- FILE PHOTO 04DEC04 -
Young Congolese Mai-Mai fighers rest in an empty classroom at the remote town of Mutongo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in this December 4, 2004 file photo. [Some fight in flip-flops, others hope potions will turn their enemy's bullets into water and most take little time to aim, trusting in the theory: "He who makes most noise wins". But the government soldiers, militia fighters and bush bandits in eastern Congo all have one thing in common - an AK-47 assault rifle.] 

A child soldier (C), known as "Kadogo," meaning "small one" in Swahili, stands at the front line at Kanyabayonga in eastern Congo, November 17, 2008. Snatched from their homes by armed men who force them to carry ammunition, fight and kill, beaten if they refuse, east Congo's child soldiers are teenage victims of an unforgiving war. Child protection agencies report a surge in recruitment of under-18 soldiers by warring factions in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern North Kivu province, where increased fighting since August has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Picture taken November 17, 2008. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

Congolese fighters from the pro-government Mai-Mai militia stand outside a hut in the village of Kalenge near the front line in eastern Congo, February 4, 2009. Rwandan and Congolese forces are hunting down thousands of Hutu extremist rebels in the wilds of eastern Congo in an operation intended to address the root cause of 15 years of conflict in Congo. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

A member of a local self-defense force runs in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo, February 18, 2009. In the face of attacks and massacres by Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, who have slaughtered some 900 Congolese civilians since December, villagers in Bangadi have formed a self-defense force with locally made weapons and have twice repelled LRA attacks in recent months. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

A Congolese fighter from the pro-government Mai-Mai militia runs with his weapon in the village of Kalenge near the front line in eastern Congo, February 4, 2009. Rwandan and Congolese forces are hunting down thousands of Hutu extremist rebels in the wilds of eastern Congo in an operation intended to address the root cause of 15 years of conflict in Congo. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

A girl displaced by violence wears a traditional Congolese hair style while standing near government soldiers in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo February 18, 2009. Thousands of Congolese have fled their villages since December as Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels roaming the bush carry out massacres that have killed some 900 civilians during the past two months. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

A Congolese government soldier stands guard at a military outpost between Kachiru village and Mbuzi hill, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 25, 2012. Rival armed groups in Congo's eastern provinces are targeting each other's families, killing children, women and the elderly in some of the country's worst violence in years, officials said on Friday. The fighting, which UN agency UNICEF says has cost up to 80 lives since early May, comes amid a security vacuum in parts of the vast forested region after Congo's army redeployed elsewhere to capture a renegade general, Bosco Ntaganda, and his men. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY SOCIETY) 

A child soldier, known as "Kadogo", meaning "small one" in Swahili, stands at the front line at Kanyabayonga in eastern Congo, November 17, 2008. Snatched from their homes by armed men who force them to carry ammunition, fight and kill, beaten if they refuse, east Congo's child soldiers are teenage victims of an unforgiving war. Child protection agencies report a surge in recruitment of under-18 soldiers by warring factions in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern North Kivu province, where increased fighting since August has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Picture taken November 17, 2008. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

A child soldier in Congolese army (FARDC) rests in Mushake village, 40km (24 miles) west of Goma town, December 5, 2007. The army in the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) claimed control on Wednesday of Mushake village, a key rebel stronghold as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice bolstered Kinshasa's cause with a pledge of assistance. REUTERS/James Akena (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

-PHOTO TAKEN 12DEC03- A traditional Mai Mai militia youth patrols the eastern Congolese town of Fizi as part of a new unified national army forged under a peace deal aimed at ending five years of conflict in the vast central African nation. A July peace deal brought together the main warring sides, incorporating various rebel groups into the government and in theory uniting countless militias and armed factions under the banner of a unified national army. But as the former Zaire creeps slowly towards peace, the country's new leaders face the monumental task of rebuilding a nation shattered by a five-year war that killed three million people, most from hunger and disease. Picture taken December 12, 2003. 

A group of Congolese Mai Mai child soldiers sit in their position in the north Kivu town of Walikale in Congo. A group of Congolese Mai Mai child soldiers sit in their position in the north Kivu town of Walikale, after the loyal Rwandan-backed RCD Goma soldiers pulled out, December 20, 2004. The Mai Mai are now waiting for thousands more RCD pro-Kinshasa soldiers to arrive as part of the deployment of soldiers into north Kivu. Renegade soldiers have advanced in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, taking control of two more villages during clashes with government troops, United Nation officials said on Monday. REUTERS/ David Lewis 

Children stand near Indian soldiers, who are part of the UN peacekeeping force, in one of the Mugungu camp sites for the internally displaced people outside the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo December 6, 2008. REUTERS/Peter Andrews (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) 

- FILE PHOTO 04DEC04 -
A Congolese boy peers past the muzzle of a gun belonging to a traditional Mai-Mai fighter at the village of Mutongo in the remote mountains of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in this December 4, 2004 file photo. [Some fight in flip-flops, others hope potions will turn their enemy's bullets into water and most take little time to aim, trusting in the theory: "He who makes most noise wins". But the government soldiers, militia fighters and bush bandits in eastern Congo all have one thing in common - an AK-47 assault rifle.] 

CONGOLESE TRIBAL "MAI MAI" MILITIA SOLDIERS SIT AT THE BACK OF A TACK
IN KINDU AFTER THE RWANDAN SOLDIES FLOW BACK HOME FROM CONGO. 

A French soldier on a reconnaissance patrol stands next to a child soldier outside Bunia in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo June 23, 2003. French troops form the bulk of a multi-national force sent under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians in the town from warring groups of ethnic militia. [French special forces have conducted scouting missions outside the town, where clashes between gunmen allied to rival Hema and Lendu tribes killed hundreds last month.] 

A group of Congolese Patriotic Union (CPU) child soldiers wave their guns in the streets of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo May 17, 2003. A ceasefire signed by Congolese [President Joseph Kabila] and members of militia groups fighting for the town of Bunia in eastern Congo took effect on Saturday.