A commander who claims to have overthrown Laurent Nkunda as leader of rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) said on Thursday Nkunda was a “brake on peace” and his ouster would boost regional truce moves.
“The chairman has been overthrown but the CNDP remains as it is,” Bosco Ntaganda told a press conference organized at his headquarters in the rebel-controlled Masisi highlands.
“Nkunda has become a brake on peace inside the CNDP. We have been telling him to leave for a long time,” said Ntaganda, making his first public comments on the crisis that has split the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), which Nkunda formed in 2006.
DENIAL
But the Nkunda camp strongly denied the leader’s ouster.
As both sides remained locked in a war of words on Thursday, Nkunda’s spokesman, Bertrand Bisimwa, accused Ntaganda of a “hoax” in claiming the leader had been replaced.
“It’s obviously a massive hoax and a characteristic indiscipline which will not remain unsanctioned,” Bisimwa said in a statement.
Nkunda said earlier this week he was still in charge and that his rival would be disciplined by the rebel high command. However, Ntaganda insisted on Thursday that the rebel leadership was under his control and that the high command would meet under his auspices to resolve the crisis and appoint a new leader.
Ntaganda told the press conference that the rival rebel camps had managed to avoid armed clashes, and the standoff with Nkunda would be resolved peacefully.
“Nkunda is my brother, I cannot kill him, or his children, and I think that he could not kill me,” he said.
Ntaganda said the change of leadership “will help peace to return to the east of DRC,” adding that he had the support of “members of the CNDP and the commanders of major units” of the rebel military.
Ntaganda, wearing a general’s uniform, was the rebels’ chief of staff before announcing on Monday that Nkunda had been dismissed for “poor leadership.”
He also on Thursday accused Nkunda of abusing his power.
POCKET MONEY
“The movement’s money was no longer being used for the CNDP, but was managed by Nkunda as if it was his pocket money,” Ntaganda said.
“Not one organ [of the CNDP] was functioning. He was doing everything,” he said.
The CNDP force of around 5,000 troops controls large areas of Nord-Kivu province in eastern Congo following an autumn offensive against the poorly equipped government army. The offensive displaced more than a quarter of a million people and sparked a humanitarian crisis.
Ntaganda said he would pursue peace negotiations with the government of DR Congo President Joseph Kabila. A spokesman for Ntaganda said earlier on Thursday that a rebel delegation participating in UN-mediated peace talks in Nairobi with government officials had no legitimacy as it was chosen by Nkunda before his overthrow.
But Ntaganda said that if the talks “are going to bring peace, I will support them.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese