A French-led military security force was poised late on Tuesday morning to enforce its ultimatum that the streets of the rebel-held northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town of Bunia be free of guns.
While force commmander General Jean-Paul Thonier had given rebel leader Thomas Lubanga until 0800 GMT on Saturday to clear the town of visible weapons, the deadline was not expected to expire with great precision or fanfare on Tuesday.
”Flexibility” would be exercised by the force, according to its spokesperson, Colonel Gerard Dubois.
In any case, the vast majority of fighters of Lubanga’s Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a political military group opposed to the government in Kinshasa which controls Bunia, had already pulled out of the town by late on Monday.
None was visible early on Tuesday morning in Bunia, where inter-ethnic clashes and massacres have claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.
Operation Bunia — Town Without Guns, is rooted in undertakings made by numerous parties to the deadly clashes in Ituri province, to demilitarise the town and encamp fighters.
The multinational force, which is deployed by the European Union under a UN mandate, has also extracted pledges from factions opposed to the UPC not to attack the town.
On Monday evening, Lubanga reiterated that he had already made good his promise to pull out his armed men. He has repeatedly said that his decision to do so was made before Thonier issued his ultimatum.
He also complained that the multinational force had failed to take over control of several key access points to the town previously held by his men, ”which could be used by outside forces to spread devastation.”
In some outlying areas of town, the departure of UPC fighters, many of whom have not yet reached adulthood, prompted many residents to leave their homes, either in the wake of the withdrawing gunmen or towards the city centre.
While heavily armed French troops of the force have established positions, backed by armoured vehicles, at the airport and other key locations, they were not deployed at all entry points visited by AFP.
The rebel leader added that despite this complaint, ”we will not go back on our undertakings.”
Despite the muscular manner in which the deadline was announced, it will not bring about a robust large-scale disarmament operation.
The multinational force has stressed there will be no house-to-house searches, explaining that the point of the ”no visible weapons” rule was to ensure the free movement of civilians in Bunia, where life is gradually returning to normal after the trauma of the clashes of early May.
The force has not disclosed exactly how weapons would be confiscated from any recalcitrant gunmen, insisting only that they would be vigorous in enforcing the rule.
Force patrols have on three occasions shown vigour in dealing with armed men who dared defy French troops, on one occasion shooting dead two youths after weapons were pointed in their direction. – Sapa-AFP