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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Germany calls for ceasefire in northern Congo

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Goma, Congo (Earth Times) - German Development Minister Dirk Niebel on Sunday called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to cease military action in the country's north to allow as many as 200,000 internally displaced refugees to return to their homes. Speaking at a visit to a refugee camp near Goma, near the border with Rwanda, Niebel said that in addition to finding a settlement between the various parties in the regional conflict, the authorities in Kinshasa should use foreign aid to rebuild the country's infrastructure.

Public income such as roadway tolls should actually be invested in building the roads, Niebel, who began a one-week trip to Africa in Rwanda on Friday, said.

He added that Congo had good conditions for a functioning tourism industry, mentioning the necessity to use added in protecting the diversity of animal species.

Congo President Joseph Kabila plans to close the Goma refugee camp in mid-2010 for the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. As part of this process, Kabila has called for the UN peacekeeping mission to Congo MONUC to present a withdrawal plan by this date.

MONUC has said it would produce such a plan by May.

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