MONUC deploys 3,500 soldiers to Bukavu to help restore calm

MONUC, the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, deployed 3,500 soldiers on Tuesday to the eastern city of Bukavu, South Kivu Province, to help restore calm following an eruption of hostilities, MONUC spokesman Hamadoun Toure said. "MONUC forces are patrolling the city," he said at a news conference on Wednesday in the nation’s capital, Kinshasa. "Normal activity has resumed in the city. The objective of our forces is to apply Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, as is already the case in Ituri." UN Security Council resolution 1493 enables MONUC to act under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which authorizes the use of "all necessary means" to fulfil its mandate in Ituri District, as well as North and South Kivu Provinces of eastern DRC. The deployment coincided with the end of three days of "ville morte", during which shops remained closed and residents stayed at home. The action was organised by civil society and members of the Mayi-Mayi militias, now party to the national transitional government, to protest last week's release of Maj Joseph Kasongo. Kasongo, an officer of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), a former rebel movement now party to the national transitional government, had been found guilty in absentia of involvement in the murder of DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila, and more recently had been accused of involvement in arms trafficking. Kasongo was released following pressure from RCD-Goma, who threatened to pull out of the government and related transitional institutions. His arrest and transfer to Kinshasa had provoked gunfights between forces under the regional military commander, Gen Prosper Nabyola, from the former Kinshasa government, and soldiers allied to RCD-Goma.