Military situation “increasingly tense”

Diplomatic sources have described the military situation in DRC as “increasingly tense”. There is also a feeling that significant changes could occur swiftly. The sources pointed out that following last month’s fighting in Kisangani between Uganda and Rwanda, forces from those two countries had been redistributed in northeastern DRC, but their future intentions were uncertain. In the northwest of the country, the sources confirmed that the Equateur offensive by the rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) had been beaten back by government troops, but there were indications the MLC was reconstructing its forces and using neighbouring Republic of Congo (ROC) as a base for operations. The sources warned that the rebel groups believe President Laurent-Desire Kabila has scuppered the Lusaka peace process by refusing to accept ex-Botswana president Ketumile Masire as facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue, and they now feel justified in resuming the military struggle. Consequently, the fragile ceasefire is likely to break down completely.