Rebel priest leaves forest hideout, marks end to war

Congolese militia leader Frederic Bitsangou, alias Pasteur Ntoumi, left his forest hideout in the Pool Region on Monday from where he had been leading a guerrilla war campaign against the government since 1998. "Peace is the work of God. At the end of the day it is the people who are the winners," he said at an event marking his emergence from the forest at Vindza, 150 km northwest of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. Present at the ceremony was Col Casimir Ombere, a member of the Peace Convention and of Reconstruction Follow-up Committee set up to consolidate the 17 March peace accord between the government and Bitsangou's Conseil national de la résistance movement. Bitsangou's return to the national fold seals this deal. Bitsangou's militia, know as the Ninja, has been waging a guerrilla campaign against the government in Pool from where hundreds of thousands of people have fled. The Ninjas had first signed a cessation of hostilities accord with the government in December 1999. With the war now seemingly at an end, Bisangou said he wanted "a true national dialogue", because that so far organised by the government was merely "a monologue". However, government spokesman Alain Akoualat said on Wednesday the dialogue had been a success and that former President Pascal Lissouba and former Prime Minister Bernard Kolela were free to return home from exile. Moreover, Ombere said the government would respect the accords signed and support of measures aimed at peace. He asked the former rebels "not to dig up the hatchet of war", and called on the media not to "not throw oil into the fire". Bitsangou and his militia began their rebellion in December 1998 to 2000, then again in May 2002 before fleeing into the forests in the south of the country.