DR Congo rebel leader to send 500 fighters to rejoin army

KINSHASA – Congolese renegade General Laurent Nkunda said he would start sending his troops yesterday to an integration centre so they could rejoin the national army as part of a peace process.

“Today, I am going to send more than 500 of my soldiers to the Kirolirwe integration camp,” he told Reuters by telephone from his stronghold at Masisi in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern North Kivu province. Congo’s government has threatened to launch a military offensive to forcibly disarm Nkunda’s Tutsi fighters, who have battled the army in North Kivu since August when they abandoned a January peace deal.Nkunda said he was in contact with the United Nations mission in the Congo (MONUC), which he said had prepared the logistics to receive his men.”I’m doing this to show the international community that we Congolese want peace …because civilians are continuing to die without reason,” Nkunda said, referring to recent fighting in North Kivu.UN officials in Congo initially reacted cautiously to his announcement, saying they were checking the situation at Kirolirwe camp.Nampa-ReutersCongo’s government has threatened to launch a military offensive to forcibly disarm Nkunda’s Tutsi fighters, who have battled the army in North Kivu since August when they abandoned a January peace deal.Nkunda said he was in contact with the United Nations mission in the Congo (MONUC), which he said had prepared the logistics to receive his men.”I’m doing this to show the international community that we Congolese want peace …because civilians are continuing to die without reason,” Nkunda said, referring to recent fighting in North Kivu.UN officials in Congo initially reacted cautiously to his announcement, saying they were checking the situation at Kirolirwe camp.Nampa-Reuters