Mayi-Mayi threaten to resume fighting

Militia groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known as the Mayi-Mayi, have threatened to resume fighting if the text of a power-sharing agreement tabled by the mediation team in the South African capital, Pretoria, is adopted.

"We refuse to commit ourselves to the accord and we are going to resume hostilities if the other constituents adopt its text," Mahano Ge Mahano, a Mayi-Mayi representative, said.

The UN Special Envoy to the DRC, Moustapha Niasse, presented a 20-page document titled "Global and inclusive accord on the transition period in the DRC" to the government, rebel groups, civil society and unarmed opposition on Thursday.

Civil society, the unarmed opposition and the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo, one of the country's main rebel groups, welcomed the text, which set out power-sharing arrangements at government, Senate and parliamentary levels.

The government and rebel the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) have demanded changes.
"There are imbalances in fundamental areas, which are much more important for us than the division of posts. We absolutely have to amend the text to safeguard the sovereignty of our country. We cannot alienate the patrimony of the state, and we cannot alienate the country," said Vital Kamerhe, the government's commissioner-general in charge of the peace process in the Great Lakes region.

"We have asked that certain principles agreed on by various parties be reviewed and that the division of responsibilities be rebalanced in order for us to sign the document," Joseph Mudumbi, RCD-Goma's foreign relations representative, said. "If the mediation takes account of our remarks we will sign."