UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
5 Mar
2009
Press Review
Laurent Nkunda, the chief insurgent who occupied Bukavu has abandoned the idea of war, today's local papers say with relief. The papers also cover the Kinshasa visit of Mozambican president and acting president of the African Union, Joaquim Chissano.
''Just two days ago, the man who was still threatening to wage war against the Kinshasa government on the grounds that the latter did not positively respond to his ultimatum which expired last Monday, thereby passing as a leader of the Banyamulenge community, has peremptorily lifted his threat'', LE PHARE reports, alluding to Mr. Laurent Nkunda who militarily occupied the town of Bukavu from 2 to 9 June 2004. The paper quotes Laurent Nkunda as justifying this ''90-degree turn of event'' by ''a positive response to his request from the RCD leadership''. According to Laurent Nkunda, RCD's leader Azarias Ruberwa and his peers of the founding college reportedly included his basic claims into their request to the International Community, namely ''the recalling of general Mbuza Mabe who is the commander of the 10th military region to Kinshasa for replacement and the putting in place of a government board of enquiry to investigate the massacres allegedly committed on the Banyamulenge in Bukavu'', the paper writes.
Though appreciative that ''this warlord has apparently come to his senses'', L'AVENIR regards this as a ''mere illusion''. The paper says, based on information received that ''secret and unusual meetings are being held in Goma'' highlighting that this was the ''crossroad of confusion in eastern DRC''. According to the paper, ''the meetings are aimed at pursuing military operations or war, deluding the International Community and the loyalists forces''. L'AVENIR therefore urges the FARDC (Congolese armed forces) to ''remain vigilant and to not lower their guard'' and urges the government ''to pursue its diplomatic offensive and to not believe that order has definitely returned''.
The alarming situation in Eastern DRC was at the centre of the private meeting between Joseph Kabila and Joachim Chissano, yesterday in Kinshasa, L'OBSERVATEUR reports. ''During their tête-à-tête, both presidents expressed their concerns over the various threats to the ongoing transitional process, in light of the recent developments in DRC'', the paper indicates, adding that in his capacity as the acting president of the African Union, Joaquim Chissano personally got involved in the search for a solution to the DRC crisis. This leads LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES to say that Chissano has come to the rescue of the DRC. Quoting diplomatic sources, the paper indicates that ''president Chissano has insisted on a swift settlement of the conflict in eastern DRC where another African country (Rwanda) is implicated''.
The paper also says that before arriving in Kinshasa, he stopped over in Brazzaville where he met with president Denis Sassou Nguesso and in Libreville to hold talks with President Omar Bongo. LA REFERENCE PLUS says that while in Kinshasa, the Mozambican president conferred with his Congolese colleague Joseph Kabila. He also met with the vice-presidents, the heads of the different institutions to support the democracy, the Parliament as well as ambassadors. The paper notes that the contacts enabled the Mozambican president to enquire about the progress of the DRC transitional process.
This leads LE POTENTIEL to announce that Joseph Kabila is trying to save the transition's roadmap. The paper says ''during a working session, president Joseph Kabila appealed to the vice-presidents, the national Assembly and the Senate to accelerate the electoral process''. The paper indicates that from the summit meeting there emerged the need to convene an extraordinary session of the parliament in order to ''provide the DRC with the necessary legal texts for a successful electoral process'', namely, adoption of the laws on nationality, voters' census and amnesty.
In another development, LE PHARE refers to the declaration issued by a group of MPs known as CPRAL through which they declared themselves ''astounded by the ICST (International Commission to Support the Transition outrageous attitude of the last Saturday towards our Parliaments' senior members''. CPRAL blames the CIAT for ''being firmly opposed to any effort by the Congolese to review the Constitution''. According to the paper, CPRAL regards '' such a language as both threatening and irreverent and describes it as prejudicial to our sovereignty, and therefore unacceptable''.
Furthermore, LE PALMARES goes back over the split within RCD where the founding college threatens the Reformist's wing. Echoing the comments made at RCD press conference yesterday, the paper announces that ''disciplinary sanctions will be taken against the reformists because no member of this party is authorized to make declarations discrediting the movement's leadership''.
Though appreciative that ''this warlord has apparently come to his senses'', L'AVENIR regards this as a ''mere illusion''. The paper says, based on information received that ''secret and unusual meetings are being held in Goma'' highlighting that this was the ''crossroad of confusion in eastern DRC''. According to the paper, ''the meetings are aimed at pursuing military operations or war, deluding the International Community and the loyalists forces''. L'AVENIR therefore urges the FARDC (Congolese armed forces) to ''remain vigilant and to not lower their guard'' and urges the government ''to pursue its diplomatic offensive and to not believe that order has definitely returned''.
The alarming situation in Eastern DRC was at the centre of the private meeting between Joseph Kabila and Joachim Chissano, yesterday in Kinshasa, L'OBSERVATEUR reports. ''During their tête-à-tête, both presidents expressed their concerns over the various threats to the ongoing transitional process, in light of the recent developments in DRC'', the paper indicates, adding that in his capacity as the acting president of the African Union, Joaquim Chissano personally got involved in the search for a solution to the DRC crisis. This leads LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES to say that Chissano has come to the rescue of the DRC. Quoting diplomatic sources, the paper indicates that ''president Chissano has insisted on a swift settlement of the conflict in eastern DRC where another African country (Rwanda) is implicated''.
The paper also says that before arriving in Kinshasa, he stopped over in Brazzaville where he met with president Denis Sassou Nguesso and in Libreville to hold talks with President Omar Bongo. LA REFERENCE PLUS says that while in Kinshasa, the Mozambican president conferred with his Congolese colleague Joseph Kabila. He also met with the vice-presidents, the heads of the different institutions to support the democracy, the Parliament as well as ambassadors. The paper notes that the contacts enabled the Mozambican president to enquire about the progress of the DRC transitional process.
This leads LE POTENTIEL to announce that Joseph Kabila is trying to save the transition's roadmap. The paper says ''during a working session, president Joseph Kabila appealed to the vice-presidents, the national Assembly and the Senate to accelerate the electoral process''. The paper indicates that from the summit meeting there emerged the need to convene an extraordinary session of the parliament in order to ''provide the DRC with the necessary legal texts for a successful electoral process'', namely, adoption of the laws on nationality, voters' census and amnesty.
In another development, LE PHARE refers to the declaration issued by a group of MPs known as CPRAL through which they declared themselves ''astounded by the ICST (International Commission to Support the Transition outrageous attitude of the last Saturday towards our Parliaments' senior members''. CPRAL blames the CIAT for ''being firmly opposed to any effort by the Congolese to review the Constitution''. According to the paper, CPRAL regards '' such a language as both threatening and irreverent and describes it as prejudicial to our sovereignty, and therefore unacceptable''.
Furthermore, LE PALMARES goes back over the split within RCD where the founding college threatens the Reformist's wing. Echoing the comments made at RCD press conference yesterday, the paper announces that ''disciplinary sanctions will be taken against the reformists because no member of this party is authorized to make declarations discrediting the movement's leadership''.
