Written question asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative) on Thursday, 18 January 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 January 2007. It was answered by Ian McCartney (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 January 2007 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on a pact between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Laurent Nkunda.

Answer: Negotiations are ongoing between the government and army of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Laurent Nkunda to try and resolve the political and security crisis in North Kivu province. Several points must be addressed before any deal can be considered final. Broad agreement has been reached that troops currently serving under Nkunda will come under the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) central command in the future. We are urging the Congolese Government to resolve this in a way that avoids causing further suffering to the population of north Kivu.We continually press the Congolese authorities to accelerate the process of reforming the security sector and to ensure that FARDC troops and militias are prevented from continuing to abuse civilians in a climate of impunity.

Secondary information