NEWS

Congo says Rwandan forces will observe, not fight

By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer Todd Pitman, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 21, 2:08 pm ET

cndp rebel troops working government troops

DAKAR, Senegal – Congo's invitation to its longtime enemy Rwanda to deploy up to 2,000 troops marked an extraordinary reversal of alliances, but the Congolese government said Wednesday the Rwandan forces were there only to observe, not to fight Hutu militias.

Some fear the presence of Rwandan soldiers could spark more violence or lead to further destabilization in Congo . And the unusual deal may already be facing opposition: U.N.-backed Radio Okapi quoted the head of Congo's National Assembly, Vital Kamerhe , as saying he was shocked by the news and had not been informed about it beforehand.

Congo allowed the Rwandan troops to cross its border Tuesday, ostensibly as observers, to help disarm deeply entrenched Rwandan Hutu militias who fled to Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide, Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said.

But the size of the force suggests they will do more than observe, and any new fighting could provoke the militias and lead to more massacres, more displaced and more war in the already unstable central African giant.

Mende said Rwandan soldiers were on "an observation mission" to monitor how the army would disarm militias.

"Rwandan troops will not part engage in fighting," he told reporters in Kinshasa. Mende also said Congo wanted to disarm and repatriate the militias peacefully, "not kill them."

Rwandan Hutus , however, may not lay down arms without a fight. Many have refused to go home, saying they cannot get fair trials in Rwanda, which says they will face justice for any crimes committed during the genocide.

Last month, Congo President Joseph Kabila's government struck a similar deal with Uganda, which is now leading operations in northeastern Congo with Sudanese and Congolese troops against the brutal Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army .

Forced to flee their bases, the Ugandan rebels scattered into small groups, slaughtering more than 600 civilians in apparent retaliation, the New York-based Human Rights Watch group said. There are fears the Rwandan militias could do the same further south, or that large numbers of civilians could die in military operations to oust the Rwandans.

Both Uganda and Rwanda invaded Congo in 1998 and left only after a 2002 peace agreement ended a war that drew in more than half a dozen African armies. The invitations to come back now marks a rare acknowledgment by Kabila that Congo's weak army, mostly known for looting their own people and fleeing battlefields, is unable to secure the east.

Congo's president is eager to regain control of land lost in October and November to rebel leader Gen. Laurent Nkunda 's mostly ethnic Tutsi, Rwandan-allied forces. Fighting then between the Congo army and Nkunda's forces displaced at least 250,000 people.

Nkunda's rebels greatly expanded their territory during the skirmishes, advancing to the outskirts of the regional capital, Goma, and forcing Congo's army into a humiliating retreat.

The 18,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo was unable to stop the violence or protect civilians.

For Kabila's government in the faraway capital, Kinshasa , the status quo left few options.

"There was a deep frustration in Kinshasa with the lack of military pressure they can bring to bear" against the rebels, said independent Congo expert Jason Stearns. "They realized they need to have a political compromise and this may be it: doing a deal with Rwanda, inviting them back in."

Many people are skeptical though, including Stearns.

"Few believe the problems in the east are going be solved overnight," he said. "But there is no argument — this is a major milestone."

U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Lt. Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich said Wednesday that U.N. forces south of Goma saw a battalion of Rwandan soldiers pass through the town of Sake in addition to the troops that came through Tuesday. Dietrich complained the government was refusing to let U.N. staff and other aid organizations cross checkpoints north of Goma toward Rutshsuru, where Rwandan troops were headed.

He also said Babacar Gaye , commander of the U.N. peacekeeping in Congo, met with Congolese military officials for a briefing on the situation and to discuss opening the roadblock north of Goma to U.N. peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies.

Rwanda has been under international pressure for months to use its influence over Tutsi rebels to end the conflict, and the breakthrough agreement may have been borne out of a split within Nkunda's movement that both Congo and Rwanda were quick to exploit.

Stearns said both Rwanda and Nkunda's own commanders had grown irritated by Nkunda, viewing him as a flippant, authoritarian megalomanic who had allegedly embezzled money from rebel coffers. Nkunda could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this month, Nkunda's ex-chief of staff, Bosco Ntaganda, formed a splinter movement and last week announced his forces would work together with Congo's army to fight the Hutu militias and eventually integrate into the army.

Ntaganda may have turned on his former boss because he was afraid months of growing distrust might have prompted Nkunda to turn him over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, where he is wanted for the alleged forced conscription of child soldiers in the northern Ituri region five years ago.

