Guerrillas attack government positions NW of capital

Guerrillas have attacked several government military positions in the Pool region northwest of the capital, Brazzaville, the government of the Republic of Congo (ROC) reported on Friday. The attacks on the Forces armees congolaises (FAC) in the locales of Intsini, Kindamba, Kingoyi, Louloubo and Mayama are believed to have been launched by rebels belonging to Rev Frederic Bitsangou's (alias Ntoumi) "Ninjas", named after the Ninja warriors of medieval Japan. Humanitarian sources in Brazzaville told IRIN on Friday that "a couple hundred" displaced people from Mayama had arrived in the capital, and that an assessment mission of the situation was imminent. No death toll was available on Friday, although military spokesman Col Jean-Robert Obargui told AP that army casualties had thus far come to two dead and many wounded. Obargui added that while there was no firm word on rebel casualties, he believed them to be high. The FAC on Wednesday issued a statement accusing Bitsangou of "violating the ceasefire accords and the truce" of November and December 1999, following years of civil war. On Tuesday, at least two people were killed and 12 wounded in an attack on a passenger train traveling from the coastal town of Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville, said to have taken place in two separate locations near Kinkembo, some 150 km west of the capital. The route, Congo's main railway line, has since been shut down by the government for security concerns. AP reported that the closure has resulted in gas shortages in the capital on Friday, with long lines forming at pumps. Food stocks remained plentiful in the city, but authorities warned they, too, could start running out soon. Last month, Col Michel Ngakala, the High Commissioner for the Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in ROC, accused Ntoumi of opposing the demobilisation of his men and thereby constituting a threat to peace. Although Ntoumi has expressed willingness to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for his men to be reintegrated, negotiations between him and the government have thus far been unsuccessful. Following 1999's ceasefire agreements, the process of demobilising an estimated total of 25,000 militia fighters has been underway in ROC. It includes members of the Cobras (loyal to current President Denis Sassou-Nguesso), the Cocoyes (loyal to former President Pascal Lissouba), and the Ninjas (loyal to former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas). Since the end of the civil war, many former militiamen have surrendered their weapons in exchange for civilian jobs. Through the UNDP/IOM programme for the "Reintegration of Ex-Combatants and Collection of Light Weapons", which has been operating since November 2000, more than 7,500 ex-combatants have been assisted in the transition to civilian life through funds and training to start small businesses. Some 1,800 have been reintegrated by the government, primarily into the army. The initiative has also collected and destroyed 12,000 small arms. Last month, on 10 March, Sassou-Nguesso won a landslide victory in the Congo's first presidential elections since 1992, with over 89 percent of the vote. Former Prime Minister Andre Milongo, considered to be Sassou-Nguesso's main challenger, withdrew from the race on 8 March, claiming irregularities. Former President Pascal Lissouba, who defeated Sassou-Nguesso in 1992, and former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas were barred from entering the race by the revised constitution, which requires candidates to have resided continuously in the country for at least two years before the election. Both are living abroad in exile, having been tried and convicted in absentia for crimes allegedly committed during the civil war that plagued the nation throughout the 1990s. This was the first time Sassou-Nguesso was elected to the presidency, an office he first seized in 1979 and held until 1992, and then seized again in 1997 until this month's elections.