I told your damn [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tembo the elephant, and his buddy baby tembo would not listen.
oh well!!! MK Rebels seize DR Congo town The clashes are delaying the creation of a new army Dissident soldiers have taken control of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Bukavu after a week of fighting with regular army troops. The BBC's Rob Walker in the town says the army had withdrawn from Bukavu, which is now calm except for looting. He says the 1,000 United Nations troops around Bukavu have not intervened to prevent the rebel advance. Under a 2003 peace deal, former rebels should be integrated into the army and the clashes threaten the peace process. UN sources say that a column of between 2,000 and 4,000 dissident fighters, led by Brig Gen Laurent Nkunda, has entered Bukavu. I control the town of Bukavu Col Jules Mutebusi Q&A: DR Congo conflict "It appears that Nkunda's troops have arrived in town and that (the government) troops have retreated to the highlands," said UN spokesman Sebastien Lapierre. Gen Nkunda's fighters were reinforcing Col Jules Mutebusi, whose militia first clashed with the army last week. The latest fighting came just hours after UN peacekeepers said a rebel ceasefire declared on Monday appeared to be holding in the area. Rebels say they broke the ceasefire after coming under attack but this has not been independently verified. Fled Exchanges of light arms and mortar fire erupted at 0400GMT in Bukavu town centre but no gunfire has been heard in the past few hours, our correspondent says. A week of clashes has left at least 27 people dead and thousands of ethnic Tutsi Banyamulenge have fled into neighbouring Rwanda. Bukavu unrest in pictures But Congolese Foreign Minister Antoine Ghonda denied there was an ethnic aspect to the violence. Instead, he blamed it on indiscipline within the army. "We are in control of the whole of Bukavu and (government loyalist Brig Gen Mbuza) Mabe has fled the city," Col Mutebusi told AP news agency. "Many of his troops have joined us, others have shed their uniforms and are staying at their homes and a few have fled with Mabe," he said. Mr Lapierre said that peacekeepers were intervening to stop looting. Col Mutebusi's militias had earlier agreed to a UN ultimatum to stay off the streets. The renegade commander himself has been suspended from his post in the national army because of the fighting. Slow progress Both Col Mutebusi and Gen Nkunda are former members of the largest rebel group during DR Congo's five-year civil war, RCD-Goma. A senior government delegation had been expected in Bukavu later on Wednesday, led by former RCD-Goma commander Vice-President Azarias Ruberwa. Under a peace deal agreed last year, all the Congolese warring factions were supposed to unite as a single army, but progress has been slow. The deal ended five years of war, which dragged in at least six other countries. -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
