MONUC-RCD relations "good, cordial, no real tension"

Relations between MONUC - the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - and the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition movement were described by a UN spokesman as "good and cordial, with no real tension" following a meeting between heads of the two organisations in Goma on Thursday.

During what a MONUC interim spokesman, Madnodje Mounoubai, termed "a very useful meeting" lasting over two hours, RCD-Goma officials assured the UN delegation, led by deputy head of MONUC Lena Sundh, and UN Resident Representative in the DRC Bouri Sanhouidi that they would provide security and protection for all UN personnel in the roughly one-third of the DRC RCD-Goma controls.

Relations between RCD-Goma and the UN have been strained since MONUC produced a report on 23 May accusing RCD-Goma of "grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law" in the eastern DRC city of Kisangani, following a mutiny within the rebel group.

Last week, the RCD-Goma leader, Adolphe Onusumba, declared MONUC head Amos Namanga Ngongi "persona non grata" and demanded his recall. He accused Ngongi of supporting the agreement reached in April in Sun City, South Africa, by Joseph Kabila's government, Jean-Pierre Bemba's rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo, and a majority of political opposition and civil society groups in the DRC.

Furthermore, the UN's human rights chief in Kisangani, Luc Henkinbrant, and two peacekeeping officials were also ordered out for "threatening internal security".
MONUC rejected the accusations against the officials, stating that it "strongly protested against the intrigues and intimidatory measures" taken against them, notably the deployment of RCD-Goma military around their homes. MONUC also demanded an end to the "unacceptable harassment" of UN staff.

While RCD-Goma expressed no change in their stance regarding Ngongi and the three expelled UN staff members, Mounoubai said that both parties "agreed to keep the lines of communication open".

The RCD-Goma head of security, Bizima Karaha, clarified his organisation's position on state-run Radio Rwanda.
"We have made it clear that we do not have any problem with the UN or with MONUC," Karaha said on Thursday. "We are going to continue to work with MONUC, with the UN, but on what concerns Amos Ngongi, we have made it clear that what he is doing here is beyond his mandate and he is neither helping efforts to bring peace to our country or the subregion, nor is he of any help to MONUC."