January 04, 2013
By JUAKALI KAMBALE in Kinshasa
Tanzania is set to deploy its contingent of peacekeeping troops in the eastern DR Congo city of Goma as per the peace plan agreed on by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Africa Union (AU) announced on Thursday.
According to Ramtane Lamamra, who is the AU commissioner for peace and security the details of the overall deployment and peacekeeping operation would be discussed at a high-level ministerial meeting scheduled for January 8 in Addis Ababa.
He was speaking during a 48-hour visit to Goma when he met the governor of North Kivu province, Mr Julien Puluku, and members of the Goma-based UN mission. I think the commanders of the contigent will be with you here soon, he told reporters.
From Goma, Mr Lamamra was to travel to Kigali to meet with Rwandan officials on Friday.
The Tanzanian contingent will be part of the so-called multinational neutral force to be deployed between Rwanda and DRC to counter the M23 rebels and the FDLR Hutu militia.
AU commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is also expected in Goma is the coming days on a follow-up visit.
The AU diplomatic intervention comes as efforts to restart the second round of peace talks between the DRC government and the M23 rebel movement in Kampala getunderway. The first round got suspended after only two weeks owing to deep differences over what should comprise the agenda.
There are hardly any indications that the gulf has narrowed since. The M23 rebel group has threatened to pull out of the talks unless President Joseph Kabila signs a ceasefire agreement. The government rejects this position, arguing that it never declared war on anyone such as to merit a ceasefire.
For the MP François Mwamba, a government delegate, there is no way to sign any ceasefire simply because the DRC government never declared any war against the M23 rebel movement.
The only point we are supposed to discuss here in Kampala is the supposed grievances contained in the 2009 peace agreement signed with the CNDP, the then other Tutsi-led National Congress for the Defence of the People, and nothing else, says Francois Mwamba, a government delegate and a member of parliament.
The additional issues progressively raised by the M23 such as the restructuration of the Electoral body belong to the internal agenda currently debated in the Parliament, he adds.
Source: Tanzania to deploy troops to Goma soon - AU: News-africareview.com
By JUAKALI KAMBALE in Kinshasa
Tanzania is set to deploy its contingent of peacekeeping troops in the eastern DR Congo city of Goma as per the peace plan agreed on by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Africa Union (AU) announced on Thursday.
According to Ramtane Lamamra, who is the AU commissioner for peace and security the details of the overall deployment and peacekeeping operation would be discussed at a high-level ministerial meeting scheduled for January 8 in Addis Ababa.
He was speaking during a 48-hour visit to Goma when he met the governor of North Kivu province, Mr Julien Puluku, and members of the Goma-based UN mission. I think the commanders of the contigent will be with you here soon, he told reporters.
From Goma, Mr Lamamra was to travel to Kigali to meet with Rwandan officials on Friday.
The Tanzanian contingent will be part of the so-called multinational neutral force to be deployed between Rwanda and DRC to counter the M23 rebels and the FDLR Hutu militia.
AU commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is also expected in Goma is the coming days on a follow-up visit.
The AU diplomatic intervention comes as efforts to restart the second round of peace talks between the DRC government and the M23 rebel movement in Kampala getunderway. The first round got suspended after only two weeks owing to deep differences over what should comprise the agenda.
There are hardly any indications that the gulf has narrowed since. The M23 rebel group has threatened to pull out of the talks unless President Joseph Kabila signs a ceasefire agreement. The government rejects this position, arguing that it never declared war on anyone such as to merit a ceasefire.
For the MP François Mwamba, a government delegate, there is no way to sign any ceasefire simply because the DRC government never declared any war against the M23 rebel movement.
The only point we are supposed to discuss here in Kampala is the supposed grievances contained in the 2009 peace agreement signed with the CNDP, the then other Tutsi-led National Congress for the Defence of the People, and nothing else, says Francois Mwamba, a government delegate and a member of parliament.
The additional issues progressively raised by the M23 such as the restructuration of the Electoral body belong to the internal agenda currently debated in the Parliament, he adds.
Source: Tanzania to deploy troops to Goma soon - AU: News-africareview.com