Lusaka accord political committee to meet

Meanwhile, the political committee formed by the signatories to the Lusaka agreement will meet at the end of this month, following renewed fighting in the Equateur region, diplomatic sources told IRIN. The meeting will discuss the fighting and will also examine the disengagement plan put forward by Rwanda in August. The proceedings would be preceded by a meeting of the Joint Military Commission (JMC), which would be attended by all the chief of staffs of the warring parties, according to the sources.

The Ugandan-backed Mouvement liberation du Congo (MLC) recaptured Dongo in northeastern DRC after heavy fighting, and has vowed to recapture Imese, further south, both towns having been taken by government forces in June. Diplomatic sources told IRIN that DRC government forces in the northeastern town of Mbandaka had been heavily reinforced by 3,000 troops from the government’s southern African allies to help block a possible rebel advance.