Rwanda ‘welcomes’ proposed African summit on DRC conflict

Nairobi, Feb 2 (AFP/APP):Rwanda welcomed on Sunday calls for a summit of two African regional groups to discuss the escalating conflict in DR Congo.

                  The M23 armed group, that the UN and several nations say is backed by Rwanda, have made substantial gains in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, taking the major city of Goma and vowing to march on the capital.

                  It is the latest escalation in a mineral-rich region bedevilled by decades of fighting involving dozens of armed groups, and has rattled the continent with regional blocs holding emergency summits over the spiralling tensions.

                  The 16-nation South African Development Community on Friday called for a summit with the eight-country East African Community to “deliberate on the way forward regarding the security situation in the DRC”.

                  The Rwandan foreign ministry said it “welcomes the proposed joint summit”, adding in a statement it had “consistently advocated for a political solution to the ongoing conflict”.

                  The SADC emergency session was not attended by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda — which is not a member of the bloc — but Congolese leader Felix Tshisekedi was present virtually.

                  Earlier in the week, Kagame appeared at an EAC emergency session when the DR Congo president was absent.

                  The SADC meeting was convened after soldiers from two member states, South Africa and Malawi, were killed in the fighting around Goma where they were deployed.

                  Some were part of SAMIDRC (Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo).

                  In Sunday’s statement, Rwanda’s foreign ministry criticised the presence of the force in DR Congo, saying it should “not be there because they are adding to the problems that already existed”.

                  Kagame has made similar remarks previously.

                  While Rwanda has never admitted to military involvement in support of the M23 group a United Nations expert report last July said it had roughly 4,000 troops in eastern DR Congo, and accused Kigali of having “de facto” control over the group.

                  Rwanda alleges that DR Congo supports and shelters the FDLR, an armed group created by former Hutu leaders who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

                  The intensified fighting has provoked fears of a humanitarian crisis.

                  In a region already home to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, the fighting has forced another 500,000 people to flee their homes, said the UN.