Though details of the agreement to allow Rwandan troops on Congo soil have not been made public, analysts speculate the government may have promised not to hand Ntaganda over for extradition in exchange for his cooperation.

If the deal works, Congo would get rid of the main Tutsi rebel movement and regain control of territories it lost. Rwanda would get rid of the Hutu militias who have given Rwanda a reason to invade twice.

But eradicating the Hutu militias will be no easy task. The Rwandan Hutus have been de facto allies of the Congo's army, and generally left alone. Kabila has promised actions against them before, but no operations materialized.

Today, the hardened militias control entire villages, operate checkpoints openly and are equipped with satellite phones, new uniforms and arms, witnesses say. And they know the terrain well: they have terrorized civilians for well over a decade and a half, and neither Rwanda, nor Congo, nor the U.N. peacekeeping force has been able to disarm them.

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Associated Press Writer Eddy Isango in Kinshasa, Congo and T.J. Kirkpatrick in Goma, Congo contributed to this report.

Congo-Kinshasa: Rwandan Operation 'Not Welcomed'

21 January 2009

Kinshasa — The arrival of some 2,000 Rwandan soldiers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help the Army disarm Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Forces démocratique pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR) has prompted fears of a new wave of civilian suffering. Below are some reactions to the development.

MONUC, the UN Mission in DRC

"The humanitarian community is deeply worried by the new deployment of troops in the areas of Goma and Rutshuru... This heightened military presence gives rise to fears of a new humanitarian crisis just as the ceasefire was allowing people to gradually return home and giving humanitarians easier access to several areas."

Jean-Paul Dietrich, MONUC military spokesman

"The FDLR are in Masisi but the Rwandans have instead gone to Rutshuru. We don't really know what they are doing there because our access has been blocked."

UN Children's Fund briefing

"Immediate consequences [are] restricted access to Rutshuru territory and withdrawal of most humanitarian actors from their main intervention zones in Masisi and Rutshuru.

Possible consequences in case of military operations:

- Massive population displacement. A contingency plan (July 2008) anticipates for 350,000 newly displaced persons in North Kivu during the first phase of a military operation; 300,000 persons in the province of South Kivu.

- Current humanitarian interventions for approximately one million persons will be suspended or hampered by the lack of access and permanent displacement of populations.

- The reaction of FDLR might entail exactions on the population and social structures and looting.

- Taking into account that the FDLR have been established in the area for 15 years, their relationship with the population is important. At the same time, the coalition is unlikely to respect the distinction between combatants and non-combatants.

- The reaction of the population with regard to the presence of the Rwandan army is as yet unknown, but could turn negatively toward the government."

A media analyst in Kinshasa

"This operation will finally persuade the FDLR to return to Rwanda after 15 years of hesitation. It will put an end to the illicit exploitation of the region's natural resources and allow the Congolese state to have control over them."

Justin Bitakwira, Member of Parliament from South Kivu

"The Rwandan government and its offshoot RCD-Goma had already occupied Congo for eight years and we never heard of a single clash between the Rwandan army and the FDLR. On the contrary, all the coltan and cassiterite exploited by the FDLR is sold in Rwanda. So it's a [complete] contradiction."

Enock Ruberangabo, president of the Banyamulenge community

"The community wants the FDLR and all Rwandan refugees, who have become, rightly or wrongly, the key to the tension between our countries, to return home. To do so by force is not desirable because experience has taught us that not only are results slow in coming but that matters are made worse. There is a need to plan how to ensure the security of the populations of North and South Kivu before any military operation against the FDLR. Any other way would further endanger security."

Jean Sekabuhoro, president of the North Kivu Hutu communities

"[We] condemn this treason and reserve the right to use all means at our disposal to scupper this diabolical plan whose clear aim is to bring about the Balkanisation of the country."

All Africa

UN says up to 4,000 Rwandan troops in DR Congo

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Ex- CNDP soldiers who have been integrated into the Congolese army pass through a checkpoint on the outskirts of Goma. The DR Congo and Rwanda have agreed joint operations against FDLR rebels. The UN says up to 4,000 Rwandan troops have entered the eastern Congo as part of a joint military operation.

The UN Mission in DR Congo said Wednesday that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops have entered eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since Tuesday as part of a joint military operation. .

"By our observations, between 3,500 and 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are currently in Nord-Kivu," province, MONUC spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich told AFP. .

He said around half the Rwandan force had headed west to the Masisi and Mushaki strongholds of the Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of regional capital Goma.

The Rwandan force entered DR Congo on Tuesday as part of a joint offensive with Congolese forces to oust the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda rebels, which has been at the heart of unrest in the region for the past decade. — AFP