US warns over ceasefire violations

Meanwhile, the US government has warned that continued violations of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement will impede the deployment of UN military personnel. “The United States and the UN Secretary-General have repeatedly stressed that the successful deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission can only occur if the parties involved in the conflict demonstrate commitment to the Lusaka agreement by rigorously adhering to its provisions,” State Department spokesman James Rubin said, according to AFP. On Monday, Jean-Pierre Odenkane, vice-president of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) told IRIN his troops were fighting Congolese government forces on three fronts.

Ugandan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of regional cooperation, Amama Mbabazi, reacted by saying: “It should be the other way round - they should come in and stop what they are complaining about.” Mbabazi, who chairs the political committee set up to oversee implementation of the Lusaka accord, told IRIN the implementation “depends on a number of factors, including deploying UN peacekeepers who are supposed to liaise with all the forces on the ground and stop ceasefire violations”. “The occasional ceasefire violations are due to the fighting forces’ proximity to one another,” he added.