Govt troops retake Congo city

Government forces recaptured the strategic Congo city of Bukavu today, ending a one-week takeover by renegade troops that triggered the biggest crisis yet to the African nation’s peace process.

Thousands of residents sang, beat drums and honked horns as soldiers marched into the centre of Bukavu without firing a shot – hours after rebel leader Colonel Jules Mutebutsi and his force fled the city under the cover of darkness.

“Apparently the government has taken the city peacefully and without bloodshed. This is a good sign for the peace process. We have been struggling for weeks to get it back on track,” said Alpha Sow, the head of the UN mission in the region. “The fall of Bukavu shook the peace process.”

In Kinshasa, the capital, President Joseph Kabila’s government said the recapture of the city showed the power-sharing administration’s commitment to holding its territory together.

A transitional government took office in Congo last June, ending a five-year civil war that drew in six foreign armies. An estimated 3.3 million people perished, mainly through war-induced disease and famine.

The rebels joined the transitional government when it was established but their leaders later fell out with army commanders.