UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
6 Mar
2009
Press Review
After issuing verbal threat against the rebel Laurent Nkunda's troops having allegedly spread panic in Minova and the surrounding localities, General Mbuja Mabe, commander of the 10th military region, goes into action, report the majority of today's local papers in Kinshasa.
Sticking to his words, General Mbuja Mabe has attacked General Nkunda's positions, reports LE PALMARES, recalling that General Mbuja Mabe told General Laurent Nkunda to leave Minova locality where his troops were accused of committing exactions on the populations. ''After waiting in vain, Mbuja Mabe decided to go ahead'', the paper says, underscoring that after ''violent clashes'', Nyabibwe and Duti localities, situated about 100 Km North of Bukavu were recaptured. The Commander of the 10th military region also allegedly said that his troops were heading for Minova, in a bid to ''dislodge General Laurent Nkunda and his troops''.
L'OBSERVATEUR highlights that the military action is a joint operation including the South Kivu Governor, Mr. Augustin Balayimu. The latter says, ''the objective of the operation is to restore security and State authority in the region'' while General Mbuja Mabe says it was rather ''a counter-attack on the rebel troops who first attacked his troops and committed exactions against the population in Minova''.
Félix Mbuja Mabe wants to deal with Laurent Nkunda, titles LA REFERENCE PLUS. The paper recalls that General Laurent Nkunda, ''a former combatant of the Rwandan Patriotic Army, retreated on 9 June to Minova with his troops, about 4000, after losing control of Bukavu which they occupied on 2 June 2004''. Since his retrenchment, the paper writes, ''he threatened several times to recapture the town of Bukavu if the Transition's government did not meet his claims, notably his return to Goma where his family is, and the departure/eviction of General Mbuja Mabe from his commanding post in South Kivu''.
Mbuja Mabe's fight to restore State authority in South Kivu province was reportedly met with jubilation, L'AVENIR says, highlighting that ''the population even encouraged Mbuja Mabe to carry through his logics of restoring State authority which Laurent Nkunda and his troops who have an open support from Kigali and some highest-ranking Congolese Government officials and military officers''.
Regaining control of the localities occupied by Laurent Nkunda seriously embarrassed Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, LE PALMARES reports, quoting Rwandan President as declaring that ''such fighting would pose a threat to peace in the DRC and risk spilling out onto Rwanda''. It is now obvious that ''Kagame would just use the pretext put forward by Mbuja Mabe, say acting in line with his prerogatives, to re-deploy his troops into the DRC''.
The headlines in LE POTENTIEL read: Laurent Nkunda forced into exile, echoing scenarios foreseen by ''some political analysts'' who fear that General Laurent Nkunda, in a ''strategic flight'' in the face of the regular army's decisive advance, may take along a handful of Congolese troops into Rwandan territory, which, the paper says, ''would be used as an official pretext by President Kagame to authorise military reprisals against the DRC''. The second scenario is that Laurent Nkunda may take refuge in North Kivu where the commander of the 8th military region, General Obed who declares having been instructed by Vice-president Azarias Ruberwa ''to arrest General Laurent Nkunda'', is based. In any case however, ''the renegade would opt for a forced exile to a neighbouring country of his choice rather than accepting to be jailed''.
L'OBSERVATEUR highlights that the military action is a joint operation including the South Kivu Governor, Mr. Augustin Balayimu. The latter says, ''the objective of the operation is to restore security and State authority in the region'' while General Mbuja Mabe says it was rather ''a counter-attack on the rebel troops who first attacked his troops and committed exactions against the population in Minova''.
Félix Mbuja Mabe wants to deal with Laurent Nkunda, titles LA REFERENCE PLUS. The paper recalls that General Laurent Nkunda, ''a former combatant of the Rwandan Patriotic Army, retreated on 9 June to Minova with his troops, about 4000, after losing control of Bukavu which they occupied on 2 June 2004''. Since his retrenchment, the paper writes, ''he threatened several times to recapture the town of Bukavu if the Transition's government did not meet his claims, notably his return to Goma where his family is, and the departure/eviction of General Mbuja Mabe from his commanding post in South Kivu''.
Mbuja Mabe's fight to restore State authority in South Kivu province was reportedly met with jubilation, L'AVENIR says, highlighting that ''the population even encouraged Mbuja Mabe to carry through his logics of restoring State authority which Laurent Nkunda and his troops who have an open support from Kigali and some highest-ranking Congolese Government officials and military officers''.
Regaining control of the localities occupied by Laurent Nkunda seriously embarrassed Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, LE PALMARES reports, quoting Rwandan President as declaring that ''such fighting would pose a threat to peace in the DRC and risk spilling out onto Rwanda''. It is now obvious that ''Kagame would just use the pretext put forward by Mbuja Mabe, say acting in line with his prerogatives, to re-deploy his troops into the DRC''.
The headlines in LE POTENTIEL read: Laurent Nkunda forced into exile, echoing scenarios foreseen by ''some political analysts'' who fear that General Laurent Nkunda, in a ''strategic flight'' in the face of the regular army's decisive advance, may take along a handful of Congolese troops into Rwandan territory, which, the paper says, ''would be used as an official pretext by President Kagame to authorise military reprisals against the DRC''. The second scenario is that Laurent Nkunda may take refuge in North Kivu where the commander of the 8th military region, General Obed who declares having been instructed by Vice-president Azarias Ruberwa ''to arrest General Laurent Nkunda'', is based. In any case however, ''the renegade would opt for a forced exile to a neighbouring country of his choice rather than accepting to be jailed''.
