Posted on 06/24/2003 7:23:04 AM PDT by archy
Bunia given gun-free deadline
21/06/2003 20:29 - (SA)
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Bunia - The European Union-led multinational force deployed here said on Saturday that the streets of the volatile rebel-held northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town must be free of guns within 72 hours.
Meanwhile, concern mounted that a new deployment of government policemen to Bunia's airport could upset delicate efforts to pacify the region, where inter-ethnic violence has claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks, worsening a long-term humanitarian crisis.
General Jean-Paul Thonier, commander of the force to secure Bunia town and airport and protect civilians, gave "72 hours for the withdrawal of all armed forces from Bunia".
The ultimatum, which expires on Tuesday, was issued during a meeting between Thonier and Thomas Lubanga, head of the rebel faction now in control of Bunia, the Union of Congolese Patriots.
Lubanga agreed to the ultimatum and told journalists he had already begun pulling his gunmen from the town.
An exception would be made only for guards at Lubanga's headquarters.
The multinational force began deploying in Bunia earlier this month and has about 700 troops, as well as several hundred more at Entebbe international airport in neighbouring Uganda.
50 000 killed in Ituri
According to aid workers, persistent insecurity, characterised by abductions, killings and rapes carried out at night with impunity, has prevented adequate help being given to tens of thousands of people in the town and to a far larger number in the wider Ituri region.
Since 1999, about 50 000 people have been killed in Ituri.
On Friday, the DRC government sparked widespread condemnation by flying 112 policemen to Bunia airport to join about 600 already deployed there.
A separate UN mission in DRC, Monuc, which has 700 Uruguayan military guards stationed in Bunia, also condemned the police reinforcements.
Yep, that's really going to happen and pig are going to fly out ...... Who dreams this kind of sh*t up, anyway? Peter Pan?
Yep, that's really going to happen and pig are going to fly out ...... Who dreams this kind of sh*t up, anyway? Peter Pan?
In the first sentence: The European Union-led multinational force deployed here...
So, it seems they don't trust Africans with guns....
Oh well, first they want to take the guns, you might as well give them a few fragmentation grenades too. Don't forget to mine the routes that the French SWAT teams will take when responding!
-archy-/-
I guess the French decided all those jokes about French military incompetence stung a little too much. We'll see how long they stay there once they start taking casualties, but it sure looks like France would like to have some African colonies again, and if they can't get their own back, the former Belgian Congo will do fine.
-archy-/-
Does this EU Army propose to fight?
If so, they'll be up against experienced if sometimes undisciplined troops who've got more than a decade's worth of experience at it, and some pretty fair equipment. It could get interesting, and messy.
-archy-/-
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