CONGO-DEM.REPUBLIC 27/4/2004 19:32 RWANDAN TROOPS IN KIVU: KINSHASA REACTS EVER MORE STRONGLY General, Standard Today the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo again made extremely strong statements concerning the intrusion by a battalion of Rwandan soldiers into the east of the country, documented by the troops of MONUC (the United Nations mission in the country). æe are reacting extremely strongly because, while we are engaged in a peace process involving the entire Great Lakes region, we have the impression (after catching Rwanda red-handed) that the Rwandan government is proving to be the obstacle to the return of peace to the whole area,?Antoine Gonda, the foreign minister in the transitional government in Kinshasa, said in an interview with æadio Okapi? the MONUC broadcaster today. æt is therefore necessary to apply the coercive measures contemplated under chapter 7 of the United Nations charter,?added the minister, referring to the section authorising UN missions to use force when necessary. Besides being contrary to the peace agreement between Kinshasa and Kigali (which foresaw the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the east of the country), Gonda insisted that the presence of regular Rwandan troops in Congo æs a blatant violation of Congolese territorial integrity? Meanwhile, some observers have told MISNA that in addition to signalling a æseless deterioration?of relations between the two countries, the arguments of the last 72 hours are almost æaradoxical? given that just recently Kinshasa and Kigali had been working to restore normal diplomatic relations after the chill during the war. For now, the Congolese government looks as if it wants to take maximum advantage of this situation particularly on a political level, and it has continued to appeal to the UN Security Council and to the international community in general to intervene. Meanwhile, today Aldo Ajello, the European Unionæ special envoy to the Great Lakes region, defined the intrusion of Kigaliæ soldiers in Congo as ænacceptable? adding that Rwanda must resolve its own security problems within its borders. Following an initial invasion in 1996, Kigali returned to Congolese territory in 1998, remaining there until Rwanda and Congo signed a peace agreement in July 2002. Kigali subsequently withdrew its troops from the former Zaire and Kinshasa pledged to repatriate thousands of Rwandan Hutu combatants accused by Kigali of taking part in the 1994 genocide and who were hiding in the forest in Kivu, eastern Congo. However, since the date of the official withdrawal civil society has repeatedly denounced the presence of Rwandan troops in Congo, which until last Saturday the ælue helmets?of MONUC had always denied. Meanwhile, Kigali continues to deny the declarations by MONUC concerning the presence of a battalion of Rwandan soldiers in north Kivu.[LC]
