Rwanda orders withdrawal of troops from northern Katanga Province

Rwanda has ordered the withdrawal of another segment of its troops from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), this time from the cities of Kabalo, Kalemie, Kongolo and Nyunzu in northern Katanga Province.

The withdrawal from the four cities is scheduled to begin on Saturday, according to Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (known as MONUC), citing a letter received from the Rwandan government.

Toure said that since Tuesday, 1,380 soldiers of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) had withdrawn from Kindu and Kalima in Maniema Province and have since arrived in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

However, in the wake of the RPA pullout from those two locations, a group claiming to be Mayi-Mayi Congolese militias ransacked the region, causing 4,500 people to flee the villages of Nyoka, Kimanga, Kampala, Lukungu, all located within 20 km of Kalima. In Nyoka, six children were burned alive, nine residents were abducted and at least 10 houses were torched, MONUC reported.

However, Mayi-Mayi representatives have accused RCD-Goma of staging the attack.

"Just because those who attacked were naked does not necessarily mean that they are Mayi-Mayi," said Lambert Kanape, a Mayi-Mayi commander currently on mission in the DRC capital, Kinshasa.

He noted that the Mayi-Mayi, who have traditionally fought the Rwandan presence in the DRC, declared a unilateral ceasefire beginning one week ago to allow the Rwandan troops to withdraw.

Meanwhile, negotiations between Mayi-Mayi factions and RCD-Goma began on Thursday in the town of Walungulu, near Kindu. According to MONUC, RCD-Goma leader Adolphe Onusumba was expected in Kindu on Thursday.

The RPA has fought alongside the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) rebel movement in the DRC since August 1998, in an effort to topple the regime of late President Laurent-Desire Kabila and then that of his son, current Joseph Kabila, who succeeded his father following his assassination in January 2001.

The RPA withdrawal follows the signing of an accord by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the DRC's Kabila in Pretoria, South Africa, on 30 July. The agreement commits Rwanda to withdrawing its troops from the DRC in exchange for Kinshasa taking measures to address Rwanda's security concerns in the DRC.

Regional analysts have estimated the number of Rwandan forces in the DRC as being between 30,000 to 40,000.