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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Obama: DR Congo's Neighbors Must Stop Backing Rebels |
| 2013-07-02 |
[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack ObamaBecause I won... on Monday called on the countries bordering Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... to stop backing gangs there. Or what? We'll invade? "The countries surrounding Congo, they have got to make a commitment to stop supporting gangs," Obama told a presser in the Tanzanian commercial capital, where he is wrapping up a three-nation African tour. Both Rwanda and Uganda have been accused of supporting the M23, the gang that briefly occupied the eastern DRC town of Goma in November, routing the government troops stationed there. Both countries have denied the charges. He also called on DRC President Joseph Kabila to make more headway with reforming his country's armed forces, saying he "has to do more and better in dealing with the DRC's capacity on security issues". DR Congo's army -- even the so-called elite units trained by foreign powers -- is notorious for its ill-discipline and lack of motivation, with troops often running away and engaging in looting in the face of rebel attacks. |
| Posted by:Fred |