DRC militia threaten to execute UN peacekeepers

KINSHASA – Congolese militia linked to gunmen holding seven Nepalese UN peacekeepers hostage threatened yesterday to order their execution after clashes last week.

But some UN sources questioned whether the group of gunmen holding the men hostage would take orders from the militia issuing the threat. The peacekeepers were taken hostage last month during clashes between the UN and gunmen, highlighting the insecurity in eastern Congo one month before historic elections are due to be held.Militiamen loyal to Ituri warlord Peter Karim have issued a range of demands, including ransoms and the release of fellow militia fighters being held by the government, but the UN has called for the unconditional release of their men.The Revolutionary Movement of Congo (MRC), a loose coalition of gunmen in the lawless northeastern district, issued the execution threat on Monday following clashes between government forces and militiamen late last week.”If there is another such attack, the …MRC will feel obliged to order the pure and simple execution of these hostages,” the MRC said in a statement.The MRC, which was set up in neighbouring Uganda last year and brought together various ethnic groups, said the clashes took place when the UN and government forces tried to rescue the hostages.But a UN spokesman denied any operation to rescue the hostages took place and said he understood it was the militia who had attacked the Congolese government positions.Both Hema and Lendu ethnic fighters joined the MRC but alliances in Ituri are fluid and some UN sources questioned whether Karim’s men would obey orders from the MRC.Ituri is just one of several parts of eastern Congo where violence continues despite three years of official peace and the presence of the UN’s largest peacekeeping mission.The July 30 presidential and parliamentary polls are meant to draw a line under Congo’s 1998-2003 war, which sucked in six neighbouring countries and has killed four million people, mostly from hunger and disease.- Nampa-Reuters —- Philippines’ Arroyo faces fresh impeachment charge MANILA – Political opponents of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo filed a new impeachment complaint yesterday, attempting to unseat her over allegations of corruption and human rights abuses.Arroyo survived an impeachment attempt last year and analysts expect the latest charge to fail due to insufficient support in the lower house of Congress, where her allies hold a majority.Several anti-Arroyo groups, many dressed in peach-coloured shirts, filed the fresh complaint to the House of Representatives after holding an overnight vigil outside the Congress building.The president is currently in Italy on an official visit and will return to the Philippines on Sunday after travelling to Spain.”I think she should tell the truth,” said Corazon Soliman, a former member of Arroyo’s cabinet who quit in July and called on her to resign over alleged vote-rigging in the May 2004 election.”She should come out.Not foil the impeachment.She wants her day in court.So she must face this impeachment court.And tell the truth to the people.”Retired general Eduardo Ermita, Arroyo’s executive secretary, dismissed the filing of the impeachment complaint as a “political gimmick” to embarrass the president, who met with Pope Benedict XVI yesterday.”I hope they would be reasonable enough to end the bickering so our country could move forward,” said Ermita, adding Arroyo’s lawyers were ready to defend the president.Arroyo has not been able to shake accusations she stole the 2004 vote and that some of her family members benefited from illegal gambling, an allegation that toppled former President Joseph Estrada in 2001.But the political temperature has cooled since February when the government said it had uncovered an alleged coup plot by renegade soldiers, communist rebels and political foes, triggering a week of emergency rule.Anti-Arroyo groups need 79 votes from the 235-member House of Representatives to impeach the president.Last year, only 51 lawmakers voted to impeach Arroyo, who has denied the corruption allegations.- Nampa-ReutersThe peacekeepers were taken hostage last month during clashes between the UN and gunmen, highlighting the insecurity in eastern Congo one month before historic elections are due to be held.Militiamen loyal to Ituri warlord Peter Karim have issued a range of demands, including ransoms and the release of fellow militia fighters being held by the government, but the UN has called for the unconditional release of their men.The Revolutionary Movement of Congo (MRC), a loose coalition of gunmen in the lawless northeastern district, issued the execution threat on Monday following clashes between government forces and militiamen late last week.”If there is another such attack, the …MRC will feel obliged to order the pure and simple execution of these hostages,” the MRC said in a statement.The MRC, which was set up in neighbouring Uganda last year and brought together various ethnic groups, said the clashes took place when the UN and government forces tried to rescue the hostages.But a UN spokesman denied any operation to rescue the hostages took place and said he understood it was the militia who had attacked the Congolese government positions.Both Hema and Lendu ethnic fighters joined the MRC but alliances in Ituri are fluid and some UN sources questioned whether Karim’s men would obey orders from the MRC.Ituri is just one of several parts of eastern Congo where violence continues despite three years of official peace and the presence of the UN’s largest peacekeeping mission.The July 30 presidential and parliamentary polls are meant to draw a line under Congo’s 1998-2003 war, which sucked in six neighbouring countries and has killed four million people, mostly from hunger and disease.- Nampa-Reuters —- Philippines’ Arroyo faces fresh impeachment charge MANILA – Political opponents of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo filed a new impeachment complaint yesterday, attempting to unseat her over allegations of corruption and human rights abuses.Arroyo survived an impeachment attempt last year and analysts expect the latest charge to fail due to insufficient support in the lower house of Congress, where her allies hold a majority.Several anti-Arroyo groups, many dressed in peach-coloured shirts, filed the fresh complaint to the House of Representatives after holding an overnight vigil outside the Congress building.The president is currently in Italy on an official visit and will return to the Philippines on Sunday after travelling to Spain.”I think she should tell the truth,” said Corazon Soliman, a former member of Arroyo’s cabinet who quit in July and called on her to resign over alleged vote-rigging in the May 2004 election.”She should come out.Not foil the impeachment.She wants her day in court.So she must face this impeachment court.And tell the truth to the people.”Retired general Eduardo Ermita, Arroyo’s executive secretary, dismissed the filing of the impeachment complaint as a “political gimmick” to embarrass the president, who met with Pope Benedict XVI yesterday.”I hope they would be reasonable enough to end the bickering so our country could move forward,” said Ermita, adding Arroyo’s lawyers were ready to defend the president.Arroyo has not been able to shake accusations she stole the 2004 vote and that some of her family members benefited from illegal gambling, an allegation that toppled former President Joseph Estrada in 2001.But the political temperature has cooled since February when the government said it had uncovered an alleged coup plot by renegade soldiers, communist rebels and political foes, triggering a week of emergency rule.Anti-Arroyo groups need 79 votes from the 235-member House of Representatives to impeach the president.Last year, only 51 lawmakers voted to impeach Arroyo, who has denied the corruption allegations.- Nampa-Reuters

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