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Near Jomba (Photo: Georgianne Nienaber)
Anti-aircraft guns pound a hillside on the edge of Virunga Park in eastern Congo. The blood-red tunic of the woman who is shouting into her cell phone is a stunning contrast to the drab fatigues of the Congolese (FARDC) soldiers and the dusty vegetation at her feet. The woman is a journalist for Al Jazeera and she is speaking with Colonel Vianney Kazarama who is at the receiving end of the antiaircraft fire.
Kazarama is the spokesman for the M23 rebels of the splintered Congolese army. The fighters defending their positions on the hilltop were once fighting beside the men in the heavily armored tanks. Kazarama’s voice crackles over the cell phone speaker as he demands reconciliation with the government in Kinshasa–a reconciliation that was promised by the March 23, 2009 Amani Leo peace agreement. But peace is elusive in Congo, and millions of innocent civilians are paying the price.
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: Congo M23 Rebels Tell Their Story
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