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Friday 31 January 2014

[RwandaLibre] Embassy: JK has never met with rebels

 

Embassy: JK has never met with rebels

By David Kisanga
31st January 2014


News of Rwanda story fabricated, malicious`

The government has said that it is saddened by the malicious and false
reports published over the weekend by a Rwandan government owned
newspaper- 'News of Rwanda' that President Jakaya Kikwete is
supporting and holding meetings with members of the rebel group
opposed by the Rwandan government.

In a statement from the Directorate of Presidential Communication
written by Tanzania's Ambassador to Rwanda, Francis Mwaipaja said the
reports are nothing but fabrications by editors of the said
publication with malicious intention to attack the Tanzanian President
and create an impression that Tanzania is working with enemies and
groups opposed to the government of Rwanda.

The statement said 'News of Rwanda' which has gained unenviable
notoriety for reporting and publishing malicious, dangerous and
perpetual propaganda, quoting unnamed sources claims, among other
things that two founding members of the Rwanda National Congress (RNC)
including Dr Theogene Rudasingwa secretly met with top commanders of
the Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in Dar es
Salaam.

Mwaipaja said Dr Rudasingwa and adviser, Condo Gervais together with
top commanders of FDLR, namely Lt Col Wilson Irategeka and Col Hamadi
were not in Tanzania last week.

"Indeed, our records do not show that they visited Tanzania in recent
years," he said, adding that the Embassy of Tanzania in Rwanda does
not take lightly these allegations by the 'News of Rwanda' considering
that the publication is dominant in Rwanda.
Mwaipaja stressed that there was no meeting of any kind at any
official residences of President Kikwete, either in Dar es Salaam or
in Dodoma.

He said President Kikwete has never met any of those people mentioned
anywhere, not in Tanzania or abroad.

According to Mwaipaja, 'News of Rwanda' claimed that President Kikwete
met with the rebel leaders on January 23, 2014 while on that date the
President was attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in
Davos, Switzerland. He said the Immigration Department in Tanzania
does not have a record of such people entering or leaving the country.

According to Mwaipaja, the former Prime Minister of Rwanda, Faustin
Twagiramungu was also not in Tanzania for the mentioned mission and
did not attend the meeting with representatives of RNC and FDLR as no
meeting of such nature took place in Dar es Salaam or anywhere in
Tanzania as alleged by the paper.

"The Tanzania Immigration Department has never issued any travel
document to any Rwandan citizen including those claimed in the 'News
of Rwanda' that they traveled to Mozambique using Tanzanian passports
on or around December 20th 2013," said the Ambassador.

He said it is not the business of Tanzania to issue travel documents
to citizens of other countries.

However, he said, the said report and other similar reports published
in recent weeks by the 'News of Rwanda' are not only untrue, baseless
and mere fabrication but also dangerous and threatening the excellent
and sound diplomatic and social relations between the neighbouring
countries which are both members of the East African Community (EAC).

He said President Kikwete is deeply hurt by the lies and his humble
advice to the editors of the publication is to stop fabricating claims
which could potentially create and fuel animosity and confusion among
the people of the two neighbouring countries.

He said the reports claimed by the Rwandan newspaper can only sour the
atmosphere at a time when President Kikwete and President Paul Kagame
of Rwanda had agreed in Kampala, Uganda to foster friendly relations.

Photo: Tanzania's Ambassador to Rwanda, Francis Mwaipaja
http://www.ippmedia.com/media/picture/large/Francis%20Mwaipaja(1).jpg

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=64303

--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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[RwandaLibre] Strong ‘NO’ to Rwandan paper claims

 

Strong 'NO' to Rwandan paper claims

Details Published on Friday, 31 January 2014 04:58 Written by DAILY
NEWS Reporter
Hits: 1001
President Jakaya Kikwete.

THE Tanzanian mission in Rwanda has expressed shock and displeasure
over reports published by the 'News of Rwanda' that accuse President
Jakaya Kikwete of supporting and holding meetings with members of
rebel groups opposed to the administration in Kigali.

It has described the reports as 'untrue and malicious.'

A statement issued by the Tanzania Embassy in Rwanda through the
Directorate of Presidential Communications in Dar es Salaam said the
reports are ''nothing but a bunch of dangerous lies fabricated with
obvious malicious intent to create an impression that Tanzania is
working with enemies and groups opposed to the government of Rwanda.''

The statement said that the report and other similar reports published
in recent weeks by the 'News of Rwanda' were not only untrue, baseless
and mere fabrication but also dangerous and threatening the diplomatic
and social relations between the two neighbouring countries.

According to the statement, President Kikwete is deeply hurt by 'these
lies' and it has advised the editors of the publication to stop
fabricating untrue claims ''which have the potential of creating and
fuelling animosity and confusion among the people of our two
neighbouring and friendly countries.''

The embassy said it did not take such allegations by the 'News of
Rwanda' lightly, given the position that the publication occupies in
Rwanda.

It noted that since Presidents Kikwete and Paul Kagame of Rwanda had
agreed in Kampala to foster friendly relations, such newspaper claims
can only sour the atmosphere.

"President Kikwete would like to know what the editors of the
publication were up to," the statement added. The statement
categorically denied that Mr Kikwete has never met any of the people
mentioned anywhere – in Tanzania or outside.

"Moreover, on the day that 'News of Rwanda' claims that the meeting
took place, Thursday, January 23, the president was not even in the
country; he was in Davos attending World Economic Forum (WEF)
meeting."

Besides, according to the statement, Tanzania's Immigration Department
does not have records of such people entering or exiting the country.

"The former Prime Minister of Rwanda, Mr Faustin Twagiramungu, was
also not in Tanzania on any or the same mission and did not attend the
meeting with representatives of RNC and FDLR as no meeting of such
nature took place in Dar es Salaam or anywhere in the country," it
explained.

