{The head of MONUSCO, Martin Kobler, has urged the Congolese government and the M23 to not exclude the political option despite the end of the war in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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Mr. Kobler made the call on Tuesday November 12 at Goma in North Kivu.
He stressed Kinshasa and rebels have not agreed on the form of the document to be signed. “How to call this paper on the table: a statement Conclusion or agreement? That was the difference, but not the substance, “said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, Martin Koble .
On Monday, November 11th in the evening, the Congolese government and representatives of M23 have not signed an agreement in Kampala as originally planned.
Kinshasa had raised the issue of the title of the document to be signed, refusing to sign “an agreement.”
The government delegation wishes to sign a “statement”.
For Martin Kobler, this text was designed before the end of the war.
“I believe that the agreement or the paper or document was designed to end a war. Now that the war has ended, must be a solution to reintegrate fighters of M23 , “said the head of MONUSCO.
He called on all the parties; the M23, the government and the facilitator “take [into account] the steps and fill what was in the paper.
In a statement released Monday evening from Entebbe, the envoys of the international community present in Kampala regretted that the two parties have not reached an agreement in Kampala.
They noted that Kinshasa and the M23 “expressed no differences on important issues of the draft document” initialed but did not reach an agreement on the format.
In an address on state television, the Congolese Head of State, Joseph Kabila, said Wednesday, Oct. 30 that the victories of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) against the rebels of the M23 had not “for effect of nullifying the political and diplomatic options to restore lasting peace.”The Congolese army has been subjected to a series of rebels’ setbacks. On 5 November, it regained control of all occupied areas that the rebels had occupied for more than a year.
Source: Radio Okapi
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