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MLC to send commander to Lusaka meeting

The rebel Mouvement de liberation congolais (MLC) will be represented by one of its commanders at talks in Lusaka aimed at forming a Joint Military Commission (JMC) to oversee the ceasefire, MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba told IRIN on Tuesday. Speaking from the recently-captured town of Gemena, Bemba said he did not see why the JMC team "insisted" on having the rebels represented, yet they were not signatories to the Lusaka peace accord. "What is the problem? Is there a peace agreement or not?," he asked. The Lusaka meeting, due to begin on Monday, has been held up due to the late arrival of Rwandan and rebel representatives. Bemba said his invitation to the meeting came late, but he had asked his military commander to travel to Lusaka. "It is hard for him even to reach here [Gemena] because of the poor state of roads, but once he gets here, he will leave for Lusaka," he said. He added that there had been no fighting of late in the DRC.

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

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