UN peacekeeping chief in Congo meets M23 leaders in first visit to rebel-held city

GOMA, Congo (AP) — The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo met with leaders of the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 on Friday in Goma, in her first visit to the eastern city of Goma since its capture by the insurgents.

The meeting included discussions on the mandate of the peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO, especially on the protection of civilians, the mission said on X.

Mission head Bintou Keita met with Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes M23, and other representatives.

The rebel leaders "expressed their willingness to find a peaceful solution to the crisis,” Keita said.

The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January, when the Rwanda-backed M23 advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma in North Kivu province, followed by Bukavu in February.

Despite Congo’s army and M23 having agreed to work toward a truce in April, fighting between the two sides continues.

The meeting on Friday came as the rebels have recently been accused of committing possible war crimes in the territories they control.

In May, Amnesty International said the rebels killed, tortured and forcibly disappeared civilian detainees in Goma and Bukavu.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year.

The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east.

The MONUSCO force arrived in Congo in 2010 after taking over from an earlier U.N. peacekeeping mission to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel and to support the Congolese government in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.

However, frustrated Congolese have said that no one is protecting them from rebel attacks, leading to protests against the U.N. mission and others that have at times turned deadly.

In 2023, at Congo’s request, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to draw down the peacekeeping force and gradually hand over its security responsibilities to Congo’s government.

Last year, in the first stage of a planned full withdrawal, MONUSCO forces left the province of South Kivu.

The head of MONUSCO’s visit to Goma sparked mixed reactions among local residents of Goma.

“She’s here to carry out interventions where insecurity reigns in the country, and that’s why, in my opinion, her presence in the city of Goma will change many things," Abiba Kasole, a student in the city, told The Associated Press.

Another resident, Muguiko David, was less hopeful about the prospects of Keita's visit bringing peace.

“What we think of MONUSCO, since it has been here with us, is that we live a miserable life, because they say they are here to help bring peace, and the peace they’re supposed to bring—we don’t see it," he said.

FILE - A large screen shows Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bintou Keita as she speaks during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

FILE - UN troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)