North Kivu ceasefire talks resume in Bujumbura

Talks to reach a ceasefire among various armed groups in North Kivu Province of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) resumed on Wednesday after interruption last week by the Burundian government, which said it had not been informed of the negotiations. Representatives of the parties to the hostilities - the Kinshasa government, the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) rebel movement and the RCD-Kisangani/Mouvement de liberation (RCD-K/ML) rebel group - were all present for the talks in Bujumbura, the Burundi capital. "This new debate with the Kinshasa government will focus on the situation in the eastern part of DRC. Parties have to commit to stopping war," Joseph Mudumbi, RCD-Goma head of delegation, told reporters on his arrival in Bujumbura. He said the withdrawal of RCD-Goma forces from newly occupied territories in North Kivu would depend on the withdrawal of the Congolese army from the northeastern town of Beni, headquarters of its ally, RCD-K/ML. Their withdrawal would also depend on disarmament of "negative forces" such as the ethnic Hutu Interahamwe militiamen and Rwandan former armed forces who were largely responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, he said. RCD-Goma has accused the government in Kinshasa and RCD-K/ML of using Interahamwe militias, and has admitted to capturing the locations of Kanyabayonga and Alimbongo in North Kivu. The Bujumbura talks, presided by the head of the UN Mission in the DRC, Amos Namanga Ngongi, are expected to end on Thursday.