The RCD-Goma faction on Sunday vowed to recapture territory controlled by the Ugandan-backed RCD-Kisangani group led by Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, news agencies reported. AFP quoted an RCD-Goma statement as saying the group was determined to recover the northern part of North Kivu and the Ituri district of Province Orientale, where new provinces have been declared. RCD-Goma leader Emile Ilunga said “our movement cannot accept the somalisation of the country. The artificial creation of a Congolese province amounts to high treason”. Ilunga said he was willing to discuss the matter with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to avoid conflict, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, North Kivu provincial authorities have called on the UN to provide US $3 million to reforest areas cleared by refugees between 1994-96. Rebel-controlled radio in Goma said on Sunday the authorities wanted to “reforest millions of hectares of plants destroyed by the Rwandan Hutu refugees who stayed in the region”.
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