A self-defence militia led by
"General" Sheka Ntabo Ntaberi and known as Sheka Mai Mai has been active in the
region at least three years, battling rival forces for control of gold mines.

"Thirty-six hours ago, (the town of) Pinga
was liberated from the Sheka Mai
Mai and of Sheka himself. Now it's vital to restore the
authority of the state as soon as possible," Martin Kobler told AFP in a
brief interview.

At the end of October, the UN mission to the
country, MONUSCO, reported that "at least 34 civilians, including 20
children (aged between six months and 17 years) were killed with extreme
violence" by the Sheka Mai
Mai in villages in Masisi territory, North Kivu.

The militia is also accused of taking part in
the rape of almost 400 people in July and August 2010 in the Walikale
territory, adjoining the Masisi.

An arrest warrant for its leader has been
issued by state prosecutors and MONUSCO has denounced "serious rights
violations, which could constitute crimes under international law, notably
crimes against humanity."

Kobler made no mention of a surrender by Sheka
himself and did not say how many militia members had turned themselves in, but
on Wednesday MONUSCO reported that 140 fighters from the force had surrendered
between November 19 and 27.

According to Kobler, Sheka Mai Mai forces were prepared to
go to military lodgings that already hold hundreds of former fighters who have
turned themselves in since the surrender on November 5 of rebels of the
Movement of March 23 (M23), after an 18-month uprising.

The UN special envoy to the central African
Great Lakes region, Mary Robinson, warned Friday that development in the
Democratic Republic of Congo depended on disarming all armed movements.

"To enable development, the other armed
groups must come out of the bush," Robinson said in the eastern city of Goma.

The military defeat of the M23 was a major
boost to the Congolese army, which received help during its campaign from a
special UN intervention brigade that operates under an unprecedented mandate to
target and neutralise armed movements, which are rife in the east.

But several dozen armed movements —
community-based militias, army defectors and rebel forces, both native to the
DR Congo and from neighbouring Rwanda
and Uganda
— are highly active in the east and often involved in the struggle to control
its rich mineral resources.