Rebels criticise Belgian visit

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Foreign Minister Louis Michel met UN officials and rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) leader Adolphe Onosumba in Kisangani on Sunday on the final leg of their two-day tour of the DRC. According to IRIN sources accompanying the ministers, the Belgians urged the RCD to cooperate in the inter-Congolese dialogue. They also strongly condemned alleged human rights abuses in rebel-controlled areas. RCD-Goma meanwhile criticised the Belgian visit, stating that cooperation should be only be resumed after the start of the inter-Congolese dialogue. They also warned of a possible resumption of hostilities, claiming that Kabila had reinforced his frontline and eastern positions by 4,000 people, including Rwandan ex-FAR and Interahamwe. In a speech to civil society representatives in Kisangani, Verhofstadt stated that “there is only one Congo and it cannot be divided”. He also announced the arrival of a Belgian cooperation official in Kisangani, attached to the Belgian embassy in Kinshasa. Verhofstadt was also briefed on the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) operation by its military commander Major General Mountaga Diallo. MONUC in Kisangani currently has 75 observers and 380 troops, but more staffers are expected and the city still has to be demilitarised. RCD-Goma is reluctant to pull out, saying it has to “defend the people”. “If we demilitarise Kisangani, the Interahamwe [Rwandan militia] must also be demilitarised,” Bizima Karaha, the RCD-Goma security chief, told IRIN. “MONUC is supposed to control the ceasefire, but doesn’t carry out its job sufficiently.” At the end of his trip, Verhofstadt concluded that Belgium “cannot abandon Congo now”. “On the contrary, we have committed so much to Congo for the last two years that we will use the opportunity of our presidency of the European Union to convince our partners to commit much more themselves,” he said.