CONGO-DEM.REPUBLIC 5/6/2004 16:36 MUTINOUS SOLDIERS ALSO OUTSIDE BUKAVU, FEARS OF æROOP MOVEMENTS?IN EAST General, Standard Unconfirmed reports of troops movements of the æutinous?soldiers in the east Democratic Republic of Congo are provoking fears in the cities surrounding Bukavu, from which in the past hours columns of insubordinate soldiers have departed in the past hours in direction of Walikale, in the north, and Uvira, around 130km to the south. MISNA sources refer that this morning in Uvira a local radio confirmed the possible arrival of soldiers commanded by General Laurent Nkunda and former colonel Jules Mutebusi, the same that in Bukavu claimed 80-some victims since the start of the clashes with regular forces, May 26, culminating Wednesday with the seizing of the key city along the border with Rwanda. æe have news of troop movements, but cannot confirm? stated to MISNA Sebastien Lapierre, spokesman of the MONUC (UN mission in DR-Congo), contacted over the phone in Bukavu, adding that æeneral Nkunda did not respect his word? Two days ago the commander of the insubordinates ?a military leader known for first combating in Rwanda, then in the lines of the Congolese rebellion of the RCD-Goma and that Human Rights Watch accuses of war crimes for the massacres of Kisangani in 2002 ?had declared their willingness to gather in apposite sites defined by the MONUC, save for opposite behaviour. æhe people are afraid of a repeat in Uvira of what occurred in Bukavu? stated a MISNA source contacted on the scene. æhe May-Mayi (armed men considered loyal to the Kinshasa government) already stated that if Nkundaæ men should arrive in the city, there will be no possibility to oppose resistance. We have a sensation of absolute impotence? Meanwhile, in Bukavu the situation remains tense: the MONUC denounces that the armed men are still present in the city, where the æillaging and violence continues? added Lapierre, specifying that UN patrols have been stepped up; the attended reinforcement of the UN contingent has not however taken place. Currently, around 1,300 people are still at the MONUC base, where they sought refuge in the past days to escape the violence against the civil population. MISNA sources refer that ?despite some shots in zones of the outskirts ?in the city centre some stores have opened after several days, to consent the population to buy essential provisions such as rice, sugar, salt and that the people are cautiously returning on the streets. The only comforting news is arriving from Kinshasa, where after two days of unrest and protests of the population against offices and structures of the MONUC ?accused of inefficiency and incapacity in handling the crisis of Bukavu ?today calm has returned. The political scenario is instead more agitated due to the contrast between those who see the shadow of Rwanda lurking behind the crisis in the east of the nation and those who instead see it as an entirely æongolese?crisis that risks compromising the delicate peace process upheld with not few difficulties by the transition government. Olivier Kamitatu, president of the National Assembly of Kinshasa, called the Parliament to its institutional duties to establish æhe entire truth?on the fall of Bukavu: æfter years of wars and divisions (1998-2003, with over 2-million victims) no one wants to see our nation on its knees again, humiliated? [BO]
