The new 60 member government, of which 9 are women has urgent tasks. One of its first tasks will be to tackle unrest causes by making security priority number one. Army, police and justice should be given relevant means for deep reformation otherwise all the other actions will be groundless. The government has new faces in it, but no one from rebel groups namely RCD and MLC.

Disarmament of foreign negative forces is a Monuc mandate. The Lords Resistance Army fighters are based in northern DRC (Congo) with a certain Vincent Otti who has decided to resume hostilities from southern Sudan where Joseph Kony (Lords Resistance Army warlord) is still hiding.

The reason for this change is that negotiations are stuck and Kenya has rejected a proposal to host them. Uganda might find it a good reason to cross the boarder into DRC (Congo) and hunt them down. Another group is an ADF/NALU coalition hiding at the foot of Rwenzori mount. The worst of negative armed group is that of Hutu (Rwandan) fighters scattered in the east from South Kivu to North Kivu, their sanctuary stretches at the edge of the Congo jungle. They often mix with Mai Mai tribal warriors ; the Alpha and Bravo mixed brigades are mandated to fight them.

Heavy shelling were reported yesterday morning in the area of Nyamilima-Ishasha to stop an attack of FDLR (Hutu hardliners) and Mai Mai coalition, the 8th military region did not confirm the fights. There is fear of reprisals among the locals who're alleged to cooperate with those negative forces.

Colonel Delemba of Baleine brigade was killed yesterday night when his residence was attacked by tribal warriors faithful to his rival, Colonel Lafontaine. Baleine brigade troops gathered in Bingi town (south west of Butembo) waiting for integration. Civilians have fled to neighbouring towns.
"Army, police and justice should be given relevant means for deep reformation" means they need to be paid. Who gets paid and who does not is the real issue.

The LRA has been a growing threat in the past 2 decades or so; it is very much an armed cult that the Ugandan government and its supporters finally started to take on while my the guy who replaced me in Rwanda, Rick Orth, later served as DATT.



Best

Tom