Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels suspended fighting and withdrew from the frontline yesterday to allow an independent investigation into shelling that hit neighbouring Rwanda, its leader said.
Rwanda accused Congo on Thursday of shelling its territory and said such “provocation” would not be tolerated, raising fears of an escalation in the conflict in eastern Congo where army troops and UN peacekeepers have been battling the rebels.
The UN has thrown its weight behind Congo’s government, saying its peacekeepers witnessed the M23 rebels firing shells into Rwanda.
“We have just asked our forces to withdraw from the Kanyaruchinya front line and cease combat so as to allow for an investigation into who was shelling Rwanda,” M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa told France’s RFI radio.
Bisimwa said the decision would have immediate effect but the M23 would hold on to other positions. He asked Congo’s government to resume negotiations to end the conflict in the mineral-rich east of the vast central African state.
The M23 rebels, named after a March 23, 2009, peace deal that ended four years of rebellion in eastern Congo, took up arms last year saying the government had failed to honour the agreement, which included integrating them into the army. After seizing Goma in November, the rebels further demanded Congo’s President Joseph Kabila hold national talks, release political prisoners and disband the electoral commission.
A military spokesman for the UN mission in Congo (Monusco) said there was no fighting along the front yesterday and the rebels seemed to have pulled back.
Congo’s government spokesman, Lambert Mende, confirmed that the rebels were withdrawing from the frontline but rejected any resumption of peace talks, saying the M23 must first disarm, demobilise and become a political party.
“They are withdrawing but just to displace the problems they cause deeper into the country,” Mende said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the violence in Congo and urged parties yesterday to pursue a political process to tackle the causes of the conflict, a spokesman said. Ban, who spoke to Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Thursday, also condemned the indiscriminate shelling by the M23 that caused deaths, injuries and damage among the civilian population in Congo and Rwanda, as well as among UN peacekeepers.
A Tanzanian peacekeeper was killed in Wednesday’s fighting, the first death since a new UN Intervention Brigade engaged rebels last week, with an unprecedented mandate to stamp out armed groups and enforce peace in eastern Congo.