Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – “Right now the situation is calm and there are still no signs of the announced offensive on the negative forces,” Fides was told by a source from the local Church in southern Kivu, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC). In recent days, the countries of the Great Lakes Region announced that they would launch an offensive attack in efforts to place an end to the presence of the so-called “negative forces,” that is, guerrilla groups that operate in the areas of eastern Congo, northern Uganda, and South Sudan. The main target of the common forces, who will concentrate their activity mainly in Congolese territory, are two guerrilla groups: the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group formed by ex-soldiers of the former Rwandan army and militiamen of the Interahamwe (the Hutu extremists responsible for the genocide of 1994, who since then have been hiding out in east Congo) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), that for over 20 years has dominated northern Uganda and has been hiding out for some time in the Garamba jungle, in eastern Congo (see Fides 5/6/2008).
Our source expressed his surprise that the Congolese army would be able to overcome the guerrilla movements in the area. “I don’t think that the majority of the Congolese soldiers have even finished their formation and training. A large number of the soldiers in east Congo, moreover, are former members of the movement of Nkunda, the rebel general that caused problems for the government in Kinshasa in recent months. Many fear that these men have remained loyal to their former commander.”
“We have no way of telling for sure, but this story of the ex-Interahamwe and now the Ugandans of the LRA that arrived in Congo are making us question: How is it possible that these movements, obviously indicated by the entire international community, continue to act without consequences and moreover, in the case of the LRA, they have gone from being a local group to being a regional force that not only threatens Uganda, but eastern Congo, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic as well? I often wonder who is arming these groups, and if the threat they cause is not being overlooked,” our source said.
They are important questions, considering “the insistent voices, and another more concrete matter that I cannot disclose, in relation to the existence of a plan to separate Kivu from the rest of Congo,” our source told Fides. According to this interpretation, the presence of so-called “negative forces” would be useful in creating the pretexts for interventions from foreign forces in Kivu, with the goal of preparing the way for a progressive separation of the region, which is extremely rich in important natural resources, from the rest of Congo. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 9/6/2008)
