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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Mambasa must be freed - UN general says

BENI, 8 January 2003 (IRIN) - Senior officials of the UN Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo have urged the Armee de Liberation du Congo (the military wing of the Mouvement de Liberation du Congo of Jean-Pierre Bemba) to abide by an agreement they signed on 30 December 2002 and immediately retreat from Mambasa, Orientale Province.

"Mambasa is a symbolic city and must be freed as soon as possible," Gen Mountaga Diallo, the mission's force commander, told Bemba's military chief who introduced himself as "Colonel" Ramses.

Mountaga and the mission's deputy head, Lena Sundh, met Ramses on Tuesday just outside Mambasa. Ramses told the UN officials that he would withdraw his forces.

"I hope to be able to round up my troops within four days from the area before moving,but my wounded soldiers are slowing the process. In the meantime, the refugees can go back home safely," he said.

However, a memorandum signed by Mambasa refugees in Beni, North Kivu Province, suggests that they would not return home as long as Bemba's troops remain just 20 km from Mambasa.

Fighting between the MLC and their Rassemblement conglais pour la democratie-National (RCD-N) allies against the RCD-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-K-ML) of Mbusa Nyamwisi led to the capture on 12 October 2002 of this strategic town 142 km northwest of Beni. The RCD-K-ML took Mambasa on 31 October, but it was retaken again by the ALC on 27 November.

On 30 December, the three rebel movements signed a UN sponsored ceasefire accord in Gbadolite, Equateur Province. Under the agreement, Bemba's should have left Mambasa two days after the deal and retreated to positions at least 20 km from the city on the road to Isiro. International NGOs in Beni said that over the last few days the ceasefire seemed to be holding.

This fighting has caused the displacement of 180,000 people, the UN mission said, mainly since 17 December when Bemba's fighters advanced on Beni.

"Mambasa was a town of 30,000 inhabitants, but it's almost empty now," Sundh told IRIN. "The humanitarian consequences of these military operations are not acceptable. We are not satisfied with the pace of the retreat. If the city is not rapidly freed, the population will be reluctant to come back".

A team from the UN mission is currently leading an investigation into alleged massacres, rapes, mutilations, cannibalism, lootings and other violations of human rights perpetrated in the entire area since 12 October. The mission deployed four military observers to Mambasa on Friday, in addition to the eight observers already in Beni.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

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