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MLC rejects Rwanda’s withdrawal plan

    NAIROBI

    The proposal made by Rwanda and its RCD-Goma allies to withdraw their troops 200 km from all frontline positions in the DRC has been rejected by the Ugandan-backed rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC). The MLC secretary-general, Olivier Kamitatu, told Gabonese Africa No. 1 radio that “the Kampala disengagement plan stipulates that troops should withdraw by 30 km. Now if our brothers of the RCD and Rwanda have decided to withdraw by 200 km from the fronts I believe it is because the situation in the [RCD] territories is partly under the control of Rwandan troops, they are not facing any offensive launched by Kabila for the time being.” “Therefore the calm prevailing at the front enabled them to take the initiative of withdrawing by 200 km,” he added.

    Meanwhile the semi-official Ugandan ‘New Vision’ daily on Tuesday wrote that a total of 400 North Korean mercenaries had been hired by DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila to fight the rebels. Quoting government prisoners of war captured by the MLC during last week’s fighting in Equateur province, the ‘New Vision’ said the Koreans trained the soldiers for nine months “in preparation to take over Gbadolite [the MLC stronghold]”.

    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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