03 11 13 Reuters – Congo's M23 rebels declare ceasefire but shelling continues

By
Kenny Katombe

RUNYONI,
Democratic Republic of Congo
| Sun Nov 3, 2013 11:31am EST

The
army has in recent weeks driven rebels from towns they had occupied across
eastern Congo,
making mediators optimistic for a deal to end the conflict, the most serious
since a major Congolese war ended a decade ago.

Uganda,
which has led
attempts to end the rebellion, has called for both sides to stop fighting. A
spokesman for Congo's government called the rebel statement "a step in the right
direction" but said it was waiting to see if the ceasefire was implemented on
the ground.

"We
call on the facilitator of the Kampala peace talks to immediately put in place a
mechanism to monitor the ceasefire," the rebels said in
statement.

However,
a Reuters journalist near the frontline at Runyoni, in North Kivu province, said
the two sides were shelling each other's positions on Sunday
afternoon.

"With
this kind of thing there is always a delay between the order being given and the
reality on the ground," said government spokesman Lambert Mende. "In any case
the army will continue to pursue the demobilization and disarmament of the
rebels."

M23
was launched last year by fighters complaining that the terms of a 2009 peace
deal ending a previous rebellion in the mineral-rich east had not been
honored.

Last
November, the rebels seized Goma, the capital of North Kivu, overrunning
government troops and marching past U.N. peacekeepers.

That
prompted an overhaul of the army and a strengthening of the U.N. mission's force
and mandate. Intense pressure was applied to neighboring Rwanda not to back the
rebels, something it denied doing.

SWIFT
GAINS BY ARMY

Congo's
U.N.-backed army made swift gains after it went on the offensive when peace
talks broke down 10 days ago.

Rebel
fighters this week abandoned Bunagana, their last stronghold in the eastern
province, and have withdrawn into the hills and forests around Congo's border
with Uganda and Rwanda where the rebellion was launched last
year.

Heavy
fighting has eased as the rebels pulled back but the army said it shelled rebel
positions on Saturday to encourage remaining fighters to
surrender.

Colonel
Olivier Hamuli, a spokesman for Congo's army, said late on Saturday that the
army was slowly advancing and had captured three hilltop positions from the
rebels, who were now confined to the hills of Runyoni, Mbuzi and
Tshanzu.

Congo's
government has dispatched senior negotiators to talks in Uganda but the army is
keen to finish off the rebellion, the last in a series of uprisings led by
Congolese Tutsis and linked to Rwanda.

In
a sign of optimism for an end to violence that has killed millions through
conflict and related disease, Russ Feingold, U.S. special envoy for the Great
Lakes region of Africa, had said a peace deal could be reached as soon as this
weekend.

But
writing in South Africa's Sunday Independent newspaper, South African military
and defense analyst Helmoed Romer Heitman cautioned that it might be "too early
to celebrate" an end to the rebellion.

"Remember
that M23 essentially pulled out of positions as (government) forces approached;
they were not driven out in combat. Therein may lie a fatal over-optimism," he
wrote.

"The
key point is that M23 is a guerrilla force and a core tenet of guerrilla war is
to side-step a stronger enemy."

Even
if a deal is done, deep-rooted issues ranging from ethnic rivalries and
conflicts over land and minerals to a weak national government and meddling by
more powerful neighbors must be tackled to break the cycles of violence in
Congo.

(Additional
reporting by Pete Jones in Kinshasa and Pascal Fletcher in Johannesburg; Writing
by David Lewis; editing by Robin Pomeroy and Barry Moody)