Eastern DRC Rebels Suspend Participation in Peace Conference
By VOA News
10 January 2008
Rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have suspended participation in a peace conference, saying one of their members was threatened with arrest.
A spokesman for delegates representing renegade General Laurent Nkunda said Thursday that the group will not take part in meetings until extra security measures are taken.
The rebels say U.N. officials accused rebel delegate Seraphin Mirindi of involvement in the 2001 assassination of then-Congolese President Laurent Kabila.
A spokesman for the United Nations mission in Congo, Kemal Saiki, told reporters the incident was a case of mistaken identity and that the man was never detained.
The conference in the regional capital of Goma has drawn hundreds of delegates representing the government, Nkunda's militia, and other regional groups.
Organizers hope the conference will be a catalyst for peace and reconciliation in the volatile eastern Congo region.
Both the government and rebels declared a cease-fire last week in advance of the meeting.
Nkunda began his insurgency in 2004, saying local Tutsis need protection from Hutu rebels from neighboring Rwanda. Fighting resumed in August 2007, after Nkunda abandoned a peace accord and pulled his fighters out of the national army.
The clashes in North Kivu province have displaced an estimated 800,000 people from their homes.
The conflict in eastern Congo is complicated by the presence of the Hutu rebels and other armed groups. Parts of the region have remained largely out of the government's control since the end of Congo's civil war in 2003.
Tuesday, the United States renewed its warning for Americans traveling to Congo, expressing particular concern about the violence in the east.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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