- There is a growing concern in the international community and the UN over the threats by Rwandan authorities over a possible military intervention in neighbouring Congo Kinshasa (DRC). Rwandan military action on Congolese territory "would disrupt the vital transitional process" in Kinshasa, the UN today warned.
Expressing deep concern, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said Rwanda should not interrupt the Congo's political transition by fighting against former rebel Rwandan Hutu militiamen in the eastern Congo. There are growing indications that Rwandan troops already are in eastern Congo, fighting the militiamen that were responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said in a statement today that Mr Annan "is very disturbed by the increasing tension between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, particularly by indications from Rwanda of military operations on DRC territory against ex-FAR/Interahamwe elements which Rwanda maintains are a threat to its security."
The UN Secretary-General called on the government of Rwanda to refrain from any military action on Congolese territory, "which would disrupt the vital transitional process in the DRC. He hopes that Rwanda will work within the established process for the disarming and repatriation of the remaining ex-FAR/Interahamwe elements still in DRC territory."
Rwanda should share any information it had on the location of the militiamen with the Kinshasa government and the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUC), he said.
Rwanda's Hutu extremist militias, who have been blamed for the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994, fled across the border into mineral-rich Congo Kinshasa, and were pursued by the Rwandan army in 1996 and 1998. Rwanda has earlier presented proof that these militias were aided by the Kinshasa government, but this practice now allegedly has ended.
Assessing what is thought to be the latest incursion, a team from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) went to an area of the Congo bordering Rwanda, North Kivu province, and heard claims from some of the 2,000 newly displaced people pouring in there that fierce fighting was taking place, Mr Eckhard told journalists in New York.
MONUC, meanwhile, had gathered "compelling evidence" that Rwandan soldiers were in the eastern Congo, he said. "The mission's helicopter reconnaissance patrols have taken photos of abandoned bivouacs and well-equipped soldiers who are moving with new uniforms and materials," Mr Eckhard reported.
- As well, mission patrols have been getting consistent and coherent information from locals about hundreds of Rwandans that have crossed into the DRC, he added. The large number of internally displaced persons in North Kivu could suffer dire humanitarian consequences since they were continuing to arrive with little or no food and had already overwhelmed the existing health services, Mr Eckhard warned.
MONUC yesterday expressed concern about renewed tensions between the Congo and Rwanda. MONUC, said it has been carrying out information programmes to convince the ex-FAR-Interahamwe rebels to return to Rwanda voluntarily and has been deploying UN peacekeeping troops in the eastern Kivu region.
MONUC reminded the Rwandan government that it had agreed, along with Congo Kinshasa and Uganda - at a meeting last month held under United States auspices - to respect one another's sovereignty and to end the problems created by the rebels.
The UN mission also recalled that it has a UN Security Council authorisation "to employ every means necessary, within its capacity and in its units' zones of deployment, to fulfil its mandate, which includes protecting civilians facing imminent threats of physical violence."
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español