DR Congo. The Goma bonfire ignites.

The New York Times reports

Dire Scene in Congolese City As Rebels Prepare to Leave

NAIROBI, Kenya — Lootings. Assassinations. A spreading sense of lawlessness.

That was the alarming picture that emerged on Friday from Goma, a rebel-held city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, despite vows by the rebels to withdraw peacefully.

Human rights groups said that the M23 rebels who captured Goma last week were now going on an assassination campaign as they prepared to leave, creating a vortex of crime and confusion.

“I think it will be extremely chaotic over the next few days,” said Ida Sawyer, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.

I wouldn't bet against that assessment.

Residents in Goma reported that the rebels were piling cases of ammunition and other looted supplies onto trucks, with some of it heading toward neighboring Rwanda, while a new letter to a United Nations Security Council committee said that the Rwandan Army had crossed the border into Congo and had helped the fighters capture Goma in the first place.

This seems to be confirmed by Alex Engwete overnight.

Rwandan troops “openly entered into Goma through one of the two official border crossings,” said the letter, which was written by Steve Hege, the coordinator of a United Nations investigative panel, and was leaked by a third party.

The panel has accused Rwanda — with help from Uganda — of creating, equipping and commanding the rebels. In his letter, Mr. Hege contended that once the rebels and Rwandan soldiers chased the Congolese Army out of Goma, “these troops together took control over the entire city, marching through downtown dressed in a combination of R.D.F. and new M23 uniforms,” using R.D.F. to signify the Rwanda Defense Force.

Rwanda has strenuously denied any covert involvement in this round of conflict. But it has sent thousands of soldiers across the border to overthrow the Congolese government at least twice in the past, justifying such actions by blaming Congo for insecurity across the region.

Certainly there seems to be overwhelming evidence of Rwandan assistance in the M23 attack on FARDC that lead to the fall of Goma.

Some of Rwanda’s staunchest allies, including the United States, have recently cut aid to Rwanda amid the allegations of meddling in Congo. On Friday, the BBC reported that the British government had suspended more than $33 million in aid, which Rwanda desperately needs to keep its government running.

Actually I liked the take of Ed West in The Telegraph  although I suspect he is wolf whistling for an end to British aid.

"Then there’s Uganda, the government of which is to pass a new anti-gay law as a “Christmas gift” to its people;..."

Hilarious.

Congo and Rwanda seem to be heading into yet another turbulent, acrimonious phase, with tensions growing by the day. It began this spring when more than 1,000 former rebels who had been integrated into the Congolese Army mutinied. The rebels named themselves the M23 after March 23, 2009, the date of a failed peace deal between the two sides.

Most of the rebel commanders were Tutsi, the same minority ethnic group that dominates politics and the economy in Rwanda, and many of them had fought in the Rwandan Army.

The rebels indicated this week that they would abide by a regional agreement signed last weekend to leave Goma. “And we are continuing with that plan,” Bertrand Bisimwa, an M23 spokesman, said Friday.

He said the rebels had begun withdrawing from Goma and planned to station all troops about 12 miles outside the city, as the agreement demanded.

But another rebel spokesman contradicted him, telling The Associated Press that the rebels would not be able to leave Goma for “logistical reasons” until Sunday.

Aid workers in Goma said on Friday that they could not see any sign of a rebel pullout.

I am guessing that they need to get some more looting in before they leave.

“I’m not seeing big movements of soldiers,” said Richard Nunn, a coordinator for Oxfam. “I still see some rebel soldiers in town. It’s very difficult to say what’s going on right now.”

Other residents reported an increase in carjackings and break-ins, saying that Goma was becoming virtually lawless at night. Many people fear that a vacuum could open up when the rebels leave, and that the Congolese Army could be even worse.

When Congolese troops hastily retreated from Goma last week, Mr. Nunn said, “there was a lot of rape, a lot of insecurity, a lot of extortion and some killings.”

“It was a mess, and people are worried about the same kind of thing happening when they come back,” he added.

The deal struck last weekend calls for one battalion of government troops to return to Goma’s streets and for a mixed force of rebels, government troops and a yet-to-be-named “neutral force” to guard the airport, from which millions of dollars in minerals is exported every month.

That deal appears to be off as far General Francois Olenga seems to be concerned. He is talking about FARDC troops investing Goma Saturday.

