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South Africa police arrest 19 suspected Congolese rebels

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JOHANNESBURG | Tue Feb 5, 2013 2:56am EST

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police arrested 19 suspected Congolese rebels, including two senior members of the M23 group, on suspicion of running an illegal military operation, police said on Tuesday.

The group was arrested in South Africa's northern Limpopo province after an investigation by a crime intelligence unit, police said, without providing further details.

A separate law enforcement official said they were members of the M23 rebels that have carved out a fiefdom in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, dragging the region back into war and displacing an estimated half a million people.

The M23 rebels, who launched their offensive after accusing President Joseph Kabila of reneging on the terms of a March 2009 peace agreement, have since broadened their goals to include removal of Kabila and "liberation" of the entire Congo.

The 19 are expected to appear in a court in Pretoria to face a charge under South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance act, police said in a statement.

(Reporting by Peroshni Govender and Jon Herskovitz; Editing by John Stonestreet)
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oxen wrote:
SADC & UN needs to work harder to solve the rebel menace. The UN needs to deploy the peace enforcement force and deploy the intelligence surveillance drones asp. Also the DRC govt should not allow the oppression the rebels are carrying out in the East as they change names and make up more rebel groups. Also they are making illegal appointments to help them in the business and tax collections from the population and the minerals. Some of the rebel heads are indicted for various crimes. The population needs help to return to their land. The rebel groups should be disarmed and disbanded. Talking to such greedy fellows has proved almost a waste of time as the Kampala talks have proved and as was expected. Also it is a myth to expect the African leaders to-that met at the AU meetings-sideline to sign anything that can end this conflict on their own is . It is an international conflict and many players involved and the minerals end up sold outside Africa. Therefore the warlords will not stop the war, they need to be stopped by UN and SADC and then a strong DRC army and institutions built. Otherwise Mr Kabila will remain just a dreamer and SADC will keep squabbling with UN as the war lord terrorize the population, with oppression, take away their property necessary for livelihood. If they mean good, Rwanda and Uganda should also arrest all the DRC treasonous rebels in their countries following the Example of South Africa. Instead of giving the rebels shelter and arms. Also other countries should follow the example of France and help UN stamp out the rebel menace so that the region can have peace and progress.

Feb 05, 2013 10:44pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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