M23 rebels to resume talks with DR Congo

By Anne Mugisa

The M23 rebel group has said that it has returned to Kampala to resume talks with the Kinshasa regime after the recent meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

M23’s seven-man delegation led by Rene Abandi, who is in charge of the group’s foreign affairs, said the meeting with Ban gave them hope because he recognised that they are a movement with genuine issues and seeking political answers to from the Congolese government.

“We have decided to return even without knowing whether the Kinshasa government will come... This shows our political will. We want to dialogue even if the Kinshasa regime is pressing for a military solution,” Abandi told journalists in Kampala.

“That the UN Secretary General came to visit us gave hope to the Congolese people because he gave us a new vision, saying that Kampala was very important to a political solution to our problems...,” he added.

Just shortly before Ban visited, clashes had erupted between the Government forces and M23 rebels in which at least 20 people died. The fighting broke a six-month ceasefire which had followed Ban Ki-moon violent clashes last year. The clashes in May this year followed the stalling of peace talks which were brokered by Uganda.

Together with World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, Ban met with some influential leaders in East and Central Africa hoping to keep alive a treaty signed in February by the UN and 11 African countries.

The UN’s peace and security co-operation framework for Congo, has been overshadowed by renewed hostilities between the Congolese army and the M23.

Ban urged African leaders to implement a peace plan that the UN hopes will stabilise eastern Congo, a region long plagued by violence and which now is back on edge.

According to Abandi, Ban said he understood M23’s issues. “Now that shows that were are recognised as a movement with a genuine cause. Also Mary Robinson, the Special Envoy for the Secretary General in the Great Lakes Region, underscored the importance of political efforts in bringing peace and has called for sincere talks to deal with the root cause of the problem...,” Abandi said.

He also said there is a definite change in the UN stance because Moon gave assurance that the UN Brigade will not attack the M23. “Given the assurance by Moon and his recognition that the problem has to be solved through peaceful means, we cannot prepare for war. We hadn’t even said that we will attack the brigade.

We had said that we would defend ourselves if attacked.

The brigade cannot now attack people who are talking. We are also not preparing for war against the DRC Government.

We are preparing for peace, he said. Abandi asked the international community to press the DRC to stop being a haven for armed groups from different countries which destabilise the eastern DRC as well as the entire region. He said many armed groups are using it as a base to fight their governments, while others are helping the Kinshasa government.

He said some of these groups include the Janjaweed from Sudan and al-Qaeda which has also joined the fray and complicating the instability of the region.

Abandi also asked the international community to press the DRC government to ensure that Congo does not become a haven for armed groups from neighbouring countries which are destabilising the region.

He said the M23 is not interested in or trying to take territory away from the DRC.

“We only want peace. We also do not want our region to be used as a base for every country’s armed groups; this is denying us development,” Abandi said.