MONUC's intermediary role hailed

Ugandan authorities have praised the UN's intermediary efforts in persuading Ugandan rebels operating inside neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to go home under a government amnesty. The Ugandan army spokesman, Shaban Bantariza, said on Tuesday that last year's decision by the UN Security Council to upgrade the role of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, to include peace enforcement, had empowered the UN mission to effectively engage rebel groups seeking to destabilise Uganda. He was reacting to reports stating that MONUC was involved in talks with the Uganda Amnesty Commission (UAC) on the possible repatriation of 600 former fighters of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group which has been operating in western Uganda from bases in eastern DRC. "We are very happy with this arrangement. Now we can talk of a UN presence in the DRC. Previously there was none," Bantariza said. "They went in there to make sure that the rebels are forced to surrender or be dealt with," he added Ganyana Miiro, a commissioner with the Kampala-based UAC, told IRIN on Tuesday that plans were in high gear for the return of the former fighters who, on arrival in Uganda, would undergo rehabilitation and be given resettlement packages. "The MONUC people have informed us that our message has been received well, and maybe the whole group will come. They will have to be airlifted in batches. We are ready," he said. In the past year, the UAC, with the help of MONUC, had helped persuade hundreds of Ugandan rebels operating in the DRC to go home and benefit from the government's amnesty, Miiro said. The process had resulted in the repatriation, late last year, of some 400 fighters of the West Nile Bank Front (WNBF), including their leader, Taban Amin, son of the late former Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, he said. About 100 former WNBF fighters were still in the DRC awaiting their turn to be repatriated, he added. "We have been having discussions with MONUC. They are our intermediary to explain to them [rebels] that they can be integrated back into the Ugandan society," Miiro said. He also urged the Ugandan government to ensure the security of the returning former fighters. "Some of them have committed atrocities in their communities, so we do not want incidences that may lead them to think that they are trapped," he said. Under the Lusaka accord, signed by parties involved in the conflict in eastern DRC, the UN is empowered to ensure that all fighters operating in the country, including ordinary troops, militias and rebels, return to their countries of origin. IRIN could not immediately establish MONUC's position on the matter as the official spokesman was unavailable for comment. Last month, however, MONUC officials hailed the successful repatriation of the first batch of former Ugandan rebels as a "breakthrough in the normalisation of relations between Uganda and Congo". The MONUC political affairs officer, Philippe de Bard, told IRIN in December that "this brings the two countries closer to having a normal diplomatic relationship". [See report: DRC-UGANDA: MONUC hails return of Ugandan rebels as a "breakthrough"]