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But why? Officially the threats of intervention are linked to the elimination of armed groups made up of Hutu Extremists responsible for the genocide in 1994. Groups � Interahamwe, members of the Rwandan armed forces and the more recent FDLR � that took refuge in the thick forest in eastern Congo and are allegedly plotting new attacks against Kigali. �Each time, the United Nations and the international community fail to disarm the Interahamwe and the ex FAR (the former Rwandan army: and so we will do it ourselves. It will not take a long time, it may already be happening,� Kagame told the Senate earlier today. The matter of the perpetrators of the genocide in Congo has never been resolved and some see it as being a mere pretext for Rwandan ambitions in mineral-rich eastern Congo. Others see it as being an open sore in need of rapid treatment, but which Kinshasa continues to postpone for a series of com
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reasons to do with the balance of power in an area that is still not controlled by the official Congolese government. The situation has been exacerbated by reports from Uganda pointing up the presence of a small anti-government armed group operating in Ituri, in northeast Congo � despite a recent agreement by the governments of Rwanda, Uganda and ex Zaire to join forces to eliminate rebel movements in the border areas. �This recent escalation of tension is linked to the control of mineral resources in Walikale and Rubaya, which contain cassiterite and tantalite mines that are being eyed by groups close to Kinshasa and that are different from the ones that have controlled them until now,� explains a MISNA source. Rory Carrol, correspondent for the British newspaper �The Guardian� in Walikale, links the threats by Rwanda of new intervention in the east of Congo to �the protection of Rwanda�s wealth�. �Congolese rebel groups loyal to Rwanda are vying to keep control of mineral-
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areas in North and South Kivu provinces, which provide lucrative income to the elite in Kigali, the Rwandan capital,� Carrol writes in his latest report. In the towns of Walikale and Rubaya soldiers of RCD-Goma, Rwanda�s proxy force in eastern Congo, transferred sacks of the minerals casserite and tantalite to lorries bound for airstrips from which jets shuttled to Kigali.� MONUC information minister Tom� sees the numerous diplomatic initiatives launched in the last few hours as representing a possible way out of the present situation. �Besides, normally when people talk, they don�t act,� she said with irony. A dog with a bark but no bite? �Let�s hope so. The Congolese have certainly suffered enough already� concluded a missionary. (Translation of an article by Massimo Zaurrini) [LC] |
