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Central and East Africa : IRIN-Central and East Africa Weekly Round-up 397 for 1 - 7 September 2007

08 Sep 2007 07:08:11 GMT
Source: IRIN

NAIROBI, 8 September 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

DRC: Fighting restricting humanitarian access in North Kivu DRC: Concern as violence causes more displacement in North Kivu DRC-RWANDA: Good neighbourliness a long way off – analyst BURUNDI: Hundreds flee as 20 die in rebel clashes near capital BURUNDI: Calm returns as army warns it may crack down on rebels

See Also UGANDA DIARIES: George Oringa, 27, is a paralegal at Pabbo camp, in Uganda http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73957

UGANDA DIARIES: Dalson Oyo, organiser at Aloto resettlement site for formerly displaced people http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73953

DRC: Fighting restricting humanitarian access in North Kivu

Clashes between government forces and dissident General Laurent Nkunda's fighters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are hampering efforts to deliver aid to thousands of civilians displaced from their homes by the violence, aid workers said.

"This is a worsening crisis," Claude Jibidar, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) country director in DRC, said on 7 September. "The fighting is uprooting more people every day and making it ever harder for WFP to reach them with the assistance they urgently need. We need at least US$12 million to buy more food in the region and move it in fast."

The latest outbreak of fighting pits the national army against fighters loyal to Nkunda. It has forced an estimated 40,000 people to flee their homes in recent days. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74176

DRC: Concern as violence causes more displacement in North Kivu

The UN Refugee Agency has expressed concern over the plight of thousands of civilians forced to flee worsening tension and fighting in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on 3 September that an inter-agency team had, the day before, met groups of displaced people fleeing from Rubaya and villages in Masisi district walking towards Sake and Mugunga, where there is a site for internally displaced persons (IDPs), about 15km west of Goma.

"They had a few belongings packed in bundles. Mugunga IDP site, which had some 9,000 people at the beginning of August, continues to receive a daily trickle of new arrivals. According to the site leader, himself an IDP, this figure may have doubled in the past three weeks," UNHCR noted in a statement. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74084

DRC-RWANDA: Good neighbourliness a long way off – analyst

The recent meeting between senior Rwandan and Congolese officials saw some agreement on strategies to minimise tension between the two countries, but did not achieve a breakthrough to firmly deal with the rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an analyst said.

"The two governments more or less repeated what they had said in previous encounters, but it is some way from specifying what they expect from each other to achieve a lasting return to peace," Philippe Biyoya, professor of political science and law at the Protestant University of Kinshasa, capital of the DRC, said.

According to Biyoya, Rwanda should make clear to the DRC government that it wants support and no overtures to the Interahamwe or the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR). Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74133

BURUNDI: Hundreds flee as 20 die in rebel clashes near capital

Hundreds of families fled their homes in the northern suburbs of the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, as factions of the rebel Forces nationales de libération (FNL) clashed, leaving 20 fighters dead.

"The clashes took place at Mugaruro where one of FNL wings opposed to [Agathon] Rwasa [FNL leader] has retreated into a small forest," the administrator of Buterere commune, Moise Ndayisenga, said on 3 September.

Other witnesses heard heavy gunfire and bomb blasts near the capital, as the fighting started early in the morning. They also saw bodies in the bushes.

Ndayisenga said residents and local administrators had been urging the FNL factions to move away from the area, pending their assembly for demobilisation or integration. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74103

BURUNDI: Calm returns as army warns it may crack down on rebels

Residents of Buterere commune near the Burundian capital of Bujumbura have returned to their homes after fleeing clashes between rebel factions that left 20 fighters dead.

An uneasy calm enveloped the commune, with residents saying the fighters had left the area. The Burundian army, however, vowed to crack down on the rebels unless they abandon their current positions.

"Our defence forces did not react quickly to calls to chase the combatants away from the population's neighbourhood," the defence minister, Lt-Gen Germain Niyoyankana, said on 5 September. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74135

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Last updated:Sat Sep 8 07:10:15 2007