The DRC called for the withdrawal despite United Nations concern about violence in the eastern part of the country.<\/p>\n
The UN Security Council voted in December to accede to Kinshasa’s demand for a gradual pullout by the Monusco mission which had arrived in 1999.<\/p>\n
Despite a volatile domestic situation, the government had for months been calling for an accelerated withdrawal of the peacekeepers.<\/p>\n
Kinshasa considers the UN force to be ineffective in protecting civilians from the armed groups and militias that have plagued the eastern DRC for three decades.<\/p>\n
The accusation is similar to that made by other African countries, notably Mali, which also demanded the emergency departure of the UN mission there.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula and Monusco Chief Bintou Keita told a press conference in the capital they would work for an “exemplary” withdrawal.<\/p>\n
The UN force today fields 13,500 soldiers and 2,000 police deployed across the three eastern provinces of Ituri and South and North Kivu.<\/p>\n
The pullout is due to take place in three phases with completion depending on regular assessments.<\/p>\n
Phase one is to see the departure of peacekeepers from South Kivu by the end of April.<\/p>\n
Lutundula said the plan was not at the stage of “seeing soldiers board planes”.<\/p>\n
But “the withdrawal has commenced in the sense that we are at work”, he said.<\/p>\n
Keita said the first of 14 UN bases in South Kivu would close by February 15 at the latest and be handed over to Congolese security forces.<\/p>\n
The first base to be handed over is at Kamanyola on the border with Burundi.<\/p>\n
A final date for the full withdrawal has not been set by the United Nations.<\/p>\n
\n“Normally on December 31 we will be at the end of the withdrawal process,” said Lutundula.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n“We are fighting for everything to be done by the end of this year,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The departure did not mean “the end of the war”, the minister said referring to Kinshasa’s accusation that Rwanda gives military support to the M23 rebel group in North Kivu.<\/p>\n
The Monusco\u00a0chief recalled that DRC had “nearly seven million displaced people, including 5.5 million in the east,” and all in need of protection.<\/p>\n
He said the numbers were “huge”, and called on all the armed groups to lay down their weapons to enable the displaced to return home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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