Democratic Republic of the Congo News

From NewsDesk Date Thu, 8 Nov 2007 17:49:24 -0600 Commentary: Investing in life-sustaining education in Africa Nov. via Worldwide Faith News

Earlier this year, armed men entered the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park and killed five critically endangered mountain gorillas at point-blank range, leaving the bodies where they fell. via BBC

“The government of Democratic Republic of Congo commits to launch military operations as a matter of urgency to dismantle the ex-FAR Interahamwe as a genocidal military organisation in the DRC”

Congo has reached a deal with Rwanda to forcibly disarm Rwandan Hutu rebels on its soil in an effort to reduce tensions with its central African neighbour, a joint statement said on Sunday. via AlertNet

“Our findings imply that Haiti has the oldest-known HIV/AIDS epidemic outside of sub-Saharan Africa, which helps explain the high prevalence of AIDS and HIV-1 among Haitians in the early 1980s”

By Liz Highleyman HIV originally came to the U.S. from Haiti as early as the late 1960s, according to an analysis published in the October 31, 2007 advance online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy ... via HIV and Hepatitis

“They are in a healing process”

An outbreak of cholera has swept a camp housing Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army , infecting its leader Joseph Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti and scores of fighters, a spokesman said. via Sunday Times

Authorities in Congo have arrested six people in connection with the dumping of radioactive waste in a river in the country's southeast. via Voice of America

“With sharpening inter-ethnic divides and a continuous build-up of military forces, UNHCR remains deeply concerned about the risks of severe human rights abuses and violence against civilians”

The United Nations refugee agency is intensifying its efforts to combat the spread of cholera in the troubled North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , a spokesman for the agency said today. via InterestAlert.com

“The agreement was that Rukwanzi be demilitarised”

By Tim Cocks Ntoroko, Uganda - Until this year, Robert Kazini had never given much thought to whether he was fishing in Congolese or Ugandan waters; it didn't matter. via Independent Online

“It is very difficult to establish the links between radioactivity and pathologies. I will take weeks, months, or maybe years before the effects are seen”

Congolese authorities arrested six people in connection with the dumping of tonnes of highly radioactive minerals into a river near the southeastern town of Likasi, the environment minister said on Friday. via AlertNet

“Kony understands that to take Otti out of the equation will not help.”

The leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army rebels Joseph Kony has denied media reports that he killed his second-in-command, a leading peace activist who spoke with Kony said on Friday. via AlertNet

“DDR is only one chapter in a global process of conflict resolution, in which the fight against poverty, justice and security sector reforms are also equally important”

In an interview published on MONUC's website , Gustavo Gonzalez, operation coordinator for the UN Development Programme , said that in Ituri, the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process unfolded ... via United Nations

“We have been reviewing what steps are needed so that, in the fullness of time, Ivory Coast can rejoin the Kimberley Process as well”

Congo Republic was readmitted to an international mechanism regulating the diamonds trade on Thursday after convincing experts it had tightened controls on so-called "blood diamonds". The central African ... via Reuters UK

“We are setting the course to establish Kolwezi as one of the largest and best mining complexes in the world”

In a bid to create the world's largest cobalt producer and the leading copper miner in Africa, Katanga Mining Ltd. via Globeinvestor.com

“Last month, there was a clash within the LRA, the one group (allied to rebel leader Joseph Kony) wanted to give up fighting and come out of the bush, while Otti's group wanted to keep fighting”

"As of now, Otti is missing ... we do not know whether he is dead or alive. We are seeking to confirm," said a top official from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement , which governs the semi-autonomous region ... via Gulf Times

“When I was the head of the mediation team in the DRC for instance, there was no funding for such a mission, and I had to pay the mediation team from my pockets”

Two of Africa's most respected elder statesmen, Botswana's former president Ketumile Masire and Mozambican ex-leader Joaquim Chissano, believe the continent is finally shedding its reputation as a theatre of ... via Independent Online

“An aid vehicle was looted on 28 October. Stones were thrown at World Food Programme workers on 26 October in the Muganga II site, where 500 people came in and made off with 1.4 tonnes of food”

KINSHASA, 7 November 2007 - Growing impatience over aid deliveries to displaced civilians in Democratic Republic of Congo's province of North Kivu has sparked another demonstration against the UN mission there, ... via IRIN

“I think they did it by ignorance.”

Regulars Interact Joe Bavier Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo 07 November 2007 12:33 Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have launched an inquiry into the suspected dumping of 18 tonnes of ... via Mail & Guardian

“We know he was killed in the early morning at his home, and that two suspects have been arrested”

Congolese soldiers arrested for murder of Belgian Staff Reporter 06.NOV.07 KINSHASA -- Police in Democratic Republic of Congo arrested two soldiers on Thursday in connection with the murder of a Belgian citizen ... via Talk zimbabwe

“It is believed that the combined operations will be the largest single-site project in the world producing both copper and cobalt”

Katanga Mining Ltd. has struck a friendly US$3.3-billion deal to buy Nikanor PLC and create a dominant copper and cobalt producer in the Democratic Republic of Congo . via National Post

“Stones thrown at the MONUC base wounded four [military] officers and 23 MONUC soldiers, four national police officers and a translator”

More than 30 people, including several peacekeepers, have been wounded during a demonstration by hundreds of civilians displaced by fighting in North Kivu province, according to MONUC, the UN mission in ... via AllAfrica.com