EngRegional
DRC: Contradicting statements on FDLR support 'reveal sinister agenda'
Congolese
government officials have been making contradicting statements on the FDLR
terrorist group. Kinshasa has tirelessly harbored and supported the genocidal
group in a bid to destabilize neighboring Rwanda; but the vast country’s
officials denied any collaboration with FDLR despite the overwhelming evidence
to the fact.
The
FDLR was formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against
the Tutsi in Rwanda. The US blacklisted the group as terrorists in 1999 after
they killed two American tourists in Bwindi Forest, along the Uganda-DRC
border. Its sole mission is to return to Rwanda, overthrow the current
democratically elected government and complete its genocidal agenda.
On
April 15, the spokesperson of the Democratic Republic of Congo government,
Patrick Muyaya, posted on X (former Twitter) that “the FDLR is the eternal
pretext [by Rwanda] for attacking the DRC”.
Two
weeks before, the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula,
said: “A year ago, on behalf of the president and the government, I informed
the UN and the African Union that the DRC was seeking cooperation from all
countries having information on the FDLR to locate them and help us eliminate
them. This is not a deception. However, we have not received a response.”
These
statements highlight contradictions to the stance of Kinshasa at a meeting in
Luanda, Angola, on March 21, when Lutundula pledged to the UN Security Council,
to present a detailed plan for the dissolution of the FDLR, by April 2024.
The
commitment was seen as a significant step in addressing the longstanding
security threat in Africa’s great lakes region.
The
hope for a tangible plan was supported by a communique from the tripartite
meeting, highlighting Kinshasa’s readiness to unveil a strategy complete with
execution methods for dismantling the FDLR.
Clearly,
however, there is no hope that Kinshasa intends to dismantle the militia group
as the Congolese government has again opted to use such contradicting
statements when covering-up of its collaboration with FDLR.
Amid
the deteriorating armed conflict in the east of the DRC, Kinshasa continues to
arm FDLR heavily. "The seemingly confusing statements about FDLR, from
Congolese officials actually reveal that there is a sinister agenda in
Kinshasa. But the international community continues to deliberately ignore that
yet the writing is on the wall for everyone to see," a source in Kinshasa
who preferred anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue said.
Other
Congolese sources revealed that on April 9, senior Congolese army officers from
a regiment deployed in a locality called Rusayo met with two FDLR commanders in
Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province.
The
FDLR was provided with weapons including hundreds of SMG, MMG, and L-7, dozens
boxes of ammunitions, explosives like hand grenades and L-7 rockets, and tons
of foodstuffs.
The
Congolese government wants FDLR to support its national army in fighting the
M23 rebels. Kinshasa will, in return, support FDLR’s attacks on Rwanda’s
territory, sources priviy to their collaboration arrangement reveal.
Countries
in the region have warned that the collaboration between FDLR and DRC is a
disaster to the region. But Kinshasa adamantly refuses to listen.
