[allAfrica.com]  [celtel.com]


African Union Weighs Military Operations in Kivu Provinces

The New Times (Kigali)
NEWS
December 4, 2005
Posted to the web December 4, 2005

By Jennifer Bakody / Monuc
Kigali
A mainly military delegation of the African Union was in Goma, the
administrative centre of the province of North Kivu, recently, to assess the
possible deployment of AU troops in the Eastern DRC.
The head of the delegation, South African Brigadier General Hougaard, conveyed
the strong will and determination of the organization to deploy troops to fight
foreign armed groups residing and operating illegally in the DRC. The
delegation was briefed about the issues of disarmament, demobilization,
repatriation, reintegration and reinsertion (DDRRR) by different stakeholders.
The African Union has for months been examining the possibility of sending
troops to the DRC to disarm foreign elements by force. While details have yet
to be made public, the AU announced in Addis Ababa that such an operation
against Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) elements alone
would require the deployment of about 7,000 troops.
Meanwhile, MONUC's mandate is limited to voluntary repatriation. This mandate
applies to both the FDLR and the thousands of foreign members of ADF/NALU
(Allied Democratic Movement/Army) concentrated in North Kivu's expansive "Great
North" region.
"MONUC doesn't have the mandate to proceed with forcible disarmament. The FARDC
does not yet have the capacity, given that the army is still in the process of
integration. We (the AU) will come, therefore, to bridge the gap between the
two," Boubacar Diallo, a spokesperson for the delegation, was quoted as saying.
Diallo also said the AU is considering deploying sometime early next year.

   

  ==============================================================================
 Copyright © 2005 The New Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica
                          Global Media (allAfrica.com).
  ==============================================================================