GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The United Nations is backing a new campaign urging armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to surrender.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC is assisting with a new sensitization campaign calling for the surrender of armed groups in the volatile North and South Kivu provinces ahead of a peace conference, scheduled to begin Sunday in Goma, DRC.
Recent fighting between government troops and Army Gen. Laurent Nkunda's allied rebels has led to thousands of civilians who have fled their homes for safety.
In an effort to reach the foreign combatants including militants from Rwanda and the Congolese Nkunda and Mai Mai factions in the Kivu provinces, the new campaign will broadcasts on 18 mobile radio outlets and disseminate leaflets encouraging surrender.
"Our role is to support the DRC government with all the means and expertise at our disposal," Ndiaga Diagne, U.N. peacekeeping officer based in Goma, said in a statement. "We are ready to assist contacts between the DRC Government representatives and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda on the ground, in order to have the most complete sensitization possible."
