On 11 September 2010, the Congolese Ministry of Mines put out a statement in which it announced President Kabila\u2019s decision to suspend all exploitation and export of minerals from the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema until further notice. The statement explained that the ban was intended to put a stop to the illegal exploitation of natural resources in eastern DRC. In the decree establishing the ban, an
\nexplicit reference was made to \u201cthe link between the illegal exploitation and the illicit trade of mineral resources, the proliferation and trafficking of arms by mafia and armed groups, and the recurrent insecurity in the provinces of Maniema, North Kivu and South Kivu.\u201d<\/p>\n