Former rebels from the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) have established mafia-style extortion rackets covering some of the most lucrative tin and tantalum mining areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Global Witness reported today following four weeks of research in the region. Full Story>>
A United Nations official says Democratic Republic of Congo army troops have killed 90 Rwandan Hutu rebels. Madnodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the U.N. mission in Congo, said Wednesday that the rebels were killed during recent army operations in Congo's North and South Kivu provinces. Full Story>>
Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Court decided to postpone the commencement date of the trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo until Monday, 5 July 2010. On 27 April 2010, the date on which the trial was initially scheduled to commence, the Chamber will hold a status conference to discuss the admissibility challenge brought by the Defence for Mr Bemba. Full Story>>
The first group of United Nations troops could leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the end of June, as requested by the government, the world body's top peacekeeping official said on Friday. UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy was in the DRC this week as part of a technical assessment mission, during which he also met with President Joseph Kabila and other officials to discuss the future of the UN mission, known as MONUC. Full Story>>
The UN has begun talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo on withdrawing its peacekeeping mission - the biggest UN operation in the world. UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said his officials would take a month to assess how the pullout of 20,500 personnel could be carried out. The current mandate of the mission, known as Monuc, expires in May. Full Story>>