XPost: ba.transportation, sbay.politics, oc.general   
   XPost: alt.guns   
   From: soarbutt@nbc.com   
      
   KINSHASA, Congo — The United States is prepared to give Congo   
   $30 million in aid for stability and democracy-building – but   
   wants President Joseph Kabila to agree to step down at the end   
   of his current term in office, U.S. Secretary of State John   
   Kerry said Sunday.   
      
   Kerry said Congo’s government also needs to schedule elections   
   soon. The vote is tentatively set for 2016, although a firm date   
   has not yet been set.   
      
   In a private Sunday meeting, Kerry said he urged Kabila to   
   follow Congo’s constitution in the upcoming elections, which   
   would prohibit him from running for a third consecutive term as   
   president.   
      
   It was not clear if Kabila agreed. Kerry also said he urged   
   Kabila to lift a freeze on international adoptions of Congolese   
   orphans.   
      
   “It is important to the people to be able to know what the   
   process is, to have confidence in that process,” Kerry told   
   reporters after the meeting. “The sooner the process is   
   announced, the sooner that the date is set, the sooner people   
   have an ability to be able to participate. And we believe it   
   ought to be done in keeping with the constitutional process of   
   the country.”   
      
   Reached for comment, Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende   
   said the constitution would be respected, but also suggested it   
   could be revised.   
      
   “Concerning the deadline for elections, our constitution has   
   articles that can be revised in the case of unforeseen events,”   
   Mende said. He added that it was too early to discuss elections.   
      
   “To speak of this now, it’s a way of exploiting the next   
   elections to stop the holder of the current mandate from doing   
   the work for which the Congolese people have elected him,” he   
   said. “Why all this noise just about Congo, when there are more   
   than 15 countries that are going to organize elections in the   
   next year?”   
      
   The $30 million U.S. pledge would more than doubles the $12   
   million in assistance given to Congo last year linked to   
   elections and stability assistance. Some of the money could go   
   to non-governmental organizations. Last year, total U.S. aid to   
   Congo totaled about $210 million.   
      
   The funding would help further stability efforts in Congo, which   
   has been wracked by violence for two decades. Kerry said more   
   must be done to combat Congo-based rebels, the Democratic Forces   
   for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by its French acronym, FDLR,   
   whose members are accused of perpetrating the 1994 genocide in   
   neighboring Rwanda.   
      
   Aside from the upcoming elections, Kerry noted continued   
   challenges in Congo’s fight against several rebel groups. He   
   commended government and United Nations security forces for last   
   year’s defeat and disbanding of the M23 rebel group but said   
   efforts to disarm, demobilize and re-integrate fighters from   
   other opposition groups into society “are the priorities of the   
   moment.”   
      
   “I need to be clear: Military force alone will not deliver   
   stability to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Kerry said.   
   “Lasting peace will not grow out of the barrel of a gun.”   
      
   Most of Congo’s violence has been limited in recent years to the   
   country’s eastern borders with Uganda and Rwanda.   
      
   The FDLR is viewed by analysts as the greatest remaining menace   
   in eastern Congo. The group is led by Rwandan Hutus who helped   
   commit the 1994 genocide and later escaped over the border. The   
   presence of the FDLR has prompted Rwanda to invade Congo twice   
   before to try to wipe out the group.   
      
   Additionally, Congo’s government is grappling with the Allied   
   Democratic Forces, a group of Islamist rebels that is led by   
   Ugandan commanders. Experts believe the group begins military   
   training for girls as young as 15 and boys as young as 10.   
      
   http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/u-s-pledges-30-million-congo-   
   democracy-building/   
      
       
      
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