Goma calm, as strike persists in Bukavu

Goma was reported to be calm on Tuesday, following a general strike the previous day. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that students are attending classes and half the shops have reopened. Media reports on Monday indicated that supporters of the strike set up road barricades and burnt tyres, which prompted the RCD authorities to deploy troops on the streets.

The Goma-based based RCD blamed the strikes in both Goma and Bukavu on DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila's "agents". "Our view is that this is one of the tactics of Kabila to continue with the war," RCD security chief Bizima Karaha told IRIN. "He first armed the Interahamwe and Mayi-Mayi to fight us and failed. Now he is trying to infiltrate the population and
cause civil disobedience in areas under our control." RCD Vice-President Jean-Pierre Ondekane is currently in Bukavu in a bid to restore order to South Kivu which has been "intoxicated by Kabila's media", RCD spokesman Kin Kiey Mulumba told the Rwanda News Agency (RNA). He said the mission was intended to explain the RCD's aims. Mulumba accused South Kivu pressure groups of "stirring up social tension". "This is a major problem
for us and we must ensure security at all costs," he said.