17 07 13 Naharnet: U.N. Threatens 'Lethal Force' against DR Congo Rebels

The DR Congo government
said at least 130 people, including 10 soldiers, were killed in new fighting
with M23 rebels on the outskirts of Goma in the east of the country on Sunday.

The U.N. has deployed a
3,000 strong intervention brigade in eastern DR Congo in recent weeks. The
joint South African, Tanzanian, Malawian brigade has an unprecedentedly strong
U.N. Security Council mandate to take on armed groups.

The DR Congo
"mission has put its troops on high alert and stands ready to take any
necessary measures including the using of lethal force to protect
civilians," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

"Any attempt by the
M23 to advance toward Goma will be considered a direct threat to
civilians," he added.

M23, which U.N. experts
say has received backing from Rwanda and Uganda, briefly took Goma in November
last year, sparking the UN decision to beef up its forces in a region where
millions have died in conflict over the past two decades.

The latest heavy fighting
broke out at Mutaho, about eight kilometers (five miles) northwest of Goma, the
U.N. mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, said.

The M23, which has forces
around Goma, has reinforced its positions with "heavy artillery" and
a "battle tank," MONUSCO said in a statement.

The clashes erupted as
the Rwandan government accused commanders of the the U.N.'s Force Intervention
Brigade (FIB) of meeting leaders of the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation
of Rwanda (FDLR).

The FDLR is mainly based
in eastern DR Congo and includes ethnic Hutu fighters accused of taking part in
Rwanda's
1994 genocide.

"Rwanda has credible, reliable and detailed
information that various forms of tactical and strategic collaboration with the
FDLR were discussed during those meetings," Rwanda's U.N. ambassador
Eugene-Richard Gasana said in the letter.

"Their actions,
implicating senior United Nations commanders picking sides among the very armed
groups whose military activities they are meant to deter, are of serious
concern," he added.

Gasana also said there is
"enhanced collaboration" between the DR Congo army, the FARDC, and
the FDLR, "often with the knowledge and/or support of certain FIB
contingents."

"There are increased
patterns of large quantities of weapons and ammunition, being delivered to FDLR
by FARDC officers," the letter said. It added that U.N. force commanders
knew about the deliveries.

Gasana said the
activities could "undermine" a regional peace accord brokered by U.N.
leader Ban Ki-moon and signed this year by African leaders. Under the accord,
the leaders promised not to interfere in each other's affairs.

The United Nations
declined to comment immediately on the letter.

U.N. experts monitoring DR Congo sanctions said in
their latest report that Rwanda
was still aiding the M23 though the assistance has fallen off since last year.