Barry Artiste Op/Ed
Is it only me, or has this gone on far too long? UN kissy face diplomacy which brought us the Rwanda Genocide once again is about to be replayed again. Perhaps Diplomacy has run it’s course and more stronger lethal measures need to be enforced as 200,000 innocents flee for their lives.
Photo Inset. United Nations peacekeepers ride APC’s past displaced people in the village of Kibati some 12 kilometers north of Goma in eastern Congo. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Karel Prinsloo
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/10/28/7227906-ap.html
Soldiers, UN peacekeepers retreat as rebel forces advance in Congo
By MICHELLE FAUL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KILIMANYOKA, Congo – Bombs, rockets and mortar shells exploded in volatile eastern Congo on Wednesday, and the Congolese army claimed it was attacked by troops from neighboring Rwanda.
The bombardments, heard by journalists at an army camp, appeared to be taking place less than five miles (eight kilometers) from a village where thousands of refugees have sought protection from rebels who have advanced through the area toward Goma, a city of 600,00 people 20 kilometers (13 miles) to the south.
Jeeps carrying officers sped along the road early Wednesday, stopping to give instructions to soldiers carrying rocket launchers and assault rifles.
Neighboring Rwanda’s Tutsi-led government denies Congo’s accusation that it has sent troops across the nearby border to help the fighters of renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda, who says he is fighting to protect the region’s tiny Tutsi minority.
Nkunda has threatened to take Goma, the provincial capital, despite calls from the U.N. Security Council for him to respect a cease-fire brokered by the U.N. in January.
The United Nations has 17,000 peacekeepers in Congo – the agency’s biggest mission in the world – trying to halt the rebellion and protect the local population.
Tags: Africa | Crime | war | murder | World | Hutu | Congo | Rwanda | armyhelicopters | Unitied Nations