inconsistent actions of the government when faced with repeated attacks by Nkunda... Two ultimatums have come and gone but the insurgents have done nothing to stop their activities," a statement sent to AFP said.
Representatives from all 11 regional provinces said in the statement that Nkunda must now be "captured and delivered to the courts."
"Faced with this wait-and-see attitude, and in order to avoid lowering the morale of front-line troops, civil society groups demand that the government begins an immediate rethink of its strategies."
The community leaders issued their statement during a workshop meeting in the Congolese capital Kinshasa. They also expressed their backing for the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is hoping to begin an inquiry in to the unrest and called on other groups to cooperate with the ICC.
