Pope calls for end to Congo horrors

Millions have died in conflict, reports Simon Caldwell
THE MURDERS of two priests and 48 lay people who hid in their church has prompted the Pope to issue a second condemnation of the war in the Congo in under a month.
John Paul II spoke out after Fr Francois Xavier Mateseso and his curate, Fr Aime Ndjabu, were killed in their parish church in Nyakasanza in the Ituri region in the north east of the country by militiamen from the Lendu ethnic group.
A few days later, Fr Raphael Ngona was murdered in his house in an act described by a spokesman for the White Fathers as an "act of ethnic vengeance".
The Pope sent a telegram to the Bishop of Bunia in which he entrusted all the people who were killed "to the infinite mercy of the God of love and peace".
He invited "each one to commit himself every day to follow Christ in order to reject violence, which is a road with no future, and to construct a lasting peace founded on justice and respect for people".
The Holy Father's remarks echo those he made in April after 350 people were slaughtered in the parish of Drodro. He also appealed for peace in Africa during his homily on Easter Sunday.
More than 3.3 million people have died in the Congo since 1998 in what has been described as the bloodiest conflict since the Second World War.
It began when Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, supported by rebel groups, invaded the Congo to allegedly prevent armed groups from attacking them, Armies from other African nations, which have since left, joined the side of the Congolese leader President Laurence Kabila.
The fighting is largely over control of a region rich in such raw materials as gold, oil and diamonds.
The latest violence flared up between the Hema and Lendu groups with the withdrawal of Ugandan troops. It has already caused 300,000 people to flee their homes.
The native Lendu, the largest ethnic group in Ituri, were being displaced by the Hema, who come from Uganda, and who have taken control of the city of Bunia.
But earlier this week, a further 12,000 Hema refugees poured over the Ugandan border bearing stories of horrific violence and even cannibalism at the hands of Lendu guerrillas who were attacking them.
One refugee said: "The Lendu militia remove and eat the hearts of their Hema victims. They also rip out the intestines of their victims and walk about with them on their heads."
Church leaders in the region fear a repeat of the genocide that occurred in neighbouring Rwanda in 1994 and have called for United Nations peacekeepers to fill a power vacuum created by the departing armies.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has now asked all 15 UN Security Council members to contribute to an armed contingent, warning them that the situation could soon deteriorate further in spite of a truce signed last Friday between President Kabila and the members of five militias.
France has already offered to contribute military personnel and Lady Amos, the new International Development Secretary, confirmed last Sunday that the request was being considered by the British Government.