Congo Troops Held Over Mass Rape

Kinshasa, Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo army has said it has arrested eight of its personnel in connection with a mass rape in eastern part of the country on New Year’s Day.

 Over fifty cases have been reported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Fizi town of South Kivu Province where women were brutally raped in a coordinated attack by a group of armed, uniformed men identified as Congolese troops on the night of January first.

 Medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and a local hospital reported that 51 rape victims have been provided with medical care, as more victims are expected to come forward as they come home after they fled to the bush.

 Residents and victims from the area have accused army commander Lt Col Kibibi Mutware also identified in a report by UN investigators for leading the mass rape. He denies the accusations saying that the soldiers carried out the raid had disobeyed orders.

 Mutware is a former leader of the Tutsi-led CNDP rebel movement that was integrated into the National army as part of the 2009 peace agreement.

 A spokesman for the Congolese army said on Wednesday that Lt Col Mutware has been transferred from the region in response to demands of the people and would be replaced with another commander.

 The atrocities are believed to be committed when a group of soldiers descended upon the village to avenge death of a fellow soldier killed in a dispute over a woman.  26 people including a four -year -old were stabbed, homes and shops looted and dozens of women raped during the raid.

 Women were restrained with ropes or beaten unconscious with the butt of guns before being attacked, some in front of children.

 The long-going unrest in eastern Congo has led to the wide use of rape as a weapon of war by militia groups fighting in the region, where armed groups attack local communities to loot and capture women for sexual slavery.

Abidjan, Ivory Coast  

 Gbagbo Rejects Odinga as AU Mediator

Ivorian incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has rejected Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga as mediator in the country’s long-running crisis following disputed polls.

Gbagbo said that the African Union appointed mediator who was in support of his rival and he would not work with him on solving the impasse.

 Mr. Gbagbo has declined calls from regional bodies an international community to relinquish power to Alassane Ouattara who is being internationally recognized as legitimate winner of the presidential elections.

 Gbagbo was declared winner by the country’s constitutional council after it cancelled poll results in parts of the north, a rebel held region where Ouattara hails from.

 Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alcide Djédjé said at a press conference on Wednesday that Mr. Odinga had failed in his mission and they were no longer ready to receive him.

 He said that the Kenyan premier had asked for the lifting of military blockade around the hotel where Ouattara has his headquarters in the capital, Abidjan, during his meeting with Gbagbo on Tuesday.

 Mr Djédjé said they were still open to discuss with another AU mediator on the substantive issues facing the country following their rejection of Mr. Odinga for being biased.

Odinga told journalists while leaving the country that Gbagbo had twice broken his promise to remove the blockade at the hotel, and time was running out on resolving the matter peacefully.

Gbagbo claims he is still keeping the blockade for fear of violence from “heavily armed rebels” who are inside the resort.

The United Nations has placed the death toll at about  260 since the power struggle started in late November which has been characterized by killings and abductions of protesters mostly those loyal to Ouattara.

 On Wednesday the UN Security Council agreed to boost the 10,000-strong peacekeeping operation in the country by 2000 troops. The Ivorian president at different occasions has demanded the UN peacekeepers to leave the country, which he accuses of arming and backing Ouattara’s supporters.

 Tunis,Tunisia

 Country to Mourn Chaos Victims

Tunisia has begun a three-day period of national mourning in honour of those who died in the protests that saw fall of long time President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

 The mourning which began on Friday is to honour those who died in street protests and confrontations with security forces who used live ammunitions and tear gas to disperse protestors.

 According to the government about 78 people have been killed in the demonstrations that have rocked the country since mid-December, setting back the country’s economy by $2.2 billion.

In its first cabinet meeting held this week, the interim government promised that it will hold free and fair elections within the next six months, but no exact date was given. This follows an earlier announcement saying that it will recognize all banned political movements and grant amnesty to political prisoners.

 Earlier this week four ministers in the newly formed transitional cabinet resigned from their positions demanding exclusion of the twelve ministers drawn from the ousted president’s government from the new cabinet.

 Spokesman to the interim government Tayyib Al Bakouchi said that the inclusive government has pledged to prioritize security, in line with speeding up political reforms and prepare for fresh presidential elections.

 President Ben Ali’s last Friday resignation was prompted by a wave of protests in the country, sparked by the suicide of a 26 year-old university graduate in Sidi Bouzid town after being prevented by police from selling fruits and vegetables.

 The interim President Fouad Mebazza and Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned from the former ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) party earlier in the week in a move seen to distance themselves from the former leader exiled in Saudi Arabia.

 Angry protestors gathered outside the RCD party headquarters in the capital, Tunis demanding all ministers associated with the former regime to be dismissed from new government. RCD has so far dissolved its central committee, as woes facing the party continue to amount. Pro-opposition demonstrators have declared for total eradication of the party.