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Preparations for 'inter-Mayi-Mayi dialogue' reportedly under way

    NAIROBI

    Preparations are being made for a meeting among representatives of the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition movement and factions of Congolese Mayi-Mayi militias in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, AFP reported on Saturday.

    "The RCD is prepared to meet with true Mayi-Mayi leaders in eastern DRC, in a location where their security will be guaranteed," Azarias Ruberwa, the RCD secretary-general, told AFP. "Contacts for such an encounter were already being made," he added.

    An 'inter-Kivu dialogue' organised by RCD-Goma was held from 22 - 25 September in Bukavu, South Kivu province. However, "this meeting did not produce anticipated results," Paulin Shetebo Kabulira, vice-president of a Mayi-Mayi coalition organisation called CONEMADIC, told AFP. Numerous Mayi-Mayi militias and civil society organisations reportedly boycotted last month's meeting to express their opposition to RCD-Goma.

    On 3 October, a coalition of Mayi-Mayi militia leaders demanded that another 'inter-Kivu dialogue' be held before the inter-Congolese national peace and reconciliation talks, due to begin on 15 October in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "We demand the immediate convening of a new inter-Kivu forum, under the supervision of a neutral facilitator to be held in a neutral country," Shetebo Kabulira told AFP.

    CONEMADIC claims to represent Mayi-Mayi militias from Maniema, North and South Kivu provinces. For the reconvened 'inter-Kivu dialogue' CONEMADIC seeks the participation of the Kinshasa government, traditional tribal leaders, civil society, as well as the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) and the Ugandan-backed RCD-ML (Mouvement de liberation) armed opposition groups. CONEMADIC has also demanded that a Mayi-Mayi delegation be included in the inter-Congolese dialogue.

    "If we are not represented in Addis Ababa, the decisions taken there will be pointless, and we will sabotage them by military action and an intensification of operations," Shetebo Kabulira told AFP.

    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

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