rumble in the jungle...., page-12

Recent article on rebellion in the Katanga Province

http://allafrica.com/stories/201402131460.html?viewall=1

Excerpt

Lubumbashi — The UN mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plans to send more troops to the southern province of Katanga, its top official has told IRIN, to respond to the humanitarian crisis unfolding there, even as peacekeepers continue to combat elusive groups along the borders with Uganda and Rwanda.

DRC officials and civil society groups have been calling for the UN to intervene more strongly in Katanga, where armed groups calling for the province to secede have torched scores of villages and clashed with government forces. As many as 400,000 people have fled their homes.

Stabilizing mineral-rich Katanga is critical to DRC because of the province's vast natural resources: revenue from the mining and export of Katanga's minerals, such as copper and coltan, account for the bulk of the national budget. Its importance makes any outside interference in Katanga politically sensitive.

UN chief Martin Kobler said commanders of the mission's peacekeeping force (MONUSCO) were discussing how to add to the 450 soldiers from Benin currently stationed in Katanga. He said the extra troops would allow MONUSCO to escort convoys delivering humanitarian aid.

"I am of the firm opinion that we have to increase our military presence there to give hope to the people and, wherever possible, to prevent these things like burning villages," Kobler told IRIN in a telephone interview on 10 February. "This will happen because it is really imperative that we are there."

But he cautioned that they could not prevent all violence, and he said it was up to the DRC government to end the rebellion, including by addressing social grievances about underdevelopment and the struggle between Katanga and central authorities over how to share the province's wealth.

"We are not there to solve problems. The problems have to be solved by the government, and we can support the government to do that."

The crisis in Katanga comes at an unwelcome moment for the UN mission. The UN is pressing the government and international donors to urgently develop a plan to demobilize fighters from the defeated M23 movement, just as MONUSCO and the Congolese army (FARDC) tackle two more rebel movements in the east.