CONGO-DEM.REPUBLIC 12/6/2004 13:00 CLASHES IN KAMANYOLA, MUTEBUSI AND HIS ëEBEL?SOLDIERS DO NOT GIVE IN General, Standard Fighting involving the dissident soldiers of Colonel Jules Mutbusi, protagonist of the recent violence in Bukavu, continued in the village of Kamanyola, half way between Bukavu and Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, until yesterday evening, MISNA sources have said. The same sources say that the area has been inaccessible for 48 hours, to the extent that yesterday even an observation team sent by MONUC (UN Mission in DR-Congo) was not able to reach the area. Mutebusië men are allegedly battling the troops of the unified Congolese army, who set out after the renegade soldiers (possibly heading to Rwanda or Burundi) after chasing them out of Bukavu. MISNA sources reported that Mutebusië men had taken Kamanyola two days ago. Yesterday, the MONUC radio station ëadio Okapi?said in a news flash that the village was controlled partly by the rebel soldiers and partly by the regular army. Tension rose in South Kivu on 26 May when Mutebusi and a group of armed men ?all coming from the ranks of the Rwandan-backed rebel movement RCD-Goma (Congolese Rally for Democracy) that controlled the area prior to the peace treaty ?tried to cross the border into Rwanda near Bukavu. The regular army opposed them, triggering a spiral of violence that deeply affected Bukavu and the surrounding villages and claimed over 100 lives - according to a provisional toll by MONUC - and the same number of wounded, while many women were raped and there was systematic and widespread looting. The former deputy commander of the tenth military command (which includes the province of South Kivu, of which Bukavu is the main city), Mutebusi had earlier been at the centre of another episode which led to his suspension from office: he was allegedly accused of involvement in the attempted murder of his superior, the Kinshasa-appointed former commander of the tenth military command, General Prosper Nabyolwa. [LC]
