DRC: General says dissident officer creating rebel force

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

GOMA, 9 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Laurent Nkunda, a dissident army general from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is in the process of recruiting a rebel force in the territory of Masisi, less than 100 km north of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, according to the army commander in the region, Gabriel Amisi.

"I ask you to not be tricked by General Laurent Nkunda because he will be hunted down and arrested for what he is in the process of doing," Gen Amisi told senior officers on Thursday at a meeting also attended by representatives of the local Indian contingent from the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC.

"We have information that he is recruiting officers in various villages in Masisi Territory and we will soon capture him and put him out of harms way," Amisi said.

In August a 17-page communiqué attributed to Nkunda was secretly distributed in Goma. The communiqué called for a renewal of hostilities against the government in Kinshasa.

On Saturday, the government of Rwanda extradited a number of dissidents associated with Nkunda. They were brought to Goma prison.

[ENDS]