The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations responsible for operations Peacekeeping, Hervé Ladsous, has described as “unacceptable” M23 rebel parallel administration installed in the North Kivu which is under their control.
Ladsous made the remarks September 18, in New York at the end of a meeting of the Security Council, where he reported on his recent visit to the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.
He told the press,”The elements of M23 are concentrated in one corner to the eastern Kivu, near the borders of Rwanda and Uganda.
It is in Rutshuru. From this position they have meanwhile established a de facto administration which controls the population, levies, taxes, traffic. This is unacceptable, “he said.
He also noted that “there has been no major military offensives during the last five or six weeks.”
However, Ladsous considered it necessary to increase efforts to consolidate the cease-fire observed so far in the field of operations:
“The situation can change very quickly and in several directions.
The M23 rebels may decide to return to their former positions in Masisi or they may decide to move to Goma, in the South.
That is why we must work to consolidate the situation and make a lot of progress towards a cease-fire. This is the priority, “said Ladsous.
On the mini-summit on the DRC and the UN Secretary General convened on September in New York, he stated that three issues would be the focus of the meeting at which the leaders of the Great Lakes are invited.
“The first is that the violence must stop the Kivus in eastern DRC. Too many victims, too much suffering, many displaced persons and refugees. This must stop. Second concern, the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo must be respected. Third, we must rebuild trust particularly clear between the two major neighboring DRC and Rwanda, “he said.
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