“The territory of Rwanda was used in the preparation and execution of a conspiracy that, having started as a simple mutiny, has now evolved into a serious rebellion that threaten peace between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” has said the Congolese Information Minister Lambert Menge on Saturday June 9, 2012.
The strong statement by the representative of the Congolese (DRC) government is yet another sign of how the Rwandan Government is viewed as the major source and sponsor of insecurity in the Great Lakes region.
The Congolese Government public condemnation of Rwanda follows leaks and field reports naming the Rwanda Military and Government and statements from Western government accusing, though without specifically naming them, Rwandan officials of supporting the Congolese rebels (see our article here).
The first information on the presence among the Congolese rebels of Rwandans soldiers recruited in Rwanda came from BBC news, citing a leaked internal report of the UN Mission in DRC (Monusco), based on accounts from 11 mutineers and deserters interviewed by MONSUCO. These reports were confirmed in detail in a field research published by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW). The Human Rights Watch report asserted that General Bosco Ntaganda, the leader of the rebellion, had received support from the Rwandan military officials. The support included weapons and ammunition and 200 to 300 recruits, including civilians, some of whom children, forcibly recruited trained and armed inside Rwanda by Rwandan Military and Government officials.
Rejecting any negotiation with the rebels, the Congolese Information Minister said that he will arm and train FARDC in preparation for a long and protracted war.
However, experts in the area confided to AfroAmerica Network that the DRC Government appears to have neither the power nor the needed determination, necessary to fight off the rebels, well trained, equipped and supplied by the Rwandan military. Furthermore, they said that both the Congolese and the Rwandan Government know well that they are engaged in game of fools, in which each one knows the other is trying to play a dirty game, the question being who among the two is more astute at the game.
That is what Mr Lambert Mende appears to have admitted when he said that the rebellion and the support from the Rwandan Government is a “serious issue to be resolved urgently” and that “this unfortunate development has been the focus of on-going bilateral meetings between Congolese and Rwandan experts.”
Already, with fresh reinforcements, weapons and ammunitions from Rwandan, the Congolese rebels are moving towards Masisi and Maniema to the West from the Rwandan border and to Butembo, Beni and Bunia to the North. Sources in Kigali have also confided to AfroAmerica Network that General Paul Kagame is determined to remove President Kabila from power and has infiltrated soldiers into Kinshasa. The head of the Police in Kinshasa, General Bisengimana, is connected to General Kagame inner circle and the disgraced former police Chief General Numbi, now an opponent of Joseph Kabila, is personal friend of General James Kabarebe, the Rwandan Defense Minister. Both General Bisengimana and General Numbi are suspected of leading the fifth column infiltrated into the DRC capital.
According to other sources in Kigali and Eastern DRC, the Rwandan Intelligence services propaganda section has started distributing leaflets and tracts accusing Joseph Kabila of being a Rwandan and providing the curriculum of his alleged Rwandan mother.
The days to come appear not to bode well for the embattled Congolese President Joseph Kabila and his fragile government.
Source: AfroAmerica Network, on June 10, 2012
The Congolese Government public condemnation of Rwanda follows leaks and field reports naming the Rwanda Military and Government and statements from Western government accusing, though without specifically naming them, Rwandan officials of supporting the Congolese rebels (see our article here).
The first information on the presence among the Congolese rebels of Rwandans soldiers recruited in Rwanda came from BBC news, citing a leaked internal report of the UN Mission in DRC (Monusco), based on accounts from 11 mutineers and deserters interviewed by MONSUCO. These reports were confirmed in detail in a field research published by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW). The Human Rights Watch report asserted that General Bosco Ntaganda, the leader of the rebellion, had received support from the Rwandan military officials. The support included weapons and ammunition and 200 to 300 recruits, including civilians, some of whom children, forcibly recruited trained and armed inside Rwanda by Rwandan Military and Government officials.
Rejecting any negotiation with the rebels, the Congolese Information Minister said that he will arm and train FARDC in preparation for a long and protracted war.
However, experts in the area confided to AfroAmerica Network that the DRC Government appears to have neither the power nor the needed determination, necessary to fight off the rebels, well trained, equipped and supplied by the Rwandan military. Furthermore, they said that both the Congolese and the Rwandan Government know well that they are engaged in game of fools, in which each one knows the other is trying to play a dirty game, the question being who among the two is more astute at the game.
That is what Mr Lambert Mende appears to have admitted when he said that the rebellion and the support from the Rwandan Government is a “serious issue to be resolved urgently” and that “this unfortunate development has been the focus of on-going bilateral meetings between Congolese and Rwandan experts.”
Already, with fresh reinforcements, weapons and ammunitions from Rwandan, the Congolese rebels are moving towards Masisi and Maniema to the West from the Rwandan border and to Butembo, Beni and Bunia to the North. Sources in Kigali have also confided to AfroAmerica Network that General Paul Kagame is determined to remove President Kabila from power and has infiltrated soldiers into Kinshasa. The head of the Police in Kinshasa, General Bisengimana, is connected to General Kagame inner circle and the disgraced former police Chief General Numbi, now an opponent of Joseph Kabila, is personal friend of General James Kabarebe, the Rwandan Defense Minister. Both General Bisengimana and General Numbi are suspected of leading the fifth column infiltrated into the DRC capital.
According to other sources in Kigali and Eastern DRC, the Rwandan Intelligence services propaganda section has started distributing leaflets and tracts accusing Joseph Kabila of being a Rwandan and providing the curriculum of his alleged Rwandan mother.
The days to come appear not to bode well for the embattled Congolese President Joseph Kabila and his fragile government.
Source: AfroAmerica Network, on June 10, 2012
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