The main rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has condemned last week's massacres in northeastern Ituri province, in which some 1,000 people were slaughtered, as "ethnic cleansing".
Congolese Rally for Democracy (CRD) Secretary-General, Mr Azarias Ruberwa told AFPtoday that the rebel group considered the massacres to be "ethnic cleansing" and "demanded that justice be done."
He also called for the UN special envoy for the DRC to travel to Ituri to investigate the massacres, and that the perpetrators of the violence be brought to trial.
At least 1,000 people were slaughtered in the northeastern region of Ituri on Thursday, one day after the signing of an accord to end over four years of war in the vast Central African country.
The reports came from the UN mission in the country in a statement sent yesterday to AFP'soffice in the Rwandan capital Kigali. It said the information came from "witness accounts" of the massacres, which took place in the parish of Drodo and 14 neighbouring areas.
According to lists compiled by local leaders, 966 people were "summarily executed" in three hours of massacres, said the UN mission, which on Saturday sent a team to Drodo and the surrounding areas.
The accord between the government, opposition parties, civil society groups, militias and rebel groups ended 19 months of tortuous peace negotiations.
It enabled President Joseph Kabila to issue on Friday a new constitution which opens the way for a national unity government and the first democratic elections in the former Belgian colony for more than 40 years.
Kabila was sworn in today as DRC's new president, taking the oath of office on the country's new constitution.
AFP