African News Agency : Welcome

Kinshasa, 23 Nov - (ANA) - The head of the army in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended pending an investigation into claims that he sold weapons to rebel groups. A UN report accused Gen Gabriel Amisi of running a network supplying arms to poachers and rebel groups including the notorious Mai Mai Raia Mutomboki. A government spokesman said other officers were also being investigated. The suspension follows the seizure of the city of Goma by the separate M23 rebels on Tuesday. They also seized another town, Sake, although government spokesman Lambert Mende says it is now back in government hands. The rebels, who are widely believed to be backed by Rwanda and Uganda, have threatened to advance towards the capital Kinshasa unless President Joseph Kabila opens direct peace talks. Uganda is hosting a summit later on Friday with the presidents of Rwanda and DR Congo. Some M23 leaders have also reportedly flown to Kampala. The report, written for the UN by a group of independent experts, said Gen Amisi ran a network providing arms to criminal groups and rebels operating in eastern DR Congo, where numerous different armed groups still operate. "Gen Gabriel Amisi oversees a network distributing hunting ammunition for poachers and armed groups, including Raia Mutomboki," the report says. The M23 was not among the armed groups named in the report although Raia Mutomboki, one of several Mai Mai, or local community armed groups, is thought in some instances to have allied itself with the M23. (ANA)