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/ 19 March 2008

Park manager arrested over gorilla deaths

A senior manager at a world heritage African wildlife park was arrested on Tuesday as an investigation into the killing of 10 rare mountain gorillas gathered pace, a government minister said. Local environment experts said that "profound internal disagreements" within the conservation institute could lie behind the massacre.

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/ 4 March 2008

DRC rebels rejoin truce panel after massacre row

Congolese rebels loyal to renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda have said they will return to a ceasefire commission monitoring a rocky January peace deal. The United Nations and Western governments brokered the January deal in the hope of establishing a lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s turbulent east.

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/ 29 February 2008

Punish buyers of rebel DRC ore, UN panel says

Buyers of minerals from rebel areas of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should be punished under a United Nations arms embargo, a group of experts has told the Security Council. A five-year war in the country has left much of DRC’s eastern borderlands a volatile patchwork of rebel fiefdoms and militia-controlled zones.

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/ 23 February 2008

Nkunda deals new blow to DRC ceasefire

A shaky peace deal in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) took another hit on Friday when renegade general Laurent Nkunda said his group would no longer participate in daily ceasefire meetings. He said he had taken the decision after the United Nations accused forces loyal to him of massacring at least 30 villagers.

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/ 22 February 2008

DRC peace deal faces hitch over massacre charges

A month-old peace accord in east Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faced a fresh hitch on Friday when Tutsi rebels halted participation in a ceasefire commission in protest at United Nations allegations they had massacred civilians. The move announced by renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda posed a potential threat to the January 23 ceasefire.

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/ 14 February 2008

Clashes break out in troubled DRC region

Fresh clashes were reported on Wednesday between armed groups in a troubled region in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in breach of a three-week-old ceasefire. Soldiers loyal to rebel General Laurent Nkunda and Mai Mai militiamen exchanged gunfire in towns north-west of Goma, the capital of Nord-Kivu province, a local official said.

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/ 28 January 2008

DRC ceasefire broken as rebels and militia clash

Congolese Tutsi rebels and Mai Mai militia clashed on Monday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), breaking a ceasefire signed last week aimed at ending a long-running conflict, the two factions said. Tutsi fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda and Pareco Mai Mai militia blamed each other for the fighting.

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/ 23 January 2008

DRC rebels and govt sign peace accord

Rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda signed a peace pact on Wednesday with the government and Mai Mai militia to end fighting in the east of the country. Nkunda’s representative, Kambasu Ngeve, signed the document at a ceremony in the eastern town of Goma, which was attended by President Joseph Kabila.

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/ 21 January 2008

DRC govt, rebels to sign ceasefire

Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) government and warring rebel and militia factions will sign a deal on Tuesday to end fighting in the country’s conflict-torn east, government officials and diplomats said on Monday. The agreement, which will include a ceasefire, was announced following more than two weeks of talks.

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/ 21 January 2008

DRC peace conference prolonged amid dissent

A conference aimed at ending conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was prolonged on Monday as rival sides sought agreement, organisers said. The gathering at a university in Goma, the main town of Nord-Kivu province near some of the conflict zones, was due to end on Monday, but its president said another day would be needed.

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/ 11 January 2008

DRC rebels rejoin peace conference

Tutsi rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday rejoined a peace conference aimed at ending long-running conflict in the east, a day after suspending their participation over security concerns. The rebels’ leader, renegade General Laurent Nkunda, told Reuters he was ready if necessary to take part in the meeting.

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/ 26 December 2007

DRC warlord declares ceasefire

Congolese warlord Laurent Nkunda has declared a ceasefire ahead of peace talks with the government intended to end a spiraling conflict in the country’s lawless east, said a close associate of Nkunda. ”We confirm that we have called a ceasefire,” said Nkunda’s second-in-command, Bwambale Kakolele, on Wednesday.

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/ 23 December 2007

DRC violence fuels surge in child abduction

Fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this month has led to a surge in child abductions by armed groups who force minors to fight, carry ammunition or become their sex slaves, Save the Children said on Monday. Some children were kept captive in small holes in the ground as punishment or after being captured by enemy groups.

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/ 22 December 2007

UN has firm demands for factions in volatile DRC

The Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to extend the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a year and demanded that all militias and armed groups in the volatile east lay down their weapons and start disarming. The council asked the UN force ”to attach the highest priority to addressing the crisis”.

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/ 19 December 2007

Cholera festers in east DRC amid clashes

Civilians fleeing violence in east Democratic Republic of Congo are facing a shortage of medical care as disease outbreaks begin to plague the troubled region, the charity Médecins sans Frontières said on Wednesday. Fighting between government troops and forces loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda have pushed civilians from their homes several times in ongoing flare-ups.

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/ 8 December 2007

UN fears for Congolese in conflict zone

United Nations peacekeepers expressed fears on Friday for tens of thousands of displaced people under threat in the latest conflict zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Goma, capital of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, has been rocked by clashes between rebels led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda and army troops.

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/ 5 December 2007

DRC troops enter strategic village

Democratic Republic of Congo troops entered Mushake, a strategic eastern village, on Tuesday after a second day of heavy clashes with rebel soldiers. ”Fighting is still going on in Mushake. We are conducting a search operation throughout the area before confirming the conquest of this position,” said Colonel Delphin Kahimbi.