08 11 13 AP: 1,700 M23 rebels surrender to Uganda

 

Gen.
Sultani Makenga, M23's military commander, and his fighters were being held by
the Ugandan military in Mgahinga, a forested area near the Congo border,
the official said. The rebels had been disarmed and were being registered by
Ugandan officials, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to give this information.

This week
the rebels lost control of all the territory they once held following an
intensified offensive by Congolese troops who are backed by United Nations
forces in eastern Congo.
After their last major stronghold fell last week, the rebels appeared to flee
from the border town of Bunagana
to the surrounding hills and forests. Earlier this week the rebels' civilian
leader, Bertrand Bisimwa, announced the rebellion was over, saying he wanted to
work with Congo's government
toward finding a political solution to violence in eastern Congo.

Makenga,
the M23 commander, is the subject of U.N. sanctions, and it remained unclear what
Ugandan officials would do with him.

Under the
banner of a regional bloc, Uganda
has been hosting peace talks between the rebels and Congo's government. Those talks
have repeatedly stalled, but there were signs a final accord might be signed
soon after Congolese troops gained an upper hand against the rebels in recent
fighting in eastern Congo.

M23
launched its rebellion in April 2012, becoming the latest reincarnation of a
Tutsi rebel group dissatisfied with the Congolese government. A report by U.N. experts
has said neighboring Rwanda,
whose president is also an ethnic Tutsi, provided weapons, recruits and
training to M23 rebels. Rwanda's
government denies the allegations, saying Congo's government has failed to
police its territory.

M23 had
been substantially weakened in the past year by internal divisions and waning
Rwandan support, according to the U.N. Defections from the M23 went up,
totaling 80 in
October.

The
Congolese military capitalized on these rebel setbacks by pushing ahead with
new offensives beginning in August that were supported by a brigade of U.N.
forces with a mandate to attack the rebels.