Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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Renegade General's Forces to Rejoin Congo Army
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=15D7767:A6F02AD83191E160DD0693DE41E8529C9574F7DCC14957C0 General Laurent
Nkunda says his forces reintegrating into country's national army,
following informal peace deal struck in neighboring Rwanda Democratic
Republic of Congo's renegade General Laurent Nkunda has said his
forces are reintegrating into the country's national army, following
an informal peace deal struck in neighboring Rwanda. Nkunda, who led
troops loyal to him into rebellion in 2004, is being sought under an
international arrest warrant for war crimes. Joe Bavier has more from
the capital, Kinshasa.







General Laurent Nkunda, 6 Jun 2004Speaking by telephone to VOA, early
Thursday, General Laurent Nkunda said his forces - estimated at
between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers - had already begun the reintegration
process at a site in North Kivu Province, in Congo's volatile east.

Under a verbal agreement he says was made with Congo's government and
army during talks in Rwanda, earlier this month, Nkunda's two brigades
will be blended with three Congolese army brigades already in North
Kivu.



Both Nkunda and army officials say the first of these mixed units will
be presented at a ceremony, Friday.









Joseph Kabila (file photo)Congo President Joseph Kabila was sworn in
last month, after the country's first democratic elections in more
than four decades. The process marked the end of a transition period,
following a 1998-to-2003 civil war that killed an estimated four
million people - most through hunger and disease.



More than three years after the official end of Congo's war, the
country's east remains unstable, with regular fighting breaking out
between government forces and armed militias.



Nkunda rebelled a year after the signing of the peace deal that
officially ended fighting in the broader conflict. He claims he did so
to protect Congo's minority Tutsi ethnic group, of which he is a
member.



The general is being sought under an international arrest warrant for
war crimes allegedly committed during a week-long occupation of the
eastern city, Bukavu, in 2004.



Nkunda says he wants the warrant repealed and plans to rejoin the
army, himself.


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