By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, January 3 -- After M23 political leader Jean-Marie Runiga told reporters in Bunagana that "his team" was returning to Kampala for talks with the Congolese government, with an first emphasis on a ceasefire, in New York Inner City Press asked new Security Council member and Rwandan Permanent Representative Gasana about the situation.
On New Year's Eve, the Security Council imposed a travel ban on Runiga.
Gasana sighed and exclusively told Inner City Press, "This is the whole structure of the UN. They want them to negotiate, then they put on a travel ban."
It appears that the effect of the Security Council travel ban is to undermine the Kampala talks, which might breakdown on the Kabila government's refusal to sign a ceasefire anyway.
Ambassador Gasana told Inner City Press, "We have to set a cease fire, it shouldn't be a pretext. Let the big guys here talk again, see how they can handle the stuff in Congo. We don't need to stop the process. It's very important to keep that process going."
The next meeting in the Security Council will be a briefing on Thursday afternoon about another country in which rebels gained territory, the Central African Republic. There, the Security Council's level and direction of focus has been quite different.
Inner City Press asked Gasana about the CAR. He said, "They should get back to the 2008 [deal]... First of all not to give a chance to the rebels to take arms and go fight, second to ask the President [Bozize] to follow what they agreed upon in 2008."
Sort of like what Kabila agreed on March 23, 2009? Watch this site.
