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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Deadline extended for Ituri militias on cantonment details

NAIROBI, 23 October 2003 (IRIN) - The deadline for militias in the northeastern district of Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to provide technical information regarding their numbers and locations, for their cantonment, has been extended until 23 October, the UN mission in the country, known as MONUC, reported on Wednesday.

The original deadline of 19 October had been decided during the fifth meeting of a consultation committee of armed groups in the region, known as the Comite de Concertation des Groupes Armes, held under the aegis of MONUC. [see earlier IRIN story, "Ituri militias again agree to cantonment"]

Of the primary Ituri militias, only the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) said it was ready to provide MONUC with the necessary information, MONUC interim spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said at a news conference in the nation’s capital, Kinshasa.

"PUSIC [Parti pour l'unite et la sauvegarde de l'integrite du Congo] said it was finalising information. As for the FNI [Front des nationalistes integrationnistes], it requested MONUC logistical support to facilitate its movement to the different sites where its elements are located," Mounoubai said.

The two other primary Ituri militias are the Forces armees populaires du Congo and the Forces populaires pour la Democratie au Congo.

Meanwhile, Mounoubai said that the first phase of deployment of MONUC's Ituri Brigade outside the town of Bunia, which began on 9 October, ended last week with the arrival of forces at Bogoro, Marabo and Iga-Barriere.

"The deployment was carried out in very tough conditions, such as the poor state of roads and the rainy season," he said. "MONUC is preparing the second phase of its deployment in the territories of Aru, Mahagi, Pandroma and Mongbwalu."

Mounoubai also announced the discovery by a group of farmers of a cache of armaments on 18 October in the village of Lume, 16 km from Mutwanga, North Kivu Province. The weapons, whose origin MONUC said was unknown, were taken on 19 October to Mutwanga, then to Beni.

"Mounoubai said that local authorities of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani/Mouvement de liberation, a former rebel group now party to the national transitional government, confirmed their intention to hand over the weapons to MONUC for their destruction

For his part, MONUC military spokesman Col Antoine Wardini announced the arrival of a 1,200-troop contingent from Nepal at Entebbe, in neighbouring Uganda. He said that MONUC was preparing to transport the Nepalese to Bunia, for deployment throughout Ituri.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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