The rebels have clearly infiltrated the police in Goma, with officers who speak the principal Rwandan language strutting around the city last week in uniforms so freshly sewn that loose threads still hung off them.

Which might or might not explain the DR Congo police being held up at the wharf as Alex explains in the link above. 

Congolese officers who had been disarmed said that only Tutsi officers were allowed to carry guns.

Most analysts believe that the rebels will officially withdraw from Goma soon, after cleaning out everything of value (there were reports that they robbed the central bank this week). Because the Congolese government is so weak and its army is in such disarray, the rebels are expected to extract a new deal that will give them top positions in the army and an even firmer grip on a large and lucrative swath of eastern Congo.

I wouldn't be to sure about that prediction. The key question is what is in Rwanda's interest and having M23 as an intergral part of the congolese army removes them from Rwandan control. 

Residents said that at least 10 people in Goma had been assassinated in the past 10 days, with many more disappearances. After one magistrate was struck in the face with a machete and nearly killed last week, United Nations peacekeepers evacuated more than 20 other magistrates.

Alex Engwete is worth a read on this.

“We’ve confirmed several cases of targeted killings by the M23 in and around Goma,” said Ms. Sawyer, the Human Rights Watch researcher. She said the victims included “those who refused to join the M23 or act as informants, individuals deemed uncooperative during looting incidents, and other suspected ‘enemies.’ ”

The rebels have denied any wrongdoing.

Mr. Bisimwa, the rebel spokesman, said that he had heard the same accusations but that no one had offered proof.

“Where are the facts?” he asked.

The facts will no doubt emerge.

Museveni and Kagame drop of the map

The Daily Monitor reports

East African Community gets new headquarters

From left: President Kibaki, Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete and The Aga Khan, founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, are shown the amenities of the new East African Community headquarters in Arusha on November 28, 2012. This was during the opening of the two buildings. PHOTO/STEPHEN MUDIARI   NATION MEDIA GROUP

KAMPALA

The East Africa Community now has a permanent place to call home following yesterday’s grand opening of an ultra-modern office complex in Arusha, Tanzania.

Presidents Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi officiated at the ceremony in the city that has cemented its traditional place as the regional body’s seat of power.

All very nice and about as interesting as watching grass grow. However then we have this. 

Rwandan leader Paul Kagame and President Museveni of Uganda who had earlier been expected to join their counterparts in launching the EAC headquarters, did not show up despite an hour delay to await their arrival.

OK I might be putting a western interpretation on this but usually Presidents show up to appointments that they are guests of honour at certainly they have people who contact functionaries and tell them to deputise something that clearly didn't happen here.

Rwandan Premier Pierre Habumuremyi finally stepped in for his leader as did Ugandan minister of State for East African Affairs Shem Bagaine who represented Mr Museveni. It was not immediately stated why the two skipped the meeting even though their names remained ingrained in the plague designed for the ceremony.

That leaves one very big question where were they. Why did they both drop of the face of the earth at the same time. I don't believe in coincidence as a rule and certainly not in a situation such as this. There seems to be no major new crisis being reported other than the utterably predictable Goma situstion. My guess is something has happened and I wouldn't bet against it being DR Congo related.

However, that did not dampen the joyous spirit among the hundreds of jubilant nationals of the five EAC member countries who braved a chilly morning to witness the event described by speakers as a turning point in pursuit of a fully integrated region.

The apparent significance of the Euros 18.8m office complex fully funded by the German government was also underlined by the attendance of other high ranking dignitaries from the diplomatic community as well as those among the business and civil society communities.

Among those who cheered on as the three Presidents unveiled the plague and cut the tape to usher in the new era included the host country’s’ Vice President Mohammed Ghalib Bilal, Premier Mizengo Pinda and His Highness the Aga Khan, the chairman of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

As part of the celebrations, the EAC Secretary General, Mr Richard Sezibera, signed two three-year bilateral agreements with Germany worth Euros 26m for Tax Administration and Investment Promotion reforms and another one with USAID for digitalization of data exchange among the different revenue authorities that could save up to $50m in costs at the border posts.

That is significant amounts of coin. Most governments would think hard about stuffing around doners with such a casual attitude towards attendence.

The signed agreements add up to a growing list of bilateral and multilateral development partners eyeing to ride on the EAC market of more than 150 million people to establish and grow their business presence in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.

