An official of the Democratic Republic
of Congo government is warning various armed groups that the administration
will not kowtow to blackmail.
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Communications Minister Lambert Mende said the
government is also determined to ensure the safety of Congolese.
This comes
after a rebel group suspended participation in the 2008 Goma peace process and
threatened to take up arms.
The
rebel group accused President Joseph Kabila's government of failing fully to
implement the agreement despite repeated promises.
Concerned citizens of
restive Kivu province express worry the rebel threat will undermine the newly
reached peace.
Minister Mende said that government
troops are ready to quell any rebel insurgency.
"They
have been given two alternatives: either joining the army, or being re-inserted
socially. I think that they feel that they can't follow the rules of the army
and they are pulling out from that way of solving their problems," Mende said.
He
said the government is hopeful that deserting rebels would abide by the Goma
agreement.
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"We
hope that they will go to the other way that the government is giving them.
This is the way of re-inserting professionally and socially," he said.
Mende
said the rebels will not shake Kinshasa's resolve.
"They
can do whatever they think is okay for them. But we will not accept them to
blackmail the state like taking again guns against the state. If they do so,
they will meet appropriate reaction from the security personnel," Mende said.
He
denied the government abdicated its responsibilities in the peace agreement.
"We
have 25 Mai Mai groups. If one group among 25 groups says so, do you think that
he is the representative of the Mai Mai? This is a small group among groups who
have joined the peace agreement and they are implementing the peace agreement
with our army commanders," he said.
Mende
said there is a new wind of change blowing in the Congo.
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"Maybe
they (rebel groups) are not well aware of the situation because they think that
the situation has not changed. They think that Congo is living under the threat
from some neighboring countries that was giving the opportunity to some compatriots
to blackmail the Democratic Republic of Congo. Things have changed," Mende
said.
He
said the rebels don't pose any threat to the administration.
"First
of all, we don't consider what you consider threats as a threat. We consider
just Congolese people exerting their rights and speaking freely. We have not
heard that somebody has taken guns, so it is something we can bear," he said.
Mende
also denied the newly found peace in the Kivu provinces is under any
existential threat from rebel insurgency.
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