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Mayi-Mayi militiamen agree to join peace process

    NAIROBI

    A faction of the Mayi-Mayi tribal militia in the DRC calling itself the Lumumbist National Resistance (LNR) has reportedly been persuaded by opposition politician, Francois Lumumba, to join the peace process, the group said in statement received by AFP in Paris on Tuesday. In the statement, the Mayi-Mayi group said they believed the suffering endured by the people of the DRC was “essentially” due to the presence of foreign troops on Congolese soil. “We declare ourselves party to the process of the resolution of the crisis as envisaged by the Lusaka accord, and we invite all other Mayi-Mayi armed combatants to join our declaration,” AFP quoted the statement as saying.

    Following six days of negotiations led by Lumumba, the “LNR” Mayi-Mayi on Sunday released one Kenyan and 16 Thai hostages who they had held captive for more than two months. Lumumba’s late father Patrice, a leader in Congo’s struggle for independence in 1960, was arrested in 1961 by late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, and killed soon after in circumstances which remain unclear.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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