The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo urged Saturday all armed groups in restless eastern provinces to respect a ceasefire agreement signed last month.
The warring parties must "respect their engagements, especially (starting with) respecting the ceasefire on the ground," Alain Doss, chief of the UN's MONUC mission, told reporters in Goma, the capital of Nord-Kivu province.
An agreement signed on January 23 in Goma between the government and various rebel groups aimed to end months of clashes in Nord- and Sud-Kivu which have displaced more than one million people.
MONUC has reinforced its presence in the region, with eight new mobile bases deployed in Nord-Kivu since late January, said Doss, who noted a system had been put in place to identify violations of the accord.
The mission's armed forces chief of staff for the east — where 90 percent of MONUC's 17,000 peacekeepers are deployed — will soon be transferred to Goma to coordinate their movements, he said.
Despite a period of relative calm that has settled over the Kivu provinces, implementation of the peace deal has been slow.
The government and rebel fighters are still bickering over what tasks will be carried out by various commissions set up to enforce the agreement, and none of the groups have withdrawn from their respective front lines.
But troops loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda were seen by an AFP photographer late in the week carrying out training exercises some 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Goma.
In an unrelated development, Sud-Kivu governor Celestin Cibalonza has stepped down and announced new elections, the country's Independent Electoral Commission said Saturday.
Cibalonza, who had been criticised for mismanagement — even by his own party — reportedly resigned for "personal reasons."
Elections for his successor will take place March 21, the commission said.
