On Now
Weekdays 00:00 - 05:00
Early Mornings Oscar
NEXT: 05:00 - 06:00 The Agri Hour with Gerben
Listen Live Streams

Africa News

DRC rebels miss disarmament deadline: Zuma

───   07:04 Sun, 04 Jan 2015

DRC rebels miss disarmament deadline: Zuma | News Article

Pretoria - The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have missed the deadline set by the Southern African Development Community to voluntarily disarm themselves, it said on Saturday.

"The deadline set by the heads of state and government of SADC... for the FDLR to disarm voluntarily or face military action expired yesterday, 2 January 2015," SADC chairman President Jacob Zuma said in a statement.

A joint summit by the SADC heads of states would be held in Luanda, Angola to decide on the appropriate action to be taken.

Zuma urged the FDLR to come forward and disarm themselves unconditionally.

"SADC remains committed to the internationally mandated objective of neutralising all negative forces operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the FDLR, and remains ready to play its fullest part in this regard," he said.

The east of the DRC has been a conflict area for two decades, French news agency Agence France-Presse reported last month.

It was the scene of two major wars between 1996 and 2003, with neighbouring countries including Uganda and Rwanda intervening directly or using militias to do their bidding.

In spite of the presence of 20,000 UN peacekeepers, around 50 Congolese and foreign armed groups are still active in the region.

As part of accords signed in February 2013 to bring peace to the Great Lakes region, Kinshasa promised to overhaul its armed forces and promote national reconciliation and democratic reform.

Last Sunday 151 FDLR combatants disarmed voluntarily and 67 weapons were handed over in the North and South Kivu provinces.

"This brings the total number of combatants who have disarmed since May 2014 to 337 and the number of weapons handed over to 234," Zuma said.

This was approximately 24 percent of the FDLR's total armed members.

Sapa

@ 2024 OFM - All rights reserved Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | We Use Cookies - OFM is a division of Central Media Group (PTY) LTD.