All articles below via IRINnews.

DRC: Hundreds of Rwandan troops to help disarm Hutu rebels

KINSHASA, 20 January 2009 (IRIN) - Hundreds of Rwandan troops entered eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 20 January to back a DRC operation against Rwandan Hutu rebels in the east of the country, officials said.

 "We officially invited the Rwandan army to take part in the operation, to disarm the Interahamwe, which is about to begin," said government spokesman Lambert Mende.

 He added that the operation was designed "to repatriate, voluntarily or by force, combatants of the FDLR [Forces démocratique pour la libération de Rwanda] or Interahamwe or [ensure they] have refugee status in line with Congolese or international law, which precludes them bearing arms".

"The operations will last between 10 and 15 days and will be led by the FARDC [the DRC army] under the observation of Rwandan military intelligence," added the spokesman.

 The UN Mission in DRC, MONUC, said it was not involved in the operations, whose joint nature was finalised during meetings early in 2009 between Rwandan and DRC chiefs of staff in line with an agreement signed in Nairobi in November 2007.

 But MONUC's military spokesman Col Jean-Paul Dietrich did confirm that "between 1,500 and 2,000 Rwandan soldiers crossed the border on the Munigi-Kibait road and deployed towards Kibumba on the Goma-Rutshuru road."

 One wing of a DRC rebel group also active in eastern DRC, the now-divided CNDP, last week offered to join government soldiers in their actions against the FDLR.

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DRC: Civilians suffer as Uganda takes on LRA

BUNIA, 20 January 2009 (IRIN) - About half the 100,000 people displaced amid a wave of atrocities in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the Ugandan army is leading an operation against Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, have no access to humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

 "We estimate that half the displaced are beyond reach. There are no roads or airstrips. In some cases they are close to where the fighting is," Idrissa Conteh, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN in the north-eastern DRC town of Bunia.

 Conteh added that one of the largest concentrations of displaced people was in Doruma, close to the Sudanese border, with 14,000 people.

 "The situation there is catastrophic," he said, listing some of the priority needs as food, non-food items and healthcare.

 In recently attacked areas, people tell us their first need is not so much food and non-food items but security," said Conteh.

 When aid workers travelled to Duru, 90km north of Dungu, one of the main towns in Orientale, they found most of the population hiding in the bush.

 "When they saw the MONUC [UN Mission in DRC] vehicles and helicopter, they came out, but as soon as the helicopter left they went back into the bush," said Conteh, adding that distributing aid in such a place would serve as a magnet for hungry rebels.

 On 13 January, some 70 tonnes of UN aid reached Dungu, after a 10-day road trip from Goma.

 Military action

 In mid-December, with the explicit backing of the Security Council, the Ugandan army, with the DRC and Southern Sudan, launched Operation Lightning Thunder against LRA bases in Orientale. The military action followed the renewed failure of LRA leader Joseph Kony to sign an agreement to end his 20-year rebellion against the Ugandan government.

 Since then the LRA has been blamed for the murder of hundreds of civilians. Uganda has also faced criticism over the operation. The Enough Project described it as "poorly executed" and "operationally flawed", noting that "LRA camps were largely empty of fighters and high-level commanders when struck by Ugandan aircraft". The advocacy group added that Lightning Thunder had made the situation in north-eastern DRC worse by playing to the strengths of the LRA, "who know the tricky terrain better than their adversaries . are able to move and disperse quickly in small numbers . have shown every willingness to loot and pillage to survive".

 There appears to be no let-up in civilian deaths. In just one incident, local officials told IRIN 25 were killed on the night of 14 January in Dingbé, about 160km north of Dungu, close to the Sudanese border. Two days later, nine people were killed and hundreds of houses torched in two other villages in Orientale province.

 Dieudonné Rwabona, a district commissioner in Orientale, told IRIN: "The problem is that the Ugandans began bombing rebel positions before the [DRC army] could secure the areas" from fleeing LRA fighters.

 Uganda, meanwhile, appeared to have no qualms about Lightning Thunder

 "The operation has been a success in that it has left Joseph Kony naked," State Minister for Defence Ruth Nankabirwa told IRIN.

 "Because of the surprise nature of the attack, he fled from his camp empty-handed. He left behind everything, including food, equipment and other gadgets, so this has reduced his capacity," she added.

 "We shall continue to pursue Kony and his fighters, but at the some time we are extending an olive branch to him, telling him to come back home. He should come and sign the agreement but if he continues being adamant we shall go full-blast and finish him off," she warned.

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DRC: Rwandan operation "not welcomed"

KINSHASA, 21 January 2009 (IRIN) - The arrival of some 2,000 Rwandan soldiers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help the Army disarm Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Forces démocratique pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR) has prompted fears of a new wave of civilian suffering. Below are some reactions to the development.

MONUC, the UN Mission in DRC
"The humanitarian community is deeply worried by the new deployment of troops in the areas of Goma and Rutshuru. This heightened military presence gives rise to fears of a new humanitarian crisis just as the ceasefire was allowing people to gradually return home and giving humanitarians easier access to several areas."

Jean-Paul Dietrich, MONUC military spokesman
"The FDLR are in Masisi but the Rwandans have instead gone to Rutshuru. We don't really know what they are doing there because our access has been blocked."

UN Children's Fund briefing
"Immediate consequences [are] restricted access to Rutshuru territory and withdrawal of most humanitarian actors from their main intervention zones in Masisi and Rutshuru.
Possible consequences in case of military operations:
- Massive population displacement. A contingency plan (July 2008) anticipates for 350,000 newly displaced persons in North Kivu during the first phase of a military operation; 300,000 persons in the province of South Kivu.
- Current humanitarian interventions for approximately one million persons will be suspended or hampered by the lack of access and permanent displacement of populations.
- The reaction of FDLR might entail exactions on the population and social structures and looting.
- Taking into account that the FDLR have been established in the area for 15 years, their relationship with the population is important. At the same time, the coalition is unlikely to respect the distinction between combatants and non-combatants.
- The reaction of the population with regard to the presence of the Rwandan army is as yet unknown, but could turn negatively toward the government."
 

A media analyst in Kinshasa
"This operation will finally persuade the FDLR to return to Rwanda after 15 years of hesitation. It will put an end to the illicit exploitation of the region's natural resources and allow the Congolese state to have control over them."

Justin Bitakwira, Member of Parliament from South Kivu
"The Rwandan government and its offshoot RCD-Goma had already occupied Congo for eight years and we never heard of a single clash between the Rwandan army and the FDLR. On the contrary, all the coltan and cassiterite exploited by the FDLR is sold in Rwanda. So it's a [complete] contradiction."

Enock Ruberangabo, president of the Banyamulenge community
"The community wants the FDLR and all Rwandan refugees, who have become, rightly or wrongly, the key to the tension between our countries, to return home. To do so by force is not desirable because experience has taught us that not only are results slow in coming but that matters are made worse. There is a need to plan how to ensure the security of the populations of North and South Kivu before any military operation against the FDLR. Any other way would further endanger security."

Jean Sekabuhoro, president of the North Kivu Hutu communities
"[We] condemn this treason and reserve the right to use all means at our disposal to scupper this diabolical plan whose clear aim is to bring about the Balkanisation of the country."

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