CONGO-DEM.REPUBLIC 12/7/2004 16:08 ITURI: BISHOP OF MAHAGI, æEGION ONCE AGAIN PRESIDED BY VIOLENCE?/b> Church/Religious Affairs, Standard æhree week of fighting between two armed factions in the Mahagi territory, along the border with Uganda, have resulted in the death of 70 militias, a dozen of civilian victims and a vast number of displaced? This was the statement made to MISNA over the phone by Monsignor Marcel Utendi Tapa, Bishop of the diocese of Mahagi-Nioka (north Ituri, in north-eastern DR-Congo). æundreds of families with many children have left Ngote seeking refuge in the small seminary of Nzida? continued the prelate. æther families have arrived in the parish of Luma, others still in the Pastoral centre of Ugondio, 12km from Mahagi. Numerous civilians have crossed the border seeking refuge in Uganda, as the fighting and pillaging continues in many locations? Various local sources have reported to MISNA that exchanges of fire took place also last night and this morning in the zone of Ndré? where a large market is situated. The renewed violence broke out in Ituri in mid June with clashes reported in Aungba, in the Djuganda territory (inhabited by the Alur population), between elements of the FAPC (Armed Forces of the Congolese People) and the FNI (Front of Nationalist Integralists), two armed factions respectively headed by Jéée Kakwavu and Floribert Ndjabu. In July of last year the two groups had signed a mutual æon-aggression pact? dividing control over the Mahagi area, but the accord fell through. æhe first warning signs emerged already in January of this year and now, in the lapse of three weeks, the territory is once again theatre to clashes? added Monsignor Utendi. According to the prelate, among the triggering causes of the conflict is control of the gold mines of the zone, already illegally exploited by the rebels; a second motive appears to be a divergence between two traditional chiefs, disputing power over the territory of the Alur ethnic group. Local sources referred to MISNA that a certain Ukia allied with the FAPC to overthrow the chief Charles Wanuti, accused of connivance with the FNI. æhe most serious problem is the void of power in the region. Ituri authorities merely control Bunia, while the rest of the territory is still in the hands of armed factions. In regard to the MONUC, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it only counts on 4,800 men to control Ituri, a region as large as Belgium. The MONUC must increase its forces and apply its mandate to protect the region? observed Monsignor Utendi. æhe Church was on the frontline in the reconciliation process last year, we favoured the dialogue between the FAPC, FNI and a third group, the FPDC (Peopleæ Forces for Democracy in Congo)? concluded the prelate. æe even managed to achieve the objective: for us it was a temporary post in attendance of the re-establishment of the authority and arrival of the MONUC. In regard to todayæ violence, I remain confident and hopeful that dialogue is still possible, but there is urgent need for an intervention by the central government of Kinshasa, to which all eyes of the Ituri population have turned, and that the MONUC facilitate the mediation utilising, if needed, its force of dissuasion? [BO]
