Former combatants in northeast DR of Congo rush to disarm before midnight deadline - UN1 April 2005 – Hundreds of former militia members in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) rushed to join the United Nations peacekeeping mission's disarmament and re-integration programme today before a midnight deadline, bringing to 9,000 the number of the estimated 15,000 militia members in the area who have given up their weapons.
On Wednesday the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) put the number of former militia members registered at 6,332. About two-thirds of the fighters were child soldiers, it said.
From tomorrow onwards, according to MONUC, Ituri will become an "Arms Free District" - so that apart from UN peacekeepers and the DRC's national army, anyone found with weapons there will be considered an outlaw under Congolese law and dealt with accordingly.
The Mission said that while there is no extension to the deadline, child solders are welcome to enter the disarmament programme at any time.
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