AFRICA/CONGO DR - Instability in the east, even Ituri in ferment: Gold and oil are at stake

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - After North Kivu, another area in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ituri district, is likely to burst out again. According to the press in fact 4 Congolese armed groups in the region have joined a new movement, the Coalition of Armed Groups of Ituri (COGAI), under the command of dissident Colonel Matata Banaloki, called Cobra. The COGAI asks the Kinshasa government amnesty for all militias operating in Ituri and the transformation of the district in province. The creation of a military region of Ituri led by an officer of the original is also being asked.
As in the case of North Kivu (which borders on the north with Ituri) where a movement formed by deserters operates, also the militias grouped in COGAI are made up largely of military deserters of the Congolese Armed Forces.
Ituri, where the Hema and Lendu peoples have long been fighting over the control of the land, is a further step, according to the press in Kinshasa, in the struggle led by local militias, foreign governments and multinational corporations to control the Congolese natural resources. "The claims of COGAI do not affect the identity of the territory," writes Le Potentiel. "They are essentially economic and revolve around oil wells and gold mines of the district." (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/5/2012)