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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
CONGO: Minister condemns looting during army-rebels clash
BRAZZAVILLE, 26 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - A minister in the Republic of Congo has condemned looting that took place last week in a southern suburb of the capital, Brazzaville, during fighting between the army and rebels known as the Ninjas.
At a meeting on Tuesday with representatives of shopkeepers from the district of Bacongo, where the fighting took place, the minister for trade, consumption and supplies, Adélaïde Moundélé-Ngollo, said action would be taken against "uncontrolled" elements of the country's security forces who took part in the looting.
"I deplore what happened in Bacongo. I am very sorry about that," she told the shopkeepers, who were represented by officials of their union, the Syndicat des commerçants du Congo.
She added: "Civilians and shopkeepers have been victims of the lootings. Many innocent people died because some of fellow citizens don't want peace."
The union officials and the shopkeepers had presented their complaints to the minister. They claimed the government had not done enough to prevent the looting.
According to the shopkeepers, at least 45 warehouses and stores in Bacongo were heavily looted during the fighting on 19 October.
"We found some military berets in the looted stores," Nicodème Iloye Nzoutani, the chairman of the trade union, said. "Every time trouble occurs, we are targeted and the government doesn't help us."
Members of the trade union, comprise local and foreign shopkeepers; most of them from West African countries.
Moundélé-Ngollo, who is from the Pool Region - a stronghold of the Ninjas, led a government delegation during negotiations in 2003 that resulted in the signing of peace agreement on 17 March that year between the government and the Conseil national de la résistance of the Rev Férédic Bitsangou, alias Pasteur Ntoumi, the leader of the Ninjas.
Also in 2003, acting on President Denis Sassou-Ngueso's directive, Moundélé-Ngollo led several missions in the Pool areas of Mindouli, Kibouendé and Missafou to convince Ninjas to hold talks with the government.
Moundélé-Ngollo also heads an association known as "Mbongui du Pool", which promotes dialogue, peace, democracy and national reconciliation.
"We cannot plan to develop a country without thinking about peace," she said. "We have to do everything to make sure that peace is achieved."
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but May not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2005
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