President Kibaki, who is the current chairman of the Heads of State Summit, said EAC citizens should be proud of the achievements of EAC integration process and appealed that the new complex should be an impetus for deepening success. “Today is a truly special day for us all. We have opened a project that will serve as a symbol for unity and renewal of the integration process,” said President Kibaki. The Kenyan president called for free movement of goods, services and people.

Boring though this may be it is a bloody good idea from an Eastern Africa economic development perspective and that is something that would not have been lost on either Kagame or Museveni. That makes the no show even more perplexing. 

DR Congo : Confusion in Goma

Unsolicited and posted on my Facebook timeline I assume by Mutaani who appear to operate a Congolese radio station. It was in French and I have translated with Google translate.   

Le retrait du M23 de Goma s’organise, des policiers arrivent en ville

( The withdrawal of M23 Goma is organized police coming to town )

Nearly 300 police officers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrived Friday morning in the city of Goma to secure the city in preparation for a withdrawal, but still very visible supposed to be imminent, the rebel M23.The mission of the police is "to secure the city of Goma after the withdrawal of rebel M23," told AFP a spokesman for the UN mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), Manodje Mounoubai. A little more than 270 police officers have already arrived. In total, over 450 to be deployed.

I guessed this was what Mutaani were trying to point out to me my reaction on face book was.

" How this got on my timeline is beyond me. I will translate tomorrow but at a guess civilian police are being deployed to Goma. "

As this article indicates my guess wasn't to far out however it would appear things are not going to smoothly. Alex Engwete has blogged. 

" In the latest development, there was some kind of a standoff between
MONUSCO and M23 when the latter had the chupatz to attempt to take
control of Goma airport and to seize the stash of weapons and ammo the
FARDC stored in depots at the airfield.

According to the Toronto Star reporters Melanie Gouby And Rukmini
Callimachi, "[MONUSCO] Spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said the M23
rebels were trying to steal weapons belonging to the Congolese army."

In reaction, M23 said MONUSCO's refusal to abide by their diktat was a
deal breaker for the insurgents' promised withdrawal from Goma.

In the meantime, more than 200 cops who had arrived by boat on the
Lake Kivu from Bukavu to take over from M23 are stuck on their barges
at Goma harbor. "

Police, left by boat on Lake Kivu, Bukavu, a hundred miles to the south, arrived at the port of Goma, bordering Rwanda. The regular army of the DRC, FARDC, is also preparing his return from Saturday."Tomorrow (Saturday), we will deploy our units. A battalion is in town and will be a company at the airport ", currently managed by MONUSCO, said General François Olenga, head of the army.

You can guarantee M23 will resist attempts by FARDC to re-enter Goma in force. As far as I understood the agreement there were to be about 100 M23 and a similar number of FARDC stationed in Goma at the airport. I am starting to have concerns about the sanity of General Francois Olenga. When your army has had the shit kicked out of it, it would seem to me to be more sensible to take small steps rather than wave a big stick. Particularly given Alex's contention that M23 appear to be stealing elements of that big stick from the MONUSCO controlled airport.  

At the airport in Goma are also expected at a date yet unspecified a hundred Tanzanian soldiers, sent as part of a mediation of the Great Lakes tasked with finding a solution to the crisis in eastern DRC for the past eight months.

The rebels, who are fighting the rebels in the DRC army in North Kivu since April, which would have about 1,500 men, took Goma on November 20. This week, under mediation of the Great Lakes, they agreed to withdraw from the city, and other positions in the wake around this Friday. Withdrawal, they nevertheless warned Thursday could continue until Saturday. On the ground, no major troop movement of M23 was also still observed Friday morning.In the town of Sake, located thirty miles west of Goma and where, according to the military direction of M23, most of the decline should be initiated, journalists constataient always the presence of rebels. These include always kept a toll.

OK not a great translation but M23 are leaving Sake it would appear The New York Times published this photo overnight.

" Some M23 rebels preparing to leave the eastern town of Sake on Friday. The rebels also controlled the provincial capital, Goma, 15 miles to the east."

 

Accusation of looting

The men of the M23 are ex-rebel Congolese Tutsi origin who had been integrated into the regular army of the DRC in 2009, after the signing of a peace agreement. They mutinied in April, accusing Kinshasa had not fully complied with the terms of the agreement.

