DRC unrest

BUKAVU – Demonstrations against the UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) broke out in at least five towns across the country yesterday, leaving one dead in the capital, UN sources and witnesses said.

“There are demonstrations against MONUC in Kinshasa, Kisangani, Lubumbashi and Kindu,” MONUC’s spokesman in Bukavu, the capital of Sud-Kivu province, told AFP. There were unconfirmed reports of similar protests in Goma and Butembo, he said, while residents of Bukavu also reportedly gathered to vent their anger against the UN, a day after renegade soldiers captured the eastern city of Bukavu.Hundreds of MONUC troops were in Bukavu when regenade army officers – former members of a rebel group now in government – took control of the town on Wednesday, leading to accusations that the UN was complicit in the seizure.- Nampa-AFPThere were unconfirmed reports of similar protests in Goma and Butembo, he said, while residents of Bukavu also reportedly gathered to vent their anger against the UN, a day after renegade soldiers captured the eastern city of Bukavu.Hundreds of MONUC troops were in Bukavu when regenade army officers – former members of a rebel group now in government – took control of the town on Wednesday, leading to accusations that the UN was complicit in the seizure.- Nampa-AFP