FREE NKUNDA TO FIGHT FOR CONGO
To Orwell Today,
Here is a letter circulating on the internet:
AN OPEN LETTER TO RWANDAN AUTHORITIES
We, Congolese refugees in Rwanda, condemn without reserve
the arrest and illegal detention of our Freedom fighter
Major Gen. Laurent Nkunda Mihigo.
More than 15 years have passed that He and his brothers
are fighting against the genocide forces FDRL/Interahamwe.
Finally, Kinshasa and Kigali have taken their responsibility; therefore,
We obligate his immediate liberation without condition
to achieve his mission
together with Kinshasa and Kigali forces.
-from Sharangabo Rufagari
Greetings Sharangabo,
Thank you for sending a copy of that letter which expresses my sentiments about Laurent Nkunda.
And thank you too for being the person who first told me about Nkunda, and helped inspire my research into the Congo, above and beyond what I was learning about Rwanda. See articles under KNOW NKUNDA CONGO.
I was shocked and saddened when Nkunda was arrested last week by Rwanda, and wrote about it in KAGAME HELPING NKUNDA NOT.
I read in yesterday's news that Congolese refugees in the camps in Rwanda staged a protest. It's admirable that they - the weakest of the weak - had the courage to stand up for Nkunda in his hour of need.
Rwanda puts down Nkunda dissent. BBC, Jan 27, 2009 (....Thousands of Congolese refugees across Rwanda's two main camps - Kiziba in the south, and Gihembe in the north - took to the camps' street on Sunday in a co-ordinated protest. They called the arrest of General Nkunda "illegal", and expressed their anger at the way he was reportedly trapped and arrested. But a joint force of Rwanda police and army dispersed the protesters and many were injured in the skirmishes that followed. "We could not go on with the demonstration as planned as the police and army stopped us," one man in Gihembe camp, which houses about 20,000 refugees, told the BBC. "What we want is that Nkunda is released so that he goes back to DR Congo to continue fighting against the Interahamwe for he's our only hope for any return to DR Congo," he said. "Nkunda was fighting for peace and we cannot understand why he was arrested....")
I'm not a Congolese refugee but I'd like my voice added to theirs. I know, from my research, that one of Nkunda's main aims was to make Congo safe for Congolese refugees in Rwanda to come back home to Congo to live and prosper in peace. That is why he was fighting the negative forces, including the Congolese Mai-Mai and the Rwandan Hutus, among others who had joined them.
Now that Congo and Rwanda have decided to join to fight those negative forces, what possible reason could there be for not allowing Nkunda to help in that fight for Congo.
Amahoro,
Jackie Jura
COMPATRIOTS DEMAND NKUNDA RELEASE
NKUNDA LAST CONGO INTERVIEW (in CNDP Held Territory, January 3, 2009). You Tube, Georgianne Nienaber
Former Rwanda allies arrest Tutsi leader Nkunda, 22 January 2009. Al Jazeera, You Tube
Congo: rebel integration into army fails. AP, Jan 28, 2009
RUMANGABO, Congo — An attempt to integrate hundreds of rebel soldiers [Nkunda CNDP] into Congo's army failed Wednesday, casting doubt on whether a hasty recent change in alliances that spurred hopes for peace can hold. Hundreds of rebel soldiers gathered in Rumangabo along with foreign diplomats and army commanders for what was supposed to have been a ceremony marking the opening of a camp that was to retrain rebels and integrate them into army ranks. But even before the ceremony began, rebels began leaving, some complaining about a lack of planning and one saying he would never change his uniforms. Army officials declined to comment on what went wrong. Congo's Tutsi-led rebellion had controlled a large swath of territory north of the regional capital, Goma, but senior commanders and longtime ally Rwanda turned on rebel chief Laurent Nkunda, who was detained by Rwandan authorities last week as part of a deal between the two nations, which have been enemies for years. As part of the deal, rebels of a splinter faction led by Bosco Ntaganda, said they would operate under army command and eventually integrate into army ranks. The rebels [Nkunda CNDP} have also given back territory they controlled to ill-disciplined government troops [Kabila FARDC], who they forced into a humiliating retreat just months ago...
RWANDA'S GOOD MAN KAGAME and HOW KAGAME BECAME LEADER
Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~
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