M23 rebels refuse any particular mutation outside their region of Kivu in order, they say, to protect their families and members of their ethnic group they feel in danger. Since their march on Goma, have expanded their demands on the political level, up to a challenge when the legitimacy of President Joseph Kabila.

Under the mediation of neighboring countries, President Kabila pledged to investigate claims of M23 in exchange for military withdrawal. Kinshasa and the UN accused Rwanda and Uganda - that belie-support mutiny. In New York, the United Nations announced that helicopter mission in the DRC would organize aerial surveillance of their withdrawal.
The Chiefs of Staff of the Great Lakes should also in theory come to Goma to see the decline. Their coming this Friday, as originally planned, however, was more certain. Meanwhile, accusations of looting multiply against the M23 in Goma.
Thursday, merchants closed their shops, following rumors of looting in some neighborhoods of the city. Kinshasa had previously accused the rebels have raided a morgue official buildings and have served in mineral stocks stored in the regional capital. "They pick up everything," dropped a Western military source, speaking of the M23.
No human toll of the recent offensive M23 was not yet available. But earlier in the week, the Red Cross said he picked up a body of sixty "civil and military" in the streets in the days following the capture of Goma. The UN has reported her rape in a place where the DRC army had collapsed.

The New York Times is reporting some fairly bad behaviour on the part of M23 and I would expect that to escalate, already they are saying that they will not complete the pull out from Goma until Sunday.

DR Congo: Are M23 withdrawing ?

New Vision ( Uganda ) reports

Congo rebels leaving Goma, Sake

By Anne Mugisa

The UN and African Union have approved a 4,000-strong hybrid neutral military force to be stationed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The new development comes even as the DRC rebel group M23 pulls out of two towns captured from the government troops recently, following a deal brokered by Uganda in a flurry of diplomatic activity.

Besides Goma, the rebels had also seized Sake, a strategic town on the way to South Kivu province and its capital Bukavu.

Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and DR Congo were last I heard the contributing nations with the force under Tanzanian leadership. The size of the force seems to have grown from the 2000 mooted in September.

The force under the UN mandate will keep peace but also engage in combat if any groups decided to destabilise the area, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. A UN military envoy is on the way to Kampala for consultations to ensure that “the concept is understood.,” according to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador James Mugume.

Currently, the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) in Congo is made up of 20,000 troops, but its mandate has purely been to protect civilians and not to fight. This is because the contributing countries insist that their forces should not engage in combat.

That is a significant change to the mandate.
This, however, is set to change with the proposed hybrid force. The current MONUSCO force is to be reduced to 16,000 and beefed up with the 4,000 African Union forces which could engage in combat if need be.

According to Mugume, the two-mandate hybrid force will also tackle anybody else who will try to destabilise peacein the region. Several armed groups are operating in the Eastern DRC. They include the Mai-Mai and the FDLR (Interahamwe).

Mugume said several African countries have pledged to contribute the forces and the UN has approved about $150m for that hybrid mission for the first year and would be revised after the first year as need arises. The money is part of the $1.4b approved by the UN for MONUSCO.

Mugume said that deployment will depend on how fast the African countries contributed troops but added that “we could deploy by January if all goes well”.

That leaves a small two month window and a considerable power vacuum.
The M23 military commander, Sultani Makenga, said on Tuesday the M23 had begun transferring arms, provisions and medical supplies from Goma to the Rutshuru territory north of the city, an area along the Uganda and Rwanda border that has been their main stronghold since launching their uprising in April,

The Kinshasha government yesterday alleged that during the withdrawal, the M23 were engaged in massive looting of Goma

Which is standard practice across the region FARDC did the same when they surrendered Goma.
The Red Cross also reported that it had buried 62 people whose bodies were found on the streets of Goma in the days following its capture by the M23 group.

Residents said dozens of trucks carrying food and ammunition had left Goma, the main city in the Kivu region on the borders of Rwanda and Uganda which has been the flashpoint for past wars in central Africa’s largest country.

That tends to support the M23 withdrawal from Goma.
At stake is the control of Kivu’s vast mineral wealth, which  include cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold and coltan, a key component in mobile phones.

On the streets of Goma, life appeared to be returning to normal, AFP correspondents said. Shops were open, taxis were running and while there were a few rebels posted at junctions, their presence has been scaled down considerably.

