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Many civil society groups and the Roman Catholic Church boycotted the "inter-Kivu dialogue" that ended on Tuesday in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) town of Bukavu, sources in the town told IRIN.
Mayi-Mayi militia fighters have also refused to take part. However, a militia of the Bashi people, known as the Mudundo quarante, is attending the talks. Sources there said Mundundo quarante was still active in the Walungu area of South Kivu and was opposed to the presence of Rwandan troops. The militia was reportedly formed after the 1998 war in the DRC, in order to protect the Bashi traditional ruler.
The boycotts were largely attributed to widespread opposition to the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) authorities who organised the meeting, ostensibly in preparation for the nation-wide inter-Congolese dialogue, due to begin on 15 October in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Farther south in Uvira, some 1,200 unarmed young soldiers have been deployed to the town following recent training sessions at RCD-Goma camps in North Kivu and Maniema provinces, local sources said. They are patrolling the streets of Uvira, although some are said to have been sent to the town of Fizi, which is now reportedly in the hands of the Mayi-Mayi.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
