“Merger a good idea” - rebel groups

Northern DRC-based rebel movements have welcomed the proposal by Ugandan authorities for a merger between them saying it could be a “very good move”. “We are ready to discuss and negotiate with our colleagues in Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie- Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML) for the formation of one movement for northern DRC, a Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) official, Olivier Kamitatu, confirmed to IRIN on Thursday. Uganda which backs both movements, recently proposed a merger of the two. “We’re trying to organise a conference for representatives of both the MLC and the RCD-ML. We’re trying to put them together,” AFP quoted Uganda’s presidential advisor on Congo Colonel Kahinda Otafiire as saying. According to Kamitatu, MLC is “waiting for communication” from their counterparts in RCD-ML. “We have a structure, military force and our leadership is not contested. We think it will be a very good opportunity,” Kamitatu added. RCD-ML for its part, said the two movements were already cooperating militarily and “materially”. “Our enemy is one [Kabila]. We believe this is a step towards the integration of the Congolese to help bring a political solution to the country,” RCD-ML official in Bunia Jacque Depelchin told IRIN. RCD-ML has particularly in the past month been locked in a bitter leadership wrangle pitting the embattled movement’s leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba against his former deputies Mbusa Nyamwisi and John Tibasiima Ateenyi. Nyamwisi and Ateenyi staged a coup against Wamba early in November, but it was quashed by the Ugandan army. Another clash erupted mid-November in which some 40 people were killed and 20 others were wounded. In a bid to reconcile the feuding sides, Ugandan authorities summoned them to Kampala some time last month but no meeting has taken place between them. Wamba insists he is the movement’s leader while the two say “it finished for him in Bunia”.