RWANDA will not leave the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) until Hutu extremists fighting there are disarmed, Foreign Minister Louis Michel said on Friday after talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Michel said Kagame explained Rwanda’s involvement in the DRC conflict by saying he only wanted to secure Rwanda’s borders, but Kigali has long been suspected of occupying the DRC’s east to exploit its mineral wealth. The Belgian foreign minister quoted Kagame as saying, “All that is required is that the United Nations disarms the Interahamwe Hutu militias and the ex-Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), and a week later, we will no longer be there.” According to Kigali, tens of thousands of militia members and ex-FAR soldiers who were responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda are fighting in the DRC alongside troops loyal to the Kinshasa government. – AFP