The UN envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo says a joint military operation against rebels will be concluded at the end of this month.

Mr Doss said during the first half of next year UN officials would propose a realistic plan for reconfiguring the 21,000-strong peacekeeping force in Congo, known as Monuc, which has been deployed in the country for the past 10 years.

Diplomats say a draft resolution submitted to the Security Council would extend the peacekeepers mandate by five months.

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".

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.

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."
 

By Franz Wild

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- A Rwandan Hutu militia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has taken control of a corridor vacated by dissident General Laurent Nkunda’s rebels, said international mediators should include it in peace talks.

“It’s a mistake not to speak to us, because we have a role to play in pacifying the area,” Colonel Edmond Garambe, the military spokesman for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, said in an interview yesterday in Masisi, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. “’We are ready to respond to all questions. We will explain what we want.”