Congo Smuggling: U.N. Blames Uganda, Rwanda and UAE

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02-09-12

Terror Vs. Freedom: Has 7/11 Bought More Time For General Museveni?

As we feared, public gatherings have been banned, and it is likely that Gen. Museveni and his lackeys in the security services will wave the security card like a preacher does the Bible, to frustrate opposition gatherings and political organizing. Full Story

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Date: December 20th, 2009
Name: Ann Garrison
Subject: Rebels in D.R. Congo
Comment: Susan Rice loves that word rebels, which has become totally meaningless in Congo, having been applied to groups as varied as Rwanda's ruthless Laurent Nkunda and Bosco Ntaganda and the CNDP militia ravaging Eastern Congo in foreign interest, Rwandan FDLR refugees generally said, by the U.S. State Dept,, to be the cause of all Congo's misery, and the Mai Mai militia, who, so far as I can tell from here, seem to be indigenous people taking up arms to protect their villages.

Date: December 14th, 2009
Name: David
Subject: Who Benefits
Comment: Thousands of CNDP militia forces were integrated into the FARDC military in 2009, in a strategic maneuver championed by James Kabarebe and Paul Kagame and their U.S. and U.K. backers. These ‘ex-’CNDP wear FARDC uniforms, with some units commanded by FARDC officers–whose loyalty might first be to Congo, and not Kabila–while others are commanded by ‘ex-’CNDP officers serving Kabila but loyal to Rwanda.
The CNDP is one of the pivotal causes of the massive destabilization of eastern Congo,

[Global: United Nations]

A new United Nations report says Uganda, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates are behind a gold smuggling operation that fuels violence in war-torn Congo.

The Security Council separately on Monday renewed sanctions against the rebel groups operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Wall Street Journal reported today that while yesterday's Security Council resolution renewing sanctions didn't mention countries or companies by name, the U.N. report "blames Uganda, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates for running a trading network of smuggled gold and other minerals."

"A Ugandan diplomat protested the report in a closed-door Security Council meeting last week, saying it was based on assumptions, according to a diplomat present at the meeting," The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The Journal said the U.N. report lists Malaysia Smelting Corp. and Thailand Smelting & Refining Co., a unit of Amalgamated Metal Corp. of the United Kingdom as participants in the operation. What's more the CBS Television national program "60 Minutes" reported Sunday that while Uganda produced only $500 worth of gold in 2007 its exports amounted to $75 million of the commodity that year. "Almost all of that is coming from the war zone," in Congo, "60 Minutes" reported.

Without elaboration, Susan Rice, United States ambassador to the United Nations told The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. would work with the U.N. to "prevent the continued illegal exploitation of Congo's minerals, including its gold, which is funding the rebels and the fighting in Congo."

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