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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Former rebel training camp to close in South Kivu

NAIROBI, 6 November 2003 (IRIN) - The UN has hailed the closure of Nyamununi camp in South Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which had been used by the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) former rebel movement, now party to the country's transitional national government, to train its fighters.

The decision to close the camp was announced on Wednesday by South Kivu Governor Xavier Chiribanya Chirimwami during a meeting with the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC.

"The closure of the camp is another step towards the establishment of a durable peace in South Kivu," Sebastien Lapierre, MONUC's public information officer, told IRIN from Bukavu on Thursday.

"Following recent meetings which brought all Congolese armed groups under the fold of the transitional institutions, these are all steps that contribute to the creation of a favourable climate for national reunification and the holding of elections," he added.

However, citing recent fighting between the FDLR Rwandan rebel group and Mayi-Mayi militias in Mwenga and Bunyakiri, Lapierre said there still remained pockets of insecurity in South Kivu due to the continued presence of foreign armed groups. [see earlier IRIN story, "Fighting displaces thousands in Mwenga, South Kivu Province", at http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37616]

"We now hope that all parties will collaborate with MONUC for DDRRR [disarmament, demobilisation, reinsertion, repatriation and reintegration] in order to fully restore security and thereby achieve the necessary conditions for a successful transition in the east," Lapierre said.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, MONUC spokesman Hamadoun Toure told a news conference in the capital, Kinshasa, that UN peacekeepers were still being denied free access to inspect military installations in North Kivu Province, despite having received authorisation from provincial Governor Eugene Serufuli.

MONUC said it had hoped the inspections would enable verification of the alleged presence of Rwandan troops on DRC territory.

"Six attempts by the verification mission to access the sites were in vain," Toure said. "However, steps will be taken to address this issue."

Also on Wednesday, MONUC protested against obstacles to its verification mission in Kamina, central Katanga Province of southeastern DRC, following the recent crash of an aircraft believed to be transporting weapons intended for armed groups in South Kivu.

"MONUC calls on the relevant authorities to authorize free access to the site of the accident for the purposes of clarifications on this issue," Toure said. [see earlier IRIN story, "MONUC accuses Kinshasa of blocking plane crash inquiry"]

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

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