A local official said residents had reported that the trucks were heading towards Rutshuru and Rumangabo, both rebel-held towns north of Goma. But the M23 were still occupying the town of Sake, which lies on the road towards Bukavu.

Bloomberg reports

“Our troops will gather tomorrow in Sake and they will continue their withdrawal,” rebel spokesman Colonel Vianney Kazarama said in an interview in Goma. Kazarama said the city’s residents would be at risk of attack from poorly paid government soldiers once they returned.

And

Congo’s armed forces are massing in Minova and ready to fight, Lieutenant-General Francois Olenga, interim head of the nation’s ground forces, told reporters on the outskirts of the town, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) by road from Goma. There was no immediate sign the insurgents were pulling out of Goma, the capital of Congo’s North Kivu province.

“We are preparing for war,” Olenga said. “There will be no more negotiations after negotiations. Now it’s war that will bring peace.”

The rebels had made a string of demands on the Kinshasa government as a prerequisite for their withdrawal.

Among them was the release of opposition standard-bearer Etienne Tshisekedi, a former prime minister, who has been under unofficial house arrest since declaring victory in flawed elections last year that were officially won by Kabila. They also demanded direct talks with the president and the dissolution of the electoral commission.

The revolt against the DRC government has raised the risk of all-out war in a region dogged by nearly two decades of conflict that has killed about five million people.

The rebellion erupted in April when the M23 mutinied and broke away from the DR Congo army, complaining that a 2009 deal to end a previous conflict had not been fully implemented. The rebels captured Goma on November 20 after Congolese soldiers withdrew.

The next 36 hours should be interesting.

DR Congo Crimes against humanity

All Africa reports

Congo-Kinshasa: 'The Children Could Die' in Eastern DRC Fighting

Bukavu — Humanitarian agencies working in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been overwhelmed following a massive displacement triggered by fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and rebel movement M23 in North Kivu.

"The situation is truly precarious. There is no medicine, no food. Children could die. People are spending the night outside, each one beside their baggage, and it is very cold," says Roger Manegabe, head of a family who managed to reach Bukavu from North Kivu.

The sad truth is children will die and they will die pointlessly. There is another name for that murder. It is also a crime against humanity.

"We're missing school. We're hungry, there's no drinking water, there's no electricity. I'm 16 years old and war is all I've known from the time I was born. What will become of us?" said Fiston, Manegabe's son.

Since the start of the year, conflict in the two Kivu provinces -- militias in South Kivu have also clashed -- has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation and uprooted nearly 650,000 people, according to U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards.

And one must ask for what. Nothing more it would appear other than the continuing instability of the region that prevents development, the rule of law but allows for the illegal appropriation and exploitation of the regions mineral wealth. 

Manegaba's family is among some 250,000 civilians newly displaced since April in North Kivu, and a further 339,000 in South Kivu. According to Edwards, during this period more than 40,000 people also fled to Uganda and 15,000 others to Rwanda. And since August, Burundi has received nearly 1,000 new Congolese refugees.

Rebel fighters captured Goma, the province's largest city, on Nov. 20, and Sake the following day, before their advance stalled.

Yet even that pointless piece of adventurism created thousands more refugees. 

M23 was launched on Mar. 12 with a mutiny of Congolese army officers and soldiers. It is now putting forward a broad set of demands covering politics, social issues, human rights and governance. The movement is demanding direct talks with Congolese President Joseph Kabila as a precondition for retreating from Goma.

The group's political spokesperson, Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero, held a preliminary meeting on Sunday Nov. 25 with Kabila in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, following a regional summit on the crisis in eastern DRC.

More than 30,000 people who fled the Kanyaruchinya sector in North Kivu have found refuge at a camp in Mugunga, swelling the total numbers there to 40,000. They told the UNHCR representative in the province, Lazard-Etienne Kouassi, who visited the camp on Nov. 22, that they had not received food since their arrival and that they were eager to go back to their villages.

To what though ? It would appear that there has been considerable looting.

DR Congo: Swings and roundabouts.

The BBC Reports

DR Congo: M23 rebels set conditions for Goma pull-out

Rebel forces have set out conditions for their withdrawal from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma, which they captured last week.

Analysts say the demands, including the release of political prisoners, seem impossible for the government to meet.

Earlier Uganda's defence chief said the M23 rebels' commander had agreed to leave as ordered by regional leaders.

