United Nations Radio

The head of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has condemned the recent fighting between the Congolese army and rebels from the National Congress for People's Defense.

Allan Doss (photo) called on the parties to exercise restraint, return to their initial positions, and avoid any actions that might escalate the situation.

Meanwhile, United Nations, European Union and Rwandan officials met in Kigali on Wednesday to prepare for a Joint Monitoring Group meeting scheduled for Monday in the DRC capital, Kinshasa.

The Joint Monitoring Group was created under a 2007 agreement between the Rwandan and Congolese governments to remove the threat posed by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by its French acronym FDLR.

The FDLR is a group of Hutu militias who fled to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

This is Dianne Penn for United Nations Radio.

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