Ituri militia leaders commit themselves to peace, transition

Representatives of seven armed militia groups from the embattled Ituri District in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed an agreement with the government on Friday to disarm and participate in the country's transitional process towards democracy.

The minister for internal affairs, decentralisation and security, Theophile Mbemba, represented the DRC government during the signing of the agreements in the capital, Kinshasa.

The signing raised hopes for a renewed momentum towards pacifying Ituri District, which in 2003 witnessed brutal killings that led to international intervention.

"This is the end of the war in Ituri," Azarias Ruberwa, one of the DRC's vice-presidents, told the militia leaders. "It is inconceivable that there can be any fighting between you and the people, the UN or the army and police that will soon be deployed."

Despite the official end to the DRC's five-year war in 2002, fighting has persisted in the mineral-rich Ituri District, with various militia groups vying for control.

The UN, which now has 4,800 of its peacekeepers in Ituri, facilitated the week-long talks between the militia and the transitional government.

The head of the UN Mission in the DRC and special representative of the secretary-general to the DRC, William Swing, congratulated the leaders on their "sincere" commitment to disarmament and reintegration into the community, and their pledge to participate in the transitional process and in the rebuilding of Ituri. He announced that a ministerial mission would be sent to Ituri as one of the first steps to be taken as soon as possible, as well as the appointment of a district commissioner and police chief.

Despite the presence of UN peacekeepers, much of Ituri had remained under the control of militias, who collected revenues from gold-mining, smuggling goods and weapons to and from neighbouring Uganda, and taxing the civilian population.

The government made it clear to the militia leaders that they would no longer be able to do this. "As of today, you have no choice and will have to adapt. If, after signing, a group commits an act of rebellion, they will be faced with the government against them," Ruberwa said.

The militia leaders said they welcomed the return of the government's authority in Ituri, maintaining that they had taken up arms to fill the power vacuum.

"We are ready to play our part, but the government has to take its responsibility seriously and keep control over Ituri," Kisembo Bitamara, the leader of the Parti pour l'unité, securité et integrité congolaise (PUSIC), said. "There was violence in the past because they did not do this," he said.

The militia leaders at the Kinshasa meeting were from PUSIC; the Union des patriotes congolais faction led by Thomas Lubanga; the UPC faction of Floribert Kisembo; the Front des nationalistes intégrationnistes; the Union des congolais pour la démocratie-Forces armées du people congolais; Forces de résistance patriotique en Ituri; and Forces populaires pour la democratie au Congo.