UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
5 Mar
2009
Press Review
Today's local papers in Kinshasa comment on the tensions in North and South Kivu and the various initiatives aimed to restore peace to that part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
LE POTENTIEL reports that calm returned to Bukavu on Monday, where armed clashes were reported since Wednesday last week, between the regular army and the dissident troops of Colonel Jules Mutebutsi backed by ''their former comrades in arms within the former RCD's military wings, General Laurent Nkunda and a thousand other insurgent soldiers from Goma''.
Asked about the incidents, the paper says they were caused by ''dangerous antagonisms'' prevailing within the RCD. According to the paper, there are apparently divides between the RCD's political leadership in Kinshasa led by Azarias Ruberwa and its military army staff whose headquarters are sometimes in Goma, sometimes in Bukavu. The contradictions are apparently on RCD's vision about the management of the transitional period. ''The political wing appears to the military as soft, and even in the process of being swallowed up by president Joseph Kabila'', the paper writes, adding that ''the military wing has accused Ruberwa and the politicians of having betrayed the RCD's ideal of taking power in Kinshasa but not sharing it''. The paper also indicates that within the core of the RCD's former armed wing, ''has emerged the idea of a third war for the liberation of the East''.
This leads LE PHARE to say that Ruberwa (is) in the volcanoes' storm. The paper wonders whether the new flare-up in the Kivus will reveal, in broad daylight, a protest against Azarias Ruberwa or, otherwise, consolidate the authority of the RCD's leader. ''That is the major stake of the new conflict that broke out in the volcanic hills of the historical Kivus'', the paper says, indicating that Azarias Ruberwa is challenged to ''confirm his leadership and simultaneously prevent a new rebellion that would likely ruin his authority and disrupt the transitional timing''.
While the atmosphere remains tense in Bukavu, an army major yesterday besieged the international airport of Goma, disrupting air traffic, reports LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES. ''The situation created a real panic in Goma, to the extent that the atmosphere was comparable to that of a ghost town'', the paper indicates.
L'AVENIR, which refers to the same story, says ''Ruberwa and his delegation were humiliated in Goma''. The paper also says that the vice-president and his delegation were ''taken hostage in Goma'', by an unidentified officer who reportedly raided the airport's control tower, along with a dozen uniformed men, ''all of them heavily armed''. According to the paper, the objective was to disrupt traffic at the Goma airport in order to prevent the Government delegation from travelling to Bukavu.
LA REFERENCE PLUS announces that the Government delegation was finally due to travel to Bukavu this Tuesday on board a MONUC aircraft. The paper adds that the decision confirming the trip was made in a marathon meeting held at MONUC headquarters in Goma. ''It took about six hours of discussion for the delegation to harmonize their views on their high-risk trip since the situation is still tense in the South Kivu provincial capital'', the paper says.
The ambassadors of the International Committee to Support the Transition (ICST) are due to travel to Bukavu today to assist the Government delegation, LE PALMARES announces. The paper feels that in view of the mutineers' intransigence, the United Nations Special Representative's intervention becomes necessary. It expresses hope that their presence in Bukavu will ''cause an electroshock that will help solve the problems in the town of Bukavu''.
The situation in Eastern DRC has given rise to concern and led the students to organise a sit-in in front of a National Assembly in Kinshasa, L'OBSERVATEUR indicates. Interviewed by the paper, the students declared they were ''officially expressing their discontent and deep indignation, through the National Assembly, and condemning in the strongest terms the aggression of the towns of Goma and Bukavu by Rwandan soldiers in connivance with some lost sons of the DRC''.
Asked about the incidents, the paper says they were caused by ''dangerous antagonisms'' prevailing within the RCD. According to the paper, there are apparently divides between the RCD's political leadership in Kinshasa led by Azarias Ruberwa and its military army staff whose headquarters are sometimes in Goma, sometimes in Bukavu. The contradictions are apparently on RCD's vision about the management of the transitional period. ''The political wing appears to the military as soft, and even in the process of being swallowed up by president Joseph Kabila'', the paper writes, adding that ''the military wing has accused Ruberwa and the politicians of having betrayed the RCD's ideal of taking power in Kinshasa but not sharing it''. The paper also indicates that within the core of the RCD's former armed wing, ''has emerged the idea of a third war for the liberation of the East''.
This leads LE PHARE to say that Ruberwa (is) in the volcanoes' storm. The paper wonders whether the new flare-up in the Kivus will reveal, in broad daylight, a protest against Azarias Ruberwa or, otherwise, consolidate the authority of the RCD's leader. ''That is the major stake of the new conflict that broke out in the volcanic hills of the historical Kivus'', the paper says, indicating that Azarias Ruberwa is challenged to ''confirm his leadership and simultaneously prevent a new rebellion that would likely ruin his authority and disrupt the transitional timing''.
While the atmosphere remains tense in Bukavu, an army major yesterday besieged the international airport of Goma, disrupting air traffic, reports LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES. ''The situation created a real panic in Goma, to the extent that the atmosphere was comparable to that of a ghost town'', the paper indicates.
L'AVENIR, which refers to the same story, says ''Ruberwa and his delegation were humiliated in Goma''. The paper also says that the vice-president and his delegation were ''taken hostage in Goma'', by an unidentified officer who reportedly raided the airport's control tower, along with a dozen uniformed men, ''all of them heavily armed''. According to the paper, the objective was to disrupt traffic at the Goma airport in order to prevent the Government delegation from travelling to Bukavu.
LA REFERENCE PLUS announces that the Government delegation was finally due to travel to Bukavu this Tuesday on board a MONUC aircraft. The paper adds that the decision confirming the trip was made in a marathon meeting held at MONUC headquarters in Goma. ''It took about six hours of discussion for the delegation to harmonize their views on their high-risk trip since the situation is still tense in the South Kivu provincial capital'', the paper says.
The ambassadors of the International Committee to Support the Transition (ICST) are due to travel to Bukavu today to assist the Government delegation, LE PALMARES announces. The paper feels that in view of the mutineers' intransigence, the United Nations Special Representative's intervention becomes necessary. It expresses hope that their presence in Bukavu will ''cause an electroshock that will help solve the problems in the town of Bukavu''.
The situation in Eastern DRC has given rise to concern and led the students to organise a sit-in in front of a National Assembly in Kinshasa, L'OBSERVATEUR indicates. Interviewed by the paper, the students declared they were ''officially expressing their discontent and deep indignation, through the National Assembly, and condemning in the strongest terms the aggression of the towns of Goma and Bukavu by Rwandan soldiers in connivance with some lost sons of the DRC''.
