UN deploys troops in DRC AFP Published:Jul 19, 2007
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KINSHASA - United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) announced yesterday they were deploying to the northeast of the
country to try to intercept incoming rebels from Uganda entering via Sudan.
A contingent of 80 Moroccan peacekeepers have been deployed at Ngundu, near
the border with Sudan, for a week already, said the UN Monuc missions military
spokesman Major Gabriel de Brosses.
They were there to set up an advance base, and Indonesian troops would be
joining in the next few days, he added.
The UN troops, in cooperation with soldiers from the DRCongo army, were
responding to the appearance of rebels from Ugandas Lords Resistance Army
(LRA), who had arrived in the country via Sudan.
Northern Uganda and southern Sudan both border the northeast of the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
The Monucs mission would be to repatriate any LRA rebels found inside the
country, respecting the terms of the Juba peace process, said de Brosses.
The Ugandan government and the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA) have been
negotiating an end to the two-decade conflict since talks started in the
southern Sudan town of Juba in July last year.
Violence in northern Uganda decreased after a ceasefire was signed last August.
But one of the sticking points to a final agreement is the indictment by the
Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) of LRA leader Joseph Kony and
his most senior deputies for crimes against humanity - specifically, murder,
rape, mutilations and mass abductions.
The presence of LRA fighters in what is already a troubled region of the DRC
was first noted in September 2005.
Uganda has on several occasions threatened to send troops across the DRC
border to pursue the rebels.
Kampala sent troops and supported militia during the 1998-2003 war in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
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