Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
October 30, 2008

Overnight Looting, Killings Reported in Congolese City
------------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1F077F1:A6F02AD83191E1600245C5AAE2F5A13598CBE7246176B735&
 
Residents of eastern city of Goma say troops retreating from rebel
advance looted, killed and raped women in city 
Mourners cry near the bodies of two women allegedly killed last night by
a group of Congolese soldiers after looting their house in the Katindo
neighborhood of Goma, 30 Oct 2008Residents of the eastern city of Goma
in the Democratic Republic of
Congo say troops retreating from a rebel advance looted, killed and
raped women in the city early Thursday. At least five people were
reported killed in the city. The
violence came after rebels declared a ceasefire Wednesday with
government forces and U.N. peacekeepers. The rebels are currently just
outside the city. Congolese army Colonel Jonas Padiri says his forces
and U.N. peacekeepers are patrolling the city Thursday. Rebel leader
General Laurent Nkunda said he is ready to hold talks with the Congolese
government. Peacekeepers
used combat helicopters to slow the rebel offensive which began
Sunday. Thousands of displaced people, including some Congolese
soldiers, rushed in and out of Goma trying to find safety. The United
States and European Union have dispatched top envoys to the Congo
capital, Kinshasa. Nkunda told VOA earlier that he declared the
ceasefire to avoid panicking the population in Goma. In
New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon said the fighting has
created a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions. The Security
Council unanimously condemned the rebel offensive during an emergency
meeting late Wednesday. On Tuesday, the head of the U.N.
mission in Congo, Alan Doss, said peacekeepers would defend Goma. But
he added that his troops are stretched to the limit. Authorities
in Kinshasa suggested a new multinational force could help as well.
France's foreign affairs minister Bernard Kouchner suggested sending in
a European peacekeeping mission, though, he says several EU nations are
opposed to the idea. North Kivu province has been racked by
continuous violence despite the end of Congo's regional war in 2003,
and new peace deals to end the fighting in the east. Rebels say
they are defending ethnic Tutsis against ethnic Hutu fighters from
Rwanda's genocide they say are backed by Congo's army, which the
government denies. Congolese authorities have accused neighboring Rwanda
of backing Nkunda. Both countries also have accused each other's armies
of crossing the border and firing at each other during the recent
clashes.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


.