This is classic M23 behaviour. Agree to do what is asked but impose conditions that make the deal imposible to complete.  

The Red Cross in DR Congo told the BBC 62 bodies had been found in Goma since the rebels seized the city.

UN officials said prisoners in Goma were at large and threatening people - and there were robberies and abductions at night.

There are reports of new fighting in the area, with a rival militia said to have attacked villages over the border in Rwanda.

Anarchy is of course good for business.

'Farce'

M23 military commander Sultani Makenga on Monday flew to Uganda for talks, after which Uganda's chief of defence forces Aronda Nyakayirima said Mr Makenga had agreed to withdraw from Goma by Tuesday afternoon - a day after the deadline set by regional leaders.

At a news conference in Goma, the group's political leader Jean-Marie Runiga said the rebels wanted negotiations with Congolese President Joseph Kabila.

But he said they would only withdraw from the city if all remaining Congolese government troops in the rebel-held region were disarmed.

Somehow I don't see the Kinshasa being able to comply with that demand.

His demands also included some pan-Congolese conditions, including the dissolution of the electoral commission and freedom of movement for opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi.

Mr Tshisekedi, who lost last year's presidential election to Mr Kabila, has not been arrested - though after the election his house in the capital, Kinshasa, was put under heavy guard.

When the rebels mutinied from the army in April they said it was because a 2009 deal to end a previous uprising had not been fulfilled, and they were not given army posts promised.

"If Kabila agrees to our demands then we'll go quickly," Reuters news agency quoted Mr Runiga as saying.

For Kabila those conditions amount to political suicide. His popularity has never been high and at the moment is at an all time low. 

The BBC's Mark Doyle says meeting these demands would mean political suicide for President Kabila, so the rebels will probably stay in control of Goma, the largest city in the east.

Kinshasa has already dismissed them as a "farce".

"There's been a document adopted by the region. If each day they're going to come back with new demands it becomes ridiculous. We're no longer in the realms of seriousness," government spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters.

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, says following the summit on Saturday, an official told her the plan was to deploy a regional, neutral force to Goma airport to secure the city for the DR Congo government.

'Heavy shelling'

Both the M23 and Rwanda's leaders are mostly ethnic Tutsis and on Tuesday, Rwanda accused a rival Hutu rebel group of attacking its territory not far from the border town of Goma.

Rwandan army spokesman Joseph Nzabamwita told AFP news agency that about 100 Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) fighters had attacked the villages of Cyanzarwe and Bugesh in Rwanda.

"As we are talking some are fleeing back to DRC, others deep inside Rwanda," he was quoted as saying.

Simone Schlindwein, a reporter for the German newspaper TAZ in Goma, told the BBC's Newsday programme the situation in the city was extremely confusing and it was abuzz with rumours.

There are reports of heavy shelling and gunfire from Kibumba about 30km (19 miles) north of Goma - the former frontline where the rebels have reportedly agreed to withdraw to, she says.

That is an interesting development and one that could quite possibly have been facilitated by Kinshasa.

The Rwandans and M23 have told her that the FDLR have recently infiltrated the area around Kibumba before launching the attack on Rwandan territory on Monday night.

The FDLR has denied attacking Rwanda, Ms Schlindwein later tweeted.

Rwanda has sought to justify its backing for previous rebel groups in eastern DR Congo by saying they are the only way of preventing Hutu militias from launching attacks.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame came to power in 1994 at the end of the genocide of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, when many of those who carried out the killing fled into what is now DR Congo.

Following the rebel capture of Goma, the UN has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the mineral-rich region.

That crisis is upon us now.

UN officials said prisoners in Goma were at large and threatening people - and while it seemed relatively calm during the day, there were robberies and abductions at night.

Aid officials said the fighting has made camps for people displaced by earlier conflicts inaccessible, with food and medicines running short.

Some five million people died during the 1997-2003 DR Congo conflict, which drew in several regional countries.

DR Congo: Never heard of it.

From todays New Zealand Herald Africa news section.

The "Zimbabwe targets human rights activists" report is dated the 27 November and the "Kenya Masai Mara in Peril" is the 9th November. This is New Zealand's so called leading newspaper. I would suggest that the M23 rebellion is one of the bigger stories in the African continent at the moment.

By the way did you hear about the Hobbit premier ?

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