M23 opt for ceasefire, ready for peace talks

Congolese soldiers celebrate after winning a Kibati village during their battle with M23 rebels outside Goma. Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels suspended fighting and withdrew from the frontline on Friday to allow an independent investigation into shelling that hit neighbouring Rwanda. 

By M23 opt for ceasefire, ready for peace talks  (email the author)

Posted  Sunday, September 1  2013 at  12:29

In Summary

“That could only be rebels,” he said, adding that M23 fighters, and not soldiers, were in the area from which the shells were fired.

Kinshasa, Saturday. The M23 rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has said it will stop fighting and pull back from the frontline following days of clashes with UN-backed forces.

M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa said this was to allow an independent investigation into recent shelling.

Some of the shells fell onto Rwandan territory, sparking an angry response.

Rwanda accused the Congolese army of firing the shells - allegations it vehemently denied.

As tension escalated on Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Rwanda’s president for restraint.

Rwanda twice invaded its much larger neighbour during the 1990s and the border area has been unstable for two decades.

DR Congo and the UN accuse Rwanda of backing the M23, a charge it denies.

Their troops have been pounding rebel positions on the Congolese side of the border with Rwanda since last week.

Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende told the BBC’s Newsday programme that M23 rebels were firing onto Rwandan territory “to give Rwanda a pretext for coming in openly in this war”.

A newspaper close to Rwanda’s government has published photographs showing a military build-up near the border with DR Congo.

The UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, Monusco, recently deployed a new 3,000-strong intervention brigade to tackle the rebels.

Rwanda’s Foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo on Thursday said 13 “bombs and rockets” had been fired into Rwanda on Wednesday and the following day.

This brought to 34 the number of attacks Congolese have carried out on Rwanda in the last month, she said.

She accused DR Congo forces of targeting Rwandan civilians and said: “We have remained restrained for as long as we can but this provocation can no longer be tolerated.”

Congolese army spokesman Col Olivier Hamuli told the BBC that his forces would never fire at civilian populations.

“That could only be rebels,” he said, adding that M23 fighters, and not soldiers, were in the area from which the shells were fired.

Kampala talks

This was backed up by Mr Ban’s assistant, Edmond Mulet, who told the UN Security Council that UN forces in the DR Congo had witnessed M23 rebels firing artillery into Rwanda but not the Congolese army, diplomats said.

Mr Mulet ended the session by informing members that Mr Ban had telephoned Rwandan President Paul Kagame to urge restraint.

At least 800,000 people have fled their homes in DR Congo since the M23 launched its rebellion in April 2012. The M23 is made up of deserters from the Congolese army and are mostly ethnic Tutsis, like Rwanda’s leadership.

Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict since 1994, when Hutu militias fled across the border from Rwanda after carrying out a genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The rebels had earlier appealed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government to return to the table for talks. The rebel group urged the government side to return to Kampala for mediated peace talks, arguing that peace can only be achieved through dialogue and not war.

Rene Abandi, the head of M23’s delegation at the talks, told reporters that the talks were supposed to resume on Tuesday but the government side returned to Kinshasa for consultations.

“For us, Kampala is the only way, dialogue and peace talks is the only way to bring durable and sustainable peace,” he said.

Abandi revealed that the M23 was ready to declare a ceasefire provided the government side is also ready to do the same.

“Any hour of day or night, if the government accepts, we are ready for a bilateral ceasefire,” he said, adding that the M23 had submitted its draft agreement to the facilitator of the talks, Crispus Kiyonga, Uganda’s minister of defence.

The Kampala mediated talks, which started in December last year, have been on and off without any major breakthrough.

The ongoing clashes between the government troops and the M23 rebels have sparked a major humanitarian crisis leaving hundreds of thousands of Congolese fleeing to neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda.

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the spokesperson of the talks and also Uganda’s military spokesman, told reporters here last week that although the talks are on and off, they are still on track. (AGENCIES)

source: The citizen