On May 15, Radio France Internationale (RFI) journalist Ghislaine Dupont disclosed an internal document of the DRC National Intelligence Agency (ANR) in an apparent attempt to discredit the chief of Domestic Security. The document provides information on corrupt ANR agents and release of some prisoners held by ANR.  Infighting within the ANR is used to feed an ongoing conspiracy against the DRC institutions. Many people have infiltrated the ANR, which calls into question the ANR’s loyalty toward the GDRC. Those who use international media to damage the reputation of a rival not only weaken an individual, they also undermine the whole country as well as the institutions that depend on the ANR’s performance. The lingering question remains: who is manipulating whom-- RFI or the National Intelligence Agency?

Le Potentiel, (independent), editorial, front page, “Military and Intelligence Service Reform.“

Reforming the armed forces and the intelligence service is a priority, considering the Government’s need to restore peace and stability to the DRC’s troubled regions. During his visit to Kinshasa, AFRICOM Commander General Ward insisted on the need for reforming the Congolese army and for forming professional and efficient armed forces.  He indicated that AFRICOM is ready to help the DRC reach these objectives. In the same spirit, the DRC foreign minister recently stressed that there is no viable State without strong armed forces and an effective intelligence service. The success of any military operation is contingent on covert and diligent intelligence gathering as well as on the effective processing and transmission of such intelligence. Future reforms should provide strict recruitment criteria to avert manipulation and leaks that may benefit enemies. Reforming the military and intelligence sectors is a major component in any national security strategy. 

Compiled by John Kalonji, PD Section.

1. Nuclear and heavy metal dumping, causing sickness in coastal populations
2. Looting and overexploitation of seafood/marine life
3. No intervention by local government (well, nonexistent government)

1. Militants in Nigeria's Niger Delta region have kidnapped a Scottish oil worker and killed his police guard.

2. South Africa prosecutors have dropped graft charges against African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma.
3. Somali pirates have seized a British-owned cargo ship and a Taiwanese ship, maritime officials say, after capturing three other vessels over the weekend.
4. The remains of thousands of victims of the Rwandan genocide are to be reburied in Uganda, it has been announced - 15 years after the killings began.

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."
 

A judge overturned an earlier high court ruling dismissing charges against Mr Zuma, saying the lower court judge had "overstepped" his authority.

State prosecutors said Mr Zuma "remains a charged person".

The ANC says Mr Zuma will still lead the party into elections due in the coming months, meaning he is the strong favourite to become the next president.

The 16 charges of corruption, money-laundering and racketeering stem from a controversial $5bn 1999 arms deal.

Congolese rebel leader Gen Laurent Nkunda has told the BBC disciplinary action is being taken against a commander who tried to oust him.

DRC-SUDAN: Fifty feared dead in rebel attack

Child elopers' Africa plan foiled

Two German children - aged five and six - have been stopped by police from eloping to Africa to tie the knot in the sun, reports say.

The budding lovebirds, identified as Mika and Anna-Lena, packed bathing costumes, sunglasses and a lilo and headed for the airport.

They even had the presence of mind to invite along an official witness - Anna-Lena's seven-year-old sister.

The three got as far as Hanover railway station before police intervened.

The young couple were "very much in love" and had decided to get married in Africa "where it is warm", police spokesman Holger Jureczko told the AFP news agency.

"I will never, never, never surrender," he told delegates of his ruling Zanu-PF party at its annual conference.

Vascular surgeon David Nott helped the 16-year-old while working 24-hour shifts with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Rutshuru.

The boy's left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous.

Mr Nott, 52, from London, had never performed the operation but followed instructions from a colleague who had.

The surgeon, who is based at Charing Cross Hospital in west London, said: "He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him."

Careful instructions

It is not clear how the boy was injured. It was suggested that he had been bitten by a hippopotamus while fishing, but Mr Nott also heard that he had been caught in crossfire between government and rebel forces.

There were just 6in (15cm) of the boy's arm remaining, much of the surrounding muscle had died and there was little skin to fold over the wound.

Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, requiring removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade.

He contacted Professor Meirion Thomas, from London's Royal Marsden Hospital, who had performed the operation before.

"I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said.

Laurent Nkunda has guaranteed a humanitarian corridor so the UN can reach Rutshuru ... for now.  But I can't believe that this will hold for long.  

BUNIA, 29 October 2008 (IRIN) - Airplanes may be needed to help some 6,000 people displaced during attacks by Ugandan rebels in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who are not accessible by humanitarian agencies, officials said.

...one resident Eric, 28, who sells motorbikes for a living, told IRIN he was torn between fleeing and protecting his business.

DRC: Many aid agencies quit Goma

Renegade General Laurent Nkunda urged government troops to follow suit.

Thousands of people have been fleeing an upsurge in fighting in the east in recent days, pouring into Goma.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the violence was "creating a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions" and urged a truce.

Gen Nkunda told the BBC: "We are not far from Goma but because there is a state of destabilisation in the town we decided in our movement to cease fire and unilaterally to proclaim a ceasefire."
 

These are in reverse chronological order: most recent first.

Firing across Congo-Rwanda border

Rebels 'seize' Congo border town

Battles rage near key Congo town

Government troops and UN forces have been involved in fierce battles against Tutsi rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reports from the region suggest the strategic village of Kibumba, north of the regional capital Goma, is the latest to have fallen to the rebels.
 

In pictures: Thousands flee Congo fighting

UN joins battle with Congo rebels

UN peacekeeping forces are engaged in heavy fighting against rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The head of the UN mission, Alan Doss, told the BBC that helicopter gunships and armoured units were supporting the Congolese army north of Goma.

The clashes followed reports that hundreds of protesters had attacked the mission's headquarters, saying the UN was not doing enough to protect them.

DR Congo rebels seize army camp

Rebels fighting government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo have captured a major army camp in the east of the country, UN peacekeepers say.

The rebels have also taken control of the headquarters of Virunga national park, home to some of the world's last remaining mountain gorilla

Thousands displaced in DR Congo

The UN says about 200,000 people have been displaced by renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two months.

Previously the United Nations had reported half that number.

Concern has been rising in the east of DR Congo, where the army has been battling fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda.

1. Rare African okapi seen in wild but not by a person, by a camera that was set up to catch them. Still, pretty cool!
2. A minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered a Kinshasa jail to release a dozen goats, which he said were being held there illegally. Right here in Kinshasa!!! Fortunately he decided they were being held illegally. They were originally sent there for allowing themselves to be sold illegally.  The court charges had not yet been determined. And I quote: "The beasts were due to appear in court, charged with being sold illegally by the roadside. The minister said many police had serious gaps in their knowledge and they would be sent for retraining."

1. The Democratic Republic of Congo army is collaborating with rebels to mine gold and tin, instead of fighting them, says lobby group Global Witness.
2. A Frenchman has gone on trial charged with raping around 20 young girls while working for UN peacekeeping missions in Africa along with more sexual offences. "I admit the sexual relations and the pornography, but I deny rape," he told the court.

Zuma 'shocked by white poverty'