Gov't and rebels blame each other for grenade attack

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government and rebel delegations at the inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City, South Africa, have issued accusations and counter-accusations following a grenade attack in Goma on Sunday which killed a priest and two young girls and left many more injured. The grenade was thrown during a Palm Sunday procession. In a statement issued on Monday, the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD), the Rwandan-backed rebel movement which controls Goma, described the incident as a terrorist attack by the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR): "ALIR is one of 16 terrorist organisations identified by the United States government," said RCD Secretary-General Azarias Ruberwa, "and it is backed by the government in Kinshasa." ALIR is composed of Rwandan Hutu rebels (including ex-government soldiers), some of whom took part in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Meanwhile, the DRC government claimed there had been a heavy presence of Rwandan troops at the procession, and that a Rwandan government soldier threw the grenade. "It has even been established that the person who threw the grenade is from the Rwandan Patriotic Army," said DRC Information Minister Kikaya Bin Karubi at a press conference. "It’s not us who say so, but independent sources at Goma." The DRC official in charge of liaising with the United Nations, Vital Kamerhe, said the background to the event was a peaceful student demonstration protesting against a rise in tuition fees. Rwandan troops had crossed the border - just a mile away - to police the demonstration, which had begun on Friday, he said. Asked why the government had not reacted to earlier reports that a student had been killed on Friday, Kamerhe said: "We decided not to throw ourselves into demagoguery on the basis of unverifiable facts." Other sources from eastern DRC said the bishop of Goma, Faustin Ngabu (a member of the Hema community), appeared to be the killer’s target. On Monday, UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan said he was "deeply shocked" to learn the news of the grenade attack. "The Secretary-General strongly condemns this attack, which has compounded the grief and sorrow of the population of Goma, who has only recently suffered the deadly eruption of Mount Nyiragongo," his statement said. However, the incident did not lead to a breakdown of the inter-Congolese dialogue on Monday. Commissions meeting behind closed doors on the economy and finance, humanitarian and social policies, peace and reconciliation, and political and juridical matters reported back to a plenary session on Monday evening on progress made over the previous four days, according to AFP. Meanwhile, another commission, concerned with defence and security, failed to convene, and was due to present its interim report on Tuesday. The issue of how a new national army should be made up continues to be a contentious issue. The government has said it cannot accept a rebel suggestion that a new army should comprise 40,000 men from rebel forces and 20,000 from the government army. Both the economy and finance commission and the humanitarian and social policies commission had made significant progress, news agencies reported. Meanwhile, a date has been set for diplomats from the UN Security Council to visit the major players in the DRC conflict. The trip, to be led by France's UN ambassador, Jean-David Levitte, is due to take place from 27 April to 7 May, Reuters quoted the Council's current president, Ole Peter Kolby, as saying on Monday.