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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 257
11 - 17 December 2004


CONTENTS:

DRC: North Kivu army chief replaced as fighting intensifies
DRC-RWANDA: MONUC foils attack from Rwanda
DRC: Clashes between army factions displace North Kivu residents
BURUNDI: Mother and child health campaign begins
CAR: Elections postponed; possible candidate goes on trial
BURUNDI: Referendum postponed because of delayed voter list


ALSO SEE: ROC: Brazzaville remains dry, despite efforts to deliver water
[http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44654 ]


DRC: North Kivu army chief replaced as fighting intensifies

The Armed Forces High Command of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 
has transferred the military commander of the 8th Military Region - North 
Kivu Province - in a move aimed at ending clashes between factions of the 
army in the province.

North Kivu's Gen Obed Rwibasira has swapped places with the military 
commander of Kasai-Oriental Province, Gen Gabriel Amisi, according to the 
army's communication adviser, Jean-Willy Mutombo. "It is necessary to 
reorganise the armed forces given that General Obed is an ethnic 
Banyamulenge [Congolese Tutsi] and that those who are fighting against the 
army are from the same ethnic group," Mutombo told IRIN from the Congolese 
capital, Kinshasa.

[Full story on: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44725 ]


DRC-RWANDA: MONUC foils attack from Rwanda

Armed men from Rwanda attempted to enter the town of Bukavu in the eastern 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, but were repelled by 
the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo, known as MONUC.

"The [armed men] opened fire one hundred meters from the port of Bukavu," 
Eliane Nabaa, a MONUC spokeswoman, told IRIN on Wednesday. Bukavu is the 
provincial capital of the eastern province of North Kivu and sits on a 
peninsula in Lake Kivu, bordering Rwanda.

"A contingent of MONUC peacekeepers from Pakistan fired back at the 
assailants, after which they fled back in the direction of Rwanda," Nabaa 
said.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44685 ]


DRC: Clashes between army factions displace North Kivu residents

Weekend fighting between rival factions of the armed forces in the east of 
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has displaced an undisclosed number 
of people, official sources reported on Monday.

The affected areas, located in the province of North Kivu, include 
Kanyabayonga, a town some 150 km northeast of the provincial capital, 
Goma, and the locality of Bweremana, on the border with South Kivu 
Province. A military intelligence officer, Maj John Libende, told IRIN on 
Monday that the 126th Battalion of the Congolese army "has just chased 
from Kanyabayonga soldiers whom the Kinshasa government sent to the 
province of North Kivu without notifying us. They attacked our troops 
based in Kanyabayonga because they had refused to allow them to pass as 
they progressed towards our positions in Goma."

[Full story on: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44642 ]


BURUNDI: Mother and child health campaign begins

Burundi began on Monday a weeklong health protection campaign targeting 
over three million children and 17,000 pregnant women, in an effort to 
reduce the country's high infant and maternal mortality rates.

During the campaign, medical teams are due to deworm an estimated three 
million children aged from one year to 14 years; provide vitamin A for 
another one million infants aged from six months to 59 months; immunise 
17,000 pregnant women against tetanus, and distribute mineral salts and 
folic acid to them.

[Full story on: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44631 ]


CAR: Elections postponed; possible candidate goes on trial

President Francois Bozize postponed the date of presidential and 
parliamentary elections for Central African Republic only one week after 
authorising the initial election date. The new date has been set for 13 
February 2005.

Bozize signed a decree on Saturday postponing the elections, which he had 
set for 30 January one week before. Bozize also announced that he would 
contest the presidency as an independent candidate. Other potential 
candidates include the CAR's former president, Andre Kolingba, the former 
prime minister, Jean-Paul Ngoupande, and the former defence minister, 
Jean-Jacques Demafouth

[Full story on: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44650 ]


BURUNDI: Referendum postponed because of delayed voter list

A referendum on Burundi's constitution, set for 22 December, has been 
postponed for a third time; the new date is yet to be determined.  Voter 
lists will not be available on time, explained Paul Ngarambe, chairman of 
the National Independent Electoral Commission.

He announced the postponement on Tuesday at Bujumbura Airport where he 
also received the first shipment of voting materials, which were donated 
by South Africa. "[An electoral list] is an important element [in the 
voting process] to avoid fraud and ensure free and fair elections," 
Ngarambe said.

[Full story on: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44655 ]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004


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