MISNA
14 January 2008
The works of the plenary assembly of the Conference for peace and development in North and South Kivu (in north-east Democratic Republic of Congo) that opened over a week ago in Goma, capital of North Kivu, resumed with interventions of representatives of armed groups active in DR-Congo. Some six armed groups, including Mayi-Mayi, self-defined “Congolese patriot fighters”, presented the motivations of their insurgency in the region, also denouncing the “expansionistic aims of neighbouring nations” accused of exploiting the ethnic origin of the populations of the East for their economic interests.
The main armed group headed by the pro-Rwandan renegade general Laurent Nkunda, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) that took up arms against the regular forces at the end of August, called for “direct negotiations between the belligerents” - without specifying which - to restore peace in the region. Nkunda’s delegation also called for the return to the nation of Jean-Pierre Bemba - the former vice-president, rival of President Joseph Kabila in the presidential election and ex-rebel leader in exile for nine months. The CNDP also “condemned” as “baseless” the pending legal procedures against some Congolese – including Nkunda – before international jurisdictions (International Criminal Court – ICC).
In addition to the North Kivu armed groups, also representatives of the South Kivu community yesterday called for an end to the violence and compensation of damages. “We ask our youths, our sons, to avoid any negative forces and abandon armed groups operating in the region”, said a delegate of the Bashi community.
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