Kinshasa Hails Rebel Pullout from Goma
The pullout of rebel forces from Goma, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo's mineral-rich east, is "a step in the right direction," DR Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said Sunday.
"We have indeed seen this withdrawal. We say that it's a step in the right direction," Mende told Agence France Presse after the M23 rebels withdrew Saturday from Goma, which they had occupied for 12 days.
Around 300 rebels, army mutineers who seized Goma in a lightning advance, drove out of the city in a convoy of looted trucks.
The M23 rebels have pledged to withdraw 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the city under a regionally brokered deal, but complex negotiations now will focus on their demands, which include political reform.
Under the deal, rebels will leave 100 men at Goma's airport alongside similar numbers of government troops, soldiers from neighboring Tanzania and United Nations peacekeepers.
Ugandan Brigadier Geoffrey Muheesi, part of the regional team monitoring the withdrawal, declared himself "totally satisfied" with progress of pullout.
"They are pulling out completely," he said, adding that some 300 police officers had secured key parts of the city, including government offices, the central bank and a major border post with Rwanda.
Congo's army are also preparing to move some 600 troops into Goma, he said.
Senior police officer Julien Mwami said they were "trying to show the population that we are back to make them feel secure" and that, so far, the city was reported to be calm.
M23 was founded by former fighters in a Tutsi rebel group whose members were integrated into the regular army under a 2009 peace deal that they claim was never fully implemented.
Decades of conflict between multiple militia forces -- as well as meddling by regional armies -- have ravaged Congo's east, which holds vast mineral wealth including copper, diamonds, gold and key mobile phone component coltan.
U.N. experts have accused Rwanda and Uganda -- which played active roles in DR Congo's 1996-2003 wars -- of supporting M23, a charge both countries deny.
Source: Agence France Presse
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