originally published in the Daily Nation, Kenya
Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda today called another ceasefire less than a day after breaking his previous one.
And Congolese Tutsi rebels were pulling back south “in the hundreds” from frontline positions in North Kivu province in a gesture to support a United Nations peace initiative, a UN military spokesman said.
The withdrawal by General Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) fighters followed a commitment made by the rebel at the weekend to a UN envoy that he would take part in peace talks and respect a ceasefire.
“Since yesterday evening, they (the rebels) have been withdrawing. They are pulling back south on three axes – from Kanyabayonga towards Kibirizi, from Kanyabayonga towards Nyanzale and from Rwindi south,” UN military spokesman Lt-Col Jean-Paul Dietrich said.
He said UN peacekeepers were monitoring the pullback and that the withdrawing rebels were estimated “in the hundreds”.
A statement by the rebels requested peacekeepers to create buffer zone along the two frontlines of a 40-kilometre distance.
Meanwhile, in New York, the UN Security Council met today to discuss sending a further 3,100 troops to the war-torn province of the Congo, though the peacekeeping mission has been criticised more over its lax mandate than the number of troops on the ground.
Monuc chief Alan Doss called for more troops in late October, saying the UN was “stretched to the limit,” with only 850 peacekeepers protecting the city of Goma.
Others have said the political mandate of the mission was not strong enough, allowing the UN to use force to protect civilians, but limiting offensive strikes on rebel groups.
Monuc soldiers stood idly by yesterday as the CNDP took Rwindi, just like they did in late October when the rebel group ran 100 kilometres in three days, coming to the gates of Goma.
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