Congo-Kinshasa: Global Minerals, Arms Smuggling Networks Fuel Conflict - UN Report

7 December 2009

Minerals and arms smuggling worth millions of dollars persists in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) despite international sanctions, fuelling rebel strength despite national army operations, and army and rebel soldiers continue to kill civilians, according to a new United Nations report that calls on the Security Council to take action to plug the gaps.

The independent Group of Experts monitoring UN sanctions on the DRC reports that the mainly Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) continue to exploit gold and cassiterite in North and South Kivu provinces with the help of trading networks in Uganda, Burundi and the United Arab Emirates, while irregular arms deliveries have come from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Sudan.

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