Nationalist and Integrationist Front

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) is a militia group comprised of ethnic Lendu in the Ituri Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FNI is also known by its original French name, the Front des Nationalistes et Intégrationnistes. It is one of six rebel groups in the region. It has been active in the Ituri conflict against ethnic Hema and is blamed for the ambush and murder of nine MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe in February 2005.^[1] FNI political leader Floribert Ndjabu was arrested by Congolese authorities, while military head Etienne Lona turned himself in.

In May 2006, one MONUC peacekeeper was killed and seven were taken captive in fighting with the FNI. All of the UN peacekeepers were from Nepal and engaged in operations to disarm the militias 62 miles (100km) west of Bunia, the capital of Ituri.^[2] Two of the seven were released in June and the remaining five in mid-July. On 17 July, the new leader of the FNI, Peter Karim Udaga, announced that he and sixty of his fighters were ending their battle with the government in exchange for the integration of FNI forces into the national army, including a post of Colonel for Karim.^{[3] [4]}

[edit] Notes and references