Regional
Silence on FARDC/FDLR collaboration raises doubts over MONUSCO’s commitment to lasting solution, says Amb Karega
Vincent
Karega, Rwanda’s former ambassador in Kinshasa, has questioned the commitment
of the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) to ending the insecurity in the
country’s east.
Rwanda
believes that as long as the FDLR, a militia accused of perpetrating the 1994
Genocide against the Tutsi, remains in eastern Congo, the insecurity will not
come to an end.
In a
recent briefing to African diplomats in Kinshasa, Bintou Keita, the head of
MONUSCO, talked about the situation
in eastern DR Congo, where government forces are fighting the M23 rebel
group.
According
to Karega, Rwanda’s envoy in Kinshasa until his
expulsion in October, said Keita’s briefing on M23 “failed to give the
correct picture and address the root of cause of the problem” in eastern DR
Congo.
The
Congolese government accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 – allegations Kigali
has long dismissed, calling the conflict an intra-Congolese issue.
Rwanda
instead denounces the collaboration between
the DRC army (FARDC) and the FDLR in fighting the M23.
Tensions
between the two countries have soured since
Karega’s expulsion.
In a
series of tweets on Saturday, November 12, Karega raised the issues Keita
ignored, including the recent violation of Rwanda’s airspace by a Congolese
warplane.
“Why
does Bintou Keita fail to raise the dangerous escalation by DRC, which violated
Rwanda’s airspace and territory when an FARDC Sukhoi SU-25 landed at Rubavu
airport in Rwanda on Monday, 7 November?” Karega said.
While
Keita said the M23 was trying to negotiate with the Congolese government –
seeking the implementation of previous disarmament and reintegration agreements
– Karega added, she did not “clarify that it is the DRC government that has
failed to honour the agreements”.
Since
April this year, different regional peaceful
mechanisms have been established to end the insecurity in eastern
Congo, where over 100 armed groups operate.
“Also
not mentioned by Keita is that FARDC, together with FDLR, continues to launch
military offensives against M23 in violation of the Nairobi, Bujumbura and Luanda processes,”
Karega said.
The
Rwandan government says the FARDC and the FDLR collaborated
in shelling rockets on the Rwandan territory in May.
Karega
said Keita “did not mention the threat of FDLR, the root cause of the conflict
between DRC and Rwanda for over 25 years.”
“Doesn’t
silence on FARDC/FDLR collaboration in fighting M23 raise doubts of MONUSCO’s
commitment to a lasting solution and support to regional initiatives?
“Is
Rwanda expected to wait for the FDLR that is being re-armed by the FARDC, in
full view of MONUSCO, to cross the border and attack Rwanda?” Karega said
adding “I will await the answers from Bintou Keita.”
Source:
www.newtimes.co.rw