US offers support to Pool Region IDPs

The US embassy in the Republic of Congo announced on Tuesday a contribution of 30,500,000 francs CFA (US $54,668) in support of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Pool Region who have sought refuge near the capital, Brazzaville, to escape fighting between Ninja rebels and government forces. The money would be used to put up 90 temporary shelters and to purchase school kits and non-food items for distribution to thousands of IDPs currently camped some 17 km south of Brazzaville. The US has chosen the international NGO Agence de cooperation technique et de developpement (ACTED) to install the temporary shelters, capable of housing about one dozen persons each, and which the IDPs could easily dismantle and transport once they return to their villages of origin. The US has also chosen the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to distribute school supplies and non-food items to the IDPs. No date for the return of the IDPs has been set, although the government has appealed to UN agencies and NGOs to help in mounting such an effort. Sources close to the presidency told IRIN those negotiations between representatives of the government and Ninja leader Rev Frederic Bitsangou, alias Pasteur Ntoumi, were "very advanced" and could lead to an accord that would involve Ntoumi and his supporters abandoning their forest hideouts. An initial peace agreement reached on 17 March between the government and Ntoumi guaranteed amnesty to Ninjas willing to disarm. Several thousand are now awaiting either integration into the military or reinsertion into civilian life through micro-credit projects run by the government with the support of international donors. Former rebels are also to be included in a special committee to be formed to establish peace in Pool. Conflict erupted in Pool between government forces and Ninja rebels loyal to Ntoumi in late March 2002. Tens of thousands of people fled the region, while fighting trapped many more. Those who escaped were usually able to receive relief support, but humanitarian access to the vast majority left behind in Pool has been sporadic if not impossible.