Congo rebels get UN ultimatum to hand in weapons

AFP/GomaThe UN yesterday gave M23 rebel forces 48 hours to leave the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo or face “the use of force”.A new UN intervention brigade will be used for the first time to help the DR Congo army set up a “security zone” in the city, the UN said. A statement by the UN mission in DR Congo, Monusco, gave M23 rebels in Goma until 4pm (2000 GMT) tomorrow “to hand in their weapon to a Monusco base” and join a demobilisation programme. After then, “they will be considered an imminent threat of physical violence to civilians and Monusco will take all necessary measures to disarm them, including by the use of force in accordance with its mandate and rules of engagement”.The UN-proposed security zone includes Goma and its northern suburbs. The M23 launched a new offensive against the DR Congo army outside Goma on July 14. “The M23 has used indiscriminate and indirect fire, including by heavy weapons, resulting in civilian casualties,” Monusco said. “The M23 has also targeted UN installations with its fire. The security zone will push these indirect fire threats out of range of Goma. The security zone may be expanded and repeated elsewhere, where it is needed.” UN experts and the DR Congo government have said Rwanda has supplied troops and military aid to the M23.Rwanda dismissed yesterday US charges that it was supporting M23 rebels and said levelling accusations would not help pacify the region.Western donors halted some aid to Rwanda last year after UN experts said Kigali was backing rebels in eastern Congo, a region racked by fighting since the 1990s that has in part been fuelled by a struggle to control rich mineral deposits there.In a report last month, UN experts said M23 continued to recruit fighters in Rwanda with the aid of sympathetic Rwanda military officers, prompting Washington to say it was “deeply concerned” and to call for Rwanda to stop offering backing.“Those whose policy is to keep pulling countries of the region into a conflict that is not of their making, we don’t think that is helpful,” Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said. “Scapegoating is not going to help DRC.”When asked if that amounted to a denial, she said in Nairobi: “I think my comment is very clear. There are many complex issues in Congo and those have to be looked at with a view to try to reach a peaceful situation in DRC”.Rwanda has in the past denied charges it backed the M23.Mushikiwabo was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of ministers from the Great Lakes region in the Kenyan capital, which included discussions about eastern Congo and regional efforts to broker peace between the rebel group and Kinshasa.“What Rwanda is saying is there is no reason whatsoever for Rwanda to want instability outside its borders,” she said.“The conflict in DRC has to do with many actors and many many players,” the Rwandan minister said. “Rwanda continues to do everything it can to reach that state of peace.”US Secretary of State John Kerry last week led a UN Security Council debate on the Great Lakes and urged 11 African nations which signed a February deal brokered by the UN on ending fighting to respect Congo’s sovereignty. Alongside that peace initiative, Uganda has been hosting talks between Kinshasa and the M23 group.Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said a draft deal had been given to Kinshasa and the rebels, and that representatives from both sides were expected to meet soon in the Ugandan capital to discuss it. She did not give a date.But another delegate at the Nairobi meeting said the two sides remained far apart and little progress was being made in the Kampala talks.The UN has deployed a 3,000-member UN Intervention Brigade to fight and disarm rebels in eastern Congo. The brigade is part of a 17,000-strong peacekeeping force, which has been stretched thin by the M23 rebellion.