UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
15 November 2001
A UN peacekeeping team has begun verifying the number and status of troops of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) assembled at the Kamina military base, in the southeastern Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym, MONUC, announced on Thursday.
"The operation is currently proceeding and should be completed in the next two weeks," Namanga Ngongi, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in the DRC said during a news conference on Wednesday.
"Kamina is a test for the DDRRR [disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reinstallation and reinsertion of armed groups] and we are counting on the goodwill of all the parties to bring to a positive end this process which must be completed for the sustainability and credibility of the operation," he said.
On Saturday, 1,780 unarmed men, most of them young, some injured or handicapped, were presented to MONUC in Kamina for the opening ceremony of the census and identification process.
During the first three days, 525 ex-combatants were submitted to an interview and military practice tests.
MONUC said it was awaiting the completion of the verification process to announce exact numbers and status of those who had voluntarily presented themselves for demobilisation as disarmed ex-combatants of the FDLR.
The opening ceremony took place in the presence of DRC Minister of Security and Public Order Mwenze Kongolo and MONUC Force Commander Gen. Mountaga Diallo. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the commander of the FDLR forces, Lt-Col Vincent Ndanda said, "I can assure those who doubt our identity that we are really Rwandan and combatants."
"MONUC will make the assessment, analyse the responses and will see what comes out. We will have a more or less precise picture of the group, its identity, its origins and its intentions," Diallo said.
This operation coincides with the start of MONUC's third phase which involves the disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reinstallation and reinsertion of armed groups as well as the withdrawal of all foreign forces from DRC territory in compliance with the 1999 Lusaka cease-fire agreement and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
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