Meanwhile, the leader of the Cocoyes militia associated with former president Pascal Lissouba, Colonel Emmanuel Bougouandza, said on Monday he was committed to the ongoing peace process and that the war would not start again from his side, according to military sources cited by Reuters news agency. Bougouandza, a militia leader in the town of Mossendjo in the west, handed over weapons at a ceremony to mark the national army’s redeployment in Lissouba’s home region, the report said. The government of Denis Sassou-Nguesso has sued for peace with internal opposition and political groups since the ceasefire took hold in January, but there has been no reconciliation with Lissouba, Kolelas or their associates in exile.
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