Joe Bavier
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/ 17 October 2007

DRC army given green light to disarm rebels

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) army has orders to forcibly disarm soldiers loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda, President Joseph Kabila said on Wednesday, but he declined to say when the offensive would begin. ”The armed forces … have received the green light to begin, or rather to prepare, the forced disarmament of Mr Nkunda,” Kabila said.

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/ 8 October 2007

Rebel DRC general abandons ceasefire

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) renegade general Laurent Nkunda on Monday abandoned a month-old ceasefire and blamed government army attacks for fresh fighting in an eastern border province. His announcement heralded more conflict and humanitarian suffering in DRC’s North Kivu province, which has long been a tinderbox of ethnic tensions.

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/ 5 October 2007

DRC sacks transport minister after air disaster

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila sacked his transport minister on Friday after an air crash that killed 52 people in the Central African country, which has one of the world’s worst aviation safety records. The decision was announced as DRC’s Cabinet met to discuss air safety after Thursday’s accident.

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/ 27 September 2007

DRC hopes hi-tech ID cards will tame unruly army

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hopes a new biometric identity card (ID) scheme backed by the European Union can help overhaul its undisciplined armed forces, branded by campaigners as the central African state’s worst rights abuser. After decades as a tool of repression under former leader Mobutu Sese Seko and a devastating 1998 to 2003 war, DRC’s army is bloated, unmanageable and corrupt.

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/ 25 September 2007

Uganda-DRC border shooting kills six

Six civilians were killed when Ugandan soldiers opened fire on a Congolese passenger boat on Lake Albert on Monday, in the latest border flare up between the Great Lakes neighbours. In a conflicting version of the shooting incident, Uganda’s military reported two soldiers killed, one from each country.

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/ 18 September 2007

China to lend DRC $5bn in latest Africa foray

China plans to lend the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) -billion to modernise its decrepit infrastructure and rich but deteriorated mining sector in another huge Chinese investment foray in Africa. Under a draft accord signed on Monday, Beijing earmarked the funds for major road and rail construction projects and for rehabilitation of DRC’s mining sector.

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/ 7 September 2007

Rebel chief accuses DRC army of breaking ceasefire

Renegade Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) General Laurent Nkunda said on Friday the Congolese army had attacked his position, breaking a fragile ceasefire negotiated by United Nations mediators in eastern DRC. ”I have told Monuc [the United Nations mission in DRC] that we were attacked this morning [Friday],” Nkunda said.

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/ 6 September 2007

DRC rebel calls for truce as fighting worsens

A dissident Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) general called for African mediation to broker a ceasefire in eastern DRC as fighting between his forces and government troops neared the provincial capital on Thursday. New clashes broke out before dawn around Karuba, a village about 30km west of Goma, the capital of troubled North Kivu province.

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/ 12 August 2007

DRC army halts operations against Rwandan rebels

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has suspended Tutsi-led military operations against Rwandan Hutu rebels in an effort to avoid further ethnic tension in the country’s troubled east, a senior army official said on Saturday. At least 165 000 civilians have fled fighting in DRC’s North Kivu province since February.