OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kinshasa | Tuesday 8.30pm.
RWANDAN forces on Tuesday violated Kigali’s unilateral declaration of a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kinshasa charged on Tuesday.
Rwandan troops backing a rebellion against DRC President Laurent Kabila launched “offensive actions” in central Kasai and southeastern Katanga provinces following heavy losses last month, DRC Deputy Defense Minister Dieudonne Kayembe charged at a press conference.
Major Kayembe accused Rwandan strongman Paul Kagame of seeking to use Friday’s announcement of a unilateral cessation of hostilities to buy “time to breathe,” following military setbacks in fighting against government and allied forces, saying nearly 1,200 Rwandan soldiers were killed in the earlier fighting.
Meanwhile leaders from Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda ended a one-day summit in Dar-es-Salaam on Tuesday evening, pledging to continue efforts to restore peace in the DRC. In a joint communique issued at the end of the summit, Presidents Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda, Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda said they are impressed by developments towards peace in the DRC and renewed their commitment to fostering the process.
Alonside the declaration by the three Great Lakes presidents, Uganda and the DRC agreed on Tuesday to set up a committee of experts to work out implementation of a plan to end the DRC war, the joint communique said.
The DRC and Uganda, which has troops fighting alongside rebels there, have agreed to convince their respective allies to respect the peace plan — yet to be implemented — which Museveni signed with DRC President Laurent Kabila in the Libyan town of Sirte on April 18, the communique said.
It said the two countries would set up a committee of experts to work out “practical modalities for the implementation of the agreement.”–AFP