November 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former president of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta has called for an “immediate” end to the fighting between the Army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) and has advocated returning to comply with the clauses of the agreement signed in Nairobi.
Kenyatta, mediator of the East African Community (EAC) for the conflict, has indicated that “the war must cease immediately in the eastern DRC between the belligerents, all parties to the Nairobi process, to resume any form of dialogue.”
“Even if we are in conflict, even if we do not understand each other, we have to stop fighting,” he said, before adding that “the displaced have nothing to do with the conflict. “Let us have mercy on these people, let us stop fighting and Let’s discuss,” he requested.
Kenyatta has been shocked by the deterioration of the humanitarian situation due to the conflict and has said that “thousands” of people have been affected by the fighting. “This number will increase,” he warned, as reported by the Congolese radio station Radio Okapi.
“Being children of God, we must know that a human being is not an animal. It is what we see today, as if man were a wild animal. It is our responsibility to put an end to this war. We do not condemn anyone. This advice applies to all the parties in conflict”, he pointed out.
The fighting in recent days has had its epicenter around the capital of the North Kivu province, Goma, after bombardments carried out last week by the DRC Army against M23 positions in the area.
According to the United Nations, 188,000 people have left their homes since October 20, for a total of almost 240,000 since the start of this latest conflict, which has caused a diplomatic crisis between the DRC and Rwanda over Kigali’s alleged support for the armed group – -which the Rwandan authorities deny– and the intervention of a Kenyan support force deployed within the framework of the EAC.
