The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has described as “embarrassing” the leak of an analytical report to the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition movement, and said that an inquiry into the matter was already under way.
“It’s embarrassing to know that [the report] is in the hands of the RCD,” said Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Amos Namanga Ngongi, head of the UN mission known as Monuc, during a news conference on Wednesday. “But I can’t say how it was leaked. An investigation is under way.”
News agencies have reported that the document contained allegations that RCD-Goma was a movement in danger of collapse due to internal discord. RCD-Goma reacted by questioning Ngongi’s neutrality, and calling for his immediate dismissal.
As for the document, he said, it was a compilation of analyses that should have been kept confidential “to allow for the development of strategies to manage a mission as complex as Monuc”.
He added: “If each time we develop hypotheses and consider options, and this becomes public, we risk having the work of Monuc come to a standstill. If it had been a report in which actual decisions had been taken, that would be a less serious matter.”
Meanwhile, signatories to the Sun City accord are scheduled to meet in the southwestern DRC town of Matadi on Saturday in an effort to draft a constitution for the transitional period.
Speaking to Radio France Internationale on Thursday, DRC Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu downplayed media reports of tensions between the agreement’s primary parties – the government of DRC President Joseph Kabila and the former rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) of Jean-Pierre Bemba.
“In my opinion, any differences between the MLC and the government regarding the Sun City accord should not be blown out of perspective,” Okitundu said. “Despite the fact that the prime minister and the president of the republic have differences of opinion, it is imperative that they show proof of the republican spirit in order to lead the transition in the most peaceful manner possible.” – Irin