Congolese Rebels Vows to Stay in Kisangani

The Rwandan-backed rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) said their army would stay in Kisangani, where Ugandan and Rwandan troops clashed on May 5 and 8, reported the Monitor daily, a major newspaper in Uganda on Friday.

The Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) is "against the demilitarization of Kisangani. This accord only concerns ... Rwanda and Uganda, but not us,"

RCD Military Commander Jeanpierre Ondekane was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Earlier this week the chiefs of Ugandan and Rwandan armies agreed to pull their troops 100 kilometers out from Kisangani, the third largest city in the DRC, under an accord reached by their presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame.

"We cannot talk about demilitarization of Kisangani because Kisangani was taken by our forces with the help of the Rwandans," Ondekane said.

"We are going to stay. The country belongs to us. We are waging this war to liberate the Congolese. We are not Rwandans," he insisted.

Uganda and Rwanda currently have their troops stationed in Kisangani to back rival rebel faction fighting against the DRC President Laurent Kabila.

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