04 09 13 AFP: Congo police secure rebel territory, 'national dialogue' delayed

The governor of
the mineral-rich but chronically unstable province of North Kivu
said police had been sent into areas recently abandoned by the rebels in the
face of a week-long offensive by the military and a new United Nations combat
force.

Governor Julien
Paluku told AFP police had mostly reestablished their control over a territory
known as Nyiragongo, located north of Goma, the provincial capital and the hub
around which most of the 16-month conflict has revolved.

"The
police have redeployed since yesterday in Nyiragongo, but not over the whole
territory because there is still a small part that hasn't been cleared, where
we still need to mop up," Paluku said.

"Police
units will be deployed like this every time the military goes to reoccupy a
place. They will be deployed to lock down the area."

The M23 was
launched by Tutsi soldiers who mutinied from the army in April 2012 and turned
their guns on their former comrades.

The rebels, who
seized Goma for 12 days in November before withdrawing to the surrounding hills
under international pressure, retreated this week to around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the
city in the face of the army's new UN-backed offensive.

As the police
moved in to resecure the ex-rebel territory, the Congolese government postponed
by three days a "national dialogue" that had been scheduled to open
Wednesday.

The nationwide
talks, which are supposed to involve the country's political parties and civil
society groups, will now open on Saturday in three major cities, said an
official from the secretariat charged with organising the process.

"The
opening of the talks has been pushed back to September 7 because of the head of
state's agenda," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official
said President Joseph Kabila had to open a meeting of the International
Conference on the Great Lakes Region.

Kabila is due
to attend a summit of the 11-country regional bloc Thursday in Uganda, where UN
special envoy Mary Robinson is expected to push leaders to revive their
moribund effort to restore peace to eastern DR Congo.

Kabila has
promised the national dialogue in an effort to tackle the massive central
African country's deep poverty, rampant corruption and widespread violence and
rebellions.

But most
opposition parties have said they will boycott the talks.