TRANSFER OF EX-COMBATANTS MAJOR STEP FOR PEACE IN NORTHEAST DR CONGO - UN

TRANSFER OF EX-COMBATANTS MAJOR STEP FOR PEACE IN NORTHEAST DR CONGO – UN
New York, Nov 5 2007 5:00PM
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has transferred 16 former commanders of Ituri armed groups to Kinshasa, calling it a major step in consolidating peace in the northeastern part of the country.

The transfer, which took place on Saturday by a special UN flight, was the result of 18 months of intense negotiations with the de facto leaders of the three remaining Ituri Armed Groups, according to the mission, known as <"http://www.monuc.org/News.aspx?newsID=15959">MONUC.

The former militia leaders include Cobra Matata of Front de Resistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI); Peter Karim of Front des Nationalistes Integrationnistes (FNI); and Mathieu Ngudjolo of Mouvement Revolutionnaire Congolais (MRC).

They were escorted from Bunia by Colonel Abdalah Nyembo, second in command in Ituri for the national armed forces – known as FARDC – and Ntumba Luaba, head of the national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme.

"The departure of these leaders from Bunia marks a dramatic step forward in the consolidation of the peace process in Ituri and signals a possibility of ending more than eight years of conflict," the Mission stated.

The 16 will receive training in Kinshasa while the majority of their disarmed fighters – about 300 men – will join the "brassage" retraining programme for ex-combatants in the town of Kitona to become part of integrated FARDC brigades.

Another 44 Ituri ex-combatants were flown by the Congolese government to the Kitona brassage site on Saturday.
2007-11-05 00:00:00.000

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