Uganda, DRC, Rwanda agree on rebels
LUBUMBASHI, Sunday – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda have agreed to put an end to the presence of armed groups in the DRC that pose a threat to all of them, the DRC government announced Friday.
After a two-day meeting in Lubumbashi, the main city in the southeastern Katanga province of the DRC, “the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to put an end to the threat posed to the security of the three countries by the presence and activities of the negative forces in the east,” a statement said.
In the framework of a 2004 tripartite agreement aimed at restoring peace in the Great Lakes are “they agreed to put into effect a US-sponsored mechanism for exchanging information, to establish confidence between the countries and deal with the problem of armed groups in the east of the DRC.”
Although the statement referred to “negative forces “the only group to be mentioned by name in the statement were rebel Rwandan Hutus belonging
to the
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
After hiding in the jungles of the east of the DRC for the past 11 years, on March 31, the FDLR announced in Rome they were giving up their armed struggle and agreeing to go back to Rwanda.
Their presence has soured relations between the DRC and Rwanda for a decade, with Kigali charging that the rebels took an acide of an estimated 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994.
The DRC argued that Rwanda had used the presence of the FDLR as an “excuse” for regular forays into its territory.
Referring to the Rome statement, the parties, backed by the observers present (the African Union, Belgium, Britain, European Union and UN), “agreed to make use of the tripartite process to back the joint efforts of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) and the DRC to disarm, demobilise and repatriate FDLR members to Rwanda.”
“The Rwandan government praised the efforts of the DRC and repeated its commitment to rece
ive the
members of the FDLR and their families,” the statement said.
Rwanda’s deputy foreign minister Protais Mitali agreed that there was a commitment “to work in close collaboration. We’ve got a long way on our side. We have a scheme to welcome back the ex-Interhamwe (militia) who will soon retun to Rwanda.”
The statement made no mention of the presence in the DRC of Ugandan rebels belonging to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), although Kampala has recently attacked their presence in eastern DRC. But MONUC said there was no recent proof of any such presence.
DRC foreign minister Raymond Ramazani Baya said there was need for “structures for combined verification” of these “allegations.”
Ends
Published on: Monday, 25th April, 2005
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