29 10 13 VOA – UN Envoy Says M23 Is Weakened Militarily in Eastern Congo

France
called for the meeting Monday after clashes resumed Friday between rebels and
the Congolese army, following the suspension of peace talks in
Uganda.

The
U.N. Mission in Congo, MONUSCO, reported that the situation in North Kivu
remained tense on Monday, but that fighting between M23 and the Congolese army
had stopped.

French
Ambassador Gérard Araud told reporters that the U.N. envoy in Congo, Martin
Kobler, said the M23 has been severely weakened militarily. Kobler briefed the
Security Council by video link from Kinshasa.

"Basically
he told us we are witnessing the military end of the M23. I think this is a
positive development. There was a general agreement that now we should go back
to the table of negotiation in Kampala," said Araud.

Two
other diplomats said Kobler was careful to put the end of M23 in the
conditional, saying "in the coming days we might witness the military end of the
M23."

When
peace talks in Kampala were suspended last Monday, the U.N. said agreement had
been reached on eight of 11 issues, but that there still was no consensus on
amnesty, integration, disengagement and security
arrangements.

Regarding
media reports that quoted the governor of North Kivu as saying mass graves were
found as the army performed cleanup operations as it left Kibumba, 25 kilometers
north of Goma, Ambassador Araud said the U.N.'s Kobler confirmed those
reports.

"He
said that they discovered two mass graves. But apparently the remains are not
recent, so they are not the result of the last days of fighting. So they need to
have forensic investigation to know what is the origin of the victims and when
the apparent massacre has been conducted," he said.

The
U.N. mission says that, after two days of fighting, the army took control of the
towns of Kiwanja and Rutshuru, and were continuing clearing operations east and
southeast of the area on Monday.

On
Sunday, a Tanzanian peacekeeper assigned to the Intervention Brigade, working to
neutralize armed groups in the area, was shot and killed by an M23 fighter
during the clashes. In a statement, the U.N. Security Council condemned the M23
attacks that led to the peacekeeper's death.

Great
Lakes Special Envoy Mary Robinson and the U.N.'s Kobler have called on all
parties to exercise maximum restraint and to return to
negotiations.