NAIROBI, 30 March 2007 (IRIN) - NAIROBI, 30 March 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

DRC: Opposition militias join army in Equateur province DRC: Replace war spirit with reconciliation, urges EU

UGANDA: New tuberculosis cases 'alarming' KENYA: More people at risk as land clashes persist KENYA: Flood-related diseases, HIV/AIDS reverse rainfall gains

See also: BURUNDI: HEAR OUR VOICES: "My legs were sore, my whole body swollen" Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70934]

KENYA: Drug resistant TB taking hold in urban slums Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70887]

KENYA: Religious leaders join anti-FGM fight Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71087]

DRC: Opposition militias join army in Equateur province

Militias loyal to opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba have been integrated into the national army in Equateur province, in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), United Nations officials said.

Two hundred soldiers were signed up on Tuesday in Gbadolite, a spokesperson for the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), Lt Col Didier Rancher said. Another 140 are expected to lay down their weapons soon.

Despite this integration, analysts fear there could be a violent reaction by Bemba's men in Equateur, his stronghold.

Fighting erupted between Bemba's guards and government forces in the capital, Kinshasa, from 22 to 25 March, when the army sought to disarm Bemba's militia. Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71075]

Also see related report: DRC: Echoes of the past as Bemba guards fight government forces [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70903]

DRC: Replace war spirit with reconciliation, urges EU

The recent violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was irresponsible and should be replaced with a spirit of reconciliation and inclusiveness to ensure stability in the fragile country, said European Union envoys on Tuesday.

Addressing a news conference in the capital, Kinshasa, they expressed indignation at the violence that rocked the city on 22-25 March when armed forces clashed with private guards of opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba; and condemned the loss of life, especially of civilians.

"There remains a war spirit in the country, which is a bit like malaria," the UK ambassador, Andy Sparkes, said. "We thought we had healed the country with a big dose of quinine, with the holding of free and transparent elections last year, but this war spirit has returned." Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71003]

UGANDA: New tuberculosis cases 'alarming'

Uganda records an estimated 80,000 new cases of tuberculosis every year, half of them among people infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, health officials said on Wednesday.

"We only managed to detect 49 percent of those cases in 2006," Francis Adatu, head of the TB and leprosy unit in the Ministry of Health said. "HIV/AIDS is the main trigger of dormant TB in the population today," he added.

The UN World Health Organization representative in Uganda, George Melville, expressed concern that Uganda continued to lag behind the set global targets on detection and treatment of TB with only 49 percent of expected new cases detected and only 73 percent successfully treated in 2006. He said Uganda was 15th out of 22 countries with high TB incidence. Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71029]

KENYA: More people at risk as land clashes persist

Intermittent land clashes in the western Kenyan district of Mount Elgon have continued, exacerbating the plight of about 45,000 displaced people, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said.

"The population is in dire need of food, shelter, clothing and potable water since most residents have been left extremely vulnerable as their houses and food stocks have been burned and their livestock and livelihood threatened," KRCS said in a statement released on Wednesday.

In a bid to cope with the situation, displaced people have resorted to looking for casual employment and begging. Commercial sex has also been on the rise, according to KRCS. Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71076]

KENYA: Flood-related diseases, HIV/AIDS reverse rainfall gains

Adequate rainfall in the last three months of 2006 improved food security in the parts of Kenya affected by the severe drought that hit the Horn of Africa in 2006, the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) reported on 22 March.

It said food security indicators had improved in the previously drought-affected livelihoods. Food prices were declining, it added, after a good long-rains harvest and livestock prices had risen in most markets.

However, it said, in some areas, outbreaks of diseases related to floods, as well as high HIV/AIDS prevalence, reversed the gains of a good harvest and pasture regeneration. Full report: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70932]

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