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The leader of the rebel Mouvement de liberation congolais (MLC),
Jean-Pierre Bemba, has said Saturday's signing of the Lusaka accord by heads of state will be a test of President Laurent-Desire Kabila's "sincerity". Bemba told IRIN from his new headquarters in the northwest town of Gbadolite on Friday that Kabila "never respects his signature".
Bemba warned that if the ceasefire agreement was not implemented by the Kinshasa government, "we will have no choice but to continue fighting". He described the accord as a "good move", because "it is our desire, as Congolese, to bring the war to an end and build our nation". "We are ready ourselves to abide by it," he added.
Bemba confirmed that his troops had captured Gbadolite town, the
birthplace of ex-president Mobutu Sese Seko, and had turned it into the MLC's headquarters. He said however that the hospitals lacked medicines and the water was not treated for lack of chemicals. "Hospitals and dispensaries here have no medicines after being looted by government forces," he said. "They also looted the chemicals for water treatment and my fear is that the area's population of about 300,000 people may get infected and epidemics may start." "I am therefore appealing to UN agencies and other international organisations on behalf of my people to
come to our aid and send us medicines to equip the hospitals and chemicals to treat water," he added.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
