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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Tanzanian soldiers arrive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo |
| 2013-05-12 |
| [Iran Press TV] A contingent of about 100 Tanzanian soldiers has arrived in Congo to join a United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... mission aimed at neutralizing gangs in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... According to peacekeeping mission front man Lt. Col. Felix Basse, the Tanzanian troops, who entered eastern Congo on Saturday, are the first batch to form the new 3,000-strong UN intervention force to be deployed in the African country. On March 28, the UN Security Council passed a resolution, which not only renewed the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo for one year, but also created a special UN brigade that will fight gangs, rather than merely defend civilians. On April 23, the commander of the UN intervention force arrived in Goma, but troops who were scheduled to be in eastern Congo by the end of April have only just started arriving there. On May 4, March 23 movement (M23) rebels told Tanzania that they would attack and kill its troops if they join the UN mission. "This is intimidation, they must stop it," Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe told parliament. "We are not going to Congo as lords of war, we are going there as advocates of peace to help our neighbors," Membe stated. Last month, Bertrand Bisimwa, the M23's political leader, sent a letter to Tanzania's parliament, saying the rebels had defeated even "larger and better equipped" armies. He warned that the same would happen to Tanzanian soldiers if they went ahead with their "dangerous adventure". |
| Posted by:Fred |