WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-01-21 Time: 22:00:17 Posted By: Jan
By Herve Bar
Munigi, DR of Congo – Congolese troops shut out UN peacekeepers, aid workers and journalists on Wednesday from witnessing a joint operation with Rwandan troops to hunt down a Rwandan Hutu militia.
The operation, announced by both governments on Tuesday, sparked anger and apprehension from elected representatives and the general public, who blame Rwandan forces for atrocities committed during incursions in the 1990s.
The government of President Joseph Kabila has come under fire for not informing parliament about the invitation to Rwandan troops.
“If what I’m told is true, it’s quite simply grave. It raises lots of questions,” Parliament speaker Vital Kamerhe told the UN-run Radio Okapi.
The United Nations and several aid agencies have raised concerns about the threat posed to civilians in eastern DR of Congo, where the Hutu rebels in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have been the centre of more than a decade of instability.
The UN Mission in DR of Congo, MONUC, has protested to the Congolese army about the lack of access, which is preventing its troops from protecting civilians in the joint-operation zone north of Goma, capital of Nord-Kivu province.
A convoy carrying Indian UN peacekeepers was turned away at a roadblock near Kibumba, at the southern edge of the zone, and headed back to their base in Goma, an AFP correspondent reported.
A Red Cross vehicle was also prevented from reaching the area by the Congolese military police.
MONUC spokesperson Madnodje Mounoubai said mission military chief General Babacar Gaye had gone to Goma for talks with Congolese army heads.
He warned that UN troops had authority to open fire if civilians were threatened in areas where they were deployed.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned the operation could lead to a “massive population displacement” of up to 350 000 people in Nord-Kivu in the first phase of the operation.
It said humanitarian aid to approximately one million people “will be suspended or hampered by the lack of access”.
Up to 2 000 Rwandan soldiers crossed into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at Kibumba the day before in what both governments said was the start of a joint operation against the FDLR.
The Rwandan troops were headed for Rutshuru, some 100 kilometres north of Goma, where the situation was calm early on Wednesday, MONUC reported.
Oxfam said the civilian population in Nord-Kivu was once again in peril as fresh fighting loomed.
“The impact the fighting may have on the estimated 600 000 people living in rebel-controlled areas is deeply concerning,” said Juliette Prodhan, head of Oxfam in the country.
“Fighting three months ago saw a quarter of a million people flee from their homes, and civilians killed, raped, and looted by all armed groups. This new twist in Congo’s violence has the potential to result in similar abuse and significantly swell the one million people already displaced.”
The Congolese army is involved in another joint operation with Uganda to hunt down the Ugandan rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who have also sought to hide in the vast central African nation.
Amnesty International on Tuesday called on DR Congo, Uganda and Rwanda to make sure that civilians do not pay the price for these military operations.
“Many tens of thousands of Congolese civilians are caught up in these wide-ranging government offensives. The LRA and FDLR also have thousands of civilians – family members as well as adult and child abductees – in their midst,” Amnesty said in a statement.
“Government forces must at all times distinguish carefully between civilians and fighters.” it said.
Kinshasa and Kigali announced on December 5 that they were ready to join forces to flush out the FDLR’s estimated 6 000 fighters in eastern Congo.
The FDLR took refuge in DR Congo after Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, where its leaders participated in the slaughter of 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Tutsi National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebels who control much of Nord-Kivu province have allowed Congolese forces through their lines to pursue the FDLR as part of the joint operation.
The reality on the ground appears to have overtaken UN-mediated peace talks in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where a delegation from the Kinshasa government and the CNDP rebels have yet to sign a formal peace agreement. – Sapa-AFP
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20090121170700268C612558