UNDP meets parties to discuss reintegration of rebels

Representatives of the government of the Republic of Congo and "Ninja" rebels, who recently signed an agreement to end fighting in the Pool region, have held talks with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in the capital Brazzaville to discuss a reintegration programme for the rebels, minister of state for transport, Isidore Mvouba, told IRIN. The EU is channelling some US $801,000 through UNDP to launch income-generating activities to help former combatants return to their villages over a six-month period. The rebel fighters have been emerging from the forests of the Pool region since the government and "Ninja" leader Pasteur Frederic Bitsangou, alias Ntoumi, signed an agreement on 17 March to end hostilities. UNDP acting representative in Brazzaville, Jacques Bandelier, said after the meeting on Friday that UNDP had already made contact with relevant bodies and he hoped that together they could start activities in Pool "very quickly". There is no official figure for the number of "Ninja" fighters, but according to sources in the Conseil national de la resistance, the rebels' political wing, about 14,000 young men are enrolled in the militia.