Bemba announces peace measures

Leader of the Congolese Liberation Front (CLF) Jean-Pierre Bemba, at the weekend in Bunia, northeastern DRC, announced measures to be taken by his movement to restore order and security in the conflict-wracked Ituri province, rebel-controlled radio from Bunia said. He said that all soldiers roaming the territories were expected to stop their movements and that anyone in possession of firearms was urged to surrender them to the nearest administrative authority by 15 February 2001. “After this date, anyone with firearms will immediately be arrested,” Bemba said. By the same date, all clandestine regroupment camps and camps where “criminal militias” were living would be destroyed, Bemba warned.

“The militia will have to be disarmed and dispersed. I urge them to return to their villages immediately to cultivate the land or look after their livestock,” Bemba said. “For those who have lost their houses, arrangements will be made to get the community to help them, out of solidarity. Armed bandits involved in crime will be mercilessly tracked down and banished,” he added. Civilians guilty of various crimes would also be arraigned in courts, he said. Bemba had on Friday presided over a “reconciliation meeting” of the Hema and Lendu and other communities in conflict around Ituri province.