Rwandan rebels call for talks in face of crackdown

Rwandan Hutu rebels based in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) called on Saturday for talks with Kigali and Kinshasa after both agreed to mount a military offensive against them.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) calling himself Lieutenant Colonel Garambe said: “Resorting to force immediately is hasty, insecurity will not be resolved by insecurity.”

“The resolution of the FDLR problem lies in dialogue,” he said in a telephone interview, adding, “We are soldiers, we have weapons.”

Congolese Foreign Minister Alexis Thambe Mwamba said on Friday after two days of talks with his Rwandan counterpart Rosemary Museminali that a military plan had been agreed jointly to crack down on the FDLR and other Rwandan groups operating in DRC.

The Rwandan Hutus fled to DRC after a Tutsi rebellion took control in neighbouring Rwanda in the wake of the country’s 1994 genocide, when about 800 000 mainly Tutsis were killed by Hutu extremists.

“The two sides have drawn up a detailed plan of operations against ex-soldiers of the Rwandan armed forces, Interhamwe militia and FDLR,” a joint statement said.

According to a diplomatic source in Goma, operations against the FDLR would begin early in the new year and would be jointly led by the UN peacekeeping force known and the Congolese army, with “significant” input from the Rwandans.

The Rwandan army would provide logistic, intelligence and other support but “the idea is to avoid the deployment of Rwandan troops on Congolese soil”, the source stressed.

Kigali has demanded for years that Kinshasa disarm the Hutus, which Congolese Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda claims are supported by DRC government forces. Kinshasa for its part accuses Kigali of backing Nkunda’s rebellion, which Rwanda denies.—AFP