The statement further noted that the Immigration Department has never
issued any travel document to any Rwandan citizen, including those the
'News of Rwanda' has claimed that they travelled to Mozambique using
Tanzanian passports on or around December 20, 2013.

http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/27591-strong-no-to-rwandan-paper-claims&q=strong+no+to+rwandan+paper+claims

--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
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[RwandaLibre] Viktor Bout trained Rwandan soldiers in gas masks.

 

Tiré de "Documentary Shows Softer Side of Russia's 'Merchant of Death'"

"Bout had a vague idea of making a movie about his life. In one bit of
footage, his associates train Rwandan soldiers in gas masks. "These
will be the funniest shots in the whole movie," Bout says with relish.
Other moments show him with figures such as Jean-Pierre Bemba, the
Congolese politician who has been tried in The Hague for war crimes.
But even when Bout is in the middle of the world's most violent
conflicts, he unfailingly acts like a tourist, merrily taking
snapshots of the locals and suggesting the home of a deposed leader be
turned into honeymoon suites."

Documentary Shows Softer Side of Russia's 'Merchant of Death'


Viktor Bout
© AFP 2013/ Christophe Archambault18:11 29/01/2014

Tags: US Sundance Film Festival, documentary, Viktor Bout, United States

MOSCOW, January 29 (by Joy Neumeyer, The Moscow News) – Viktor Bout,
the arms dealer nicknamed by the Western press "the Merchant of
Death," is standing in a kitchen in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, making pelmeni. The year is 2000, and Bout is providing weapons
for the country's bloody civil war. As his shirtless cronies wedge
bits of ground beef into pasta dough, one man mentions the hypothesis
that the universe will eventually collapse on itself. "That's
absolutely right," Bout says as he rolls the dough. "A system is
always heading toward self-destruction."

The scene's dark, surreal humor is the heart of "The Notorious Mr.
Bout," a documentary by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin that
premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival in the US. In
addition to ferrying weapons for violent regimes, Bout was also a
passionate cook, linguist, ballroom dancer, and most importantly, home
movie fanatic.

For "The Notorious Mr. Bout," the directors gained access to footage
Bout filmed over the course of 25 years. It shows him hawking machine
guns and strolling with war criminals, but also doing the conga,
jumping naked in the snow and romancing his wife Alla.

Pozdorovkin calls the film "a bit of a head trip."

"People come in expecting something totally different, and then they
go out with a lot of questions," he said, speaking from Park City,
Utah, before Sundance's close.

Pozdorovkin was born in Moscow and grew up in the US. He previously
directed "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

," which made it onto the longlist for this year's Best Documentary
Oscar. "There's a way in which these stories are bizarre mirror images
of each other," he said. "Ultimately, they're both show trials."

The ambitious Bout, who learned Esperanto as a child, entered
international trade in his early 20s, when he began importing Coca
Cola and other consumer goods to Eastern Europe in the wake of the
Soviet collapse.

At the time, "there were stockpiles of old Soviet military equipment
that wasn't needed anymore," said Matt Potter, a journalist who has
covered the arms trade and is interviewed in the film. "It was either
going to go rusty, or someone was going to make some money out of it."

Bout chose the latter option, banding together with some of his army
pilot friends to travel around the globe. When "The Notorious Mr.
Bout" begins, Bout is driving a ramshackle car and getting married in
an ill-fitting suit. Within a couple of years, he is chartering a
private plane with leopard-print seats. But by 2010, his own shots are
replaced by the filmmakers': He is behind bars, far from his beloved
movie camera. After years of ferrying cargo across Africa and the
Middle East, Bout was brought down by a sting operation in Bangkok in
2008 and later extradited to New York, where he was convicted of
conspiring to kill Americans and money laundering, among other crimes.

Pozdorovkin first met Bout in the US maximum security prison where he
is currently serving his 25-year sentence. He had spent the previous
14 months in solitary confinement, with the lights on 24 hours a day.
When he entered the room, he was shackled across his feet, arms and
chest.

"I'd never seen anything like it," Pozdorovkin said.

These days, Bout spends much of his time listening to Puerto Rican
salsa on the local radio station; his lawyer has printed him dance
steps. During his meetings with Pozdorovkin, which could not be
recorded, he urinated in a bottle to avoid making the shackled,
guarded trip to the bathroom. Pozdorovkin bought vending machine
snacks for the newly vegan prisoner, who is now much leaner than he
was in his transatlantic heyday.

After more than a year in solitary confinement, Bout was eager to
talk, and the men spent hours discussing literature, politics and
languages. Eventually, he and Alla gave permission for the filmmakers
to use his home movies, which total over 150 hours.

Bout had a vague idea of making a movie about his life. In one bit of
footage, his associates train Rwandan soldiers in gas masks. "These
will be the funniest shots in the whole movie," Bout says with relish.

Other moments show him with figures such as Jean-Pierre Bemba, the
Congolese politician who has been tried in The Hague for war crimes.
But even when Bout is in the middle of the world's most violent
conflicts, he unfailingly acts like a tourist, merrily taking
snapshots of the locals and suggesting the home of a deposed leader be
turned into honeymoon suites.

"He comes out not as a sinister, networked kind of bigwig," Potter
said, "but as a bit of a used car dealer."

As business grew, Bout gained fame: A book came out about him in 2007
titled "The Merchant of Death," and his story served as the
inspiration for "The Lord of War," a 2005 thriller starring Nicolas
Cage. Rather than retreating, he fed the publicity, posing for a New
York Times Magazine cover story. Eventually, Potter said, he simply
became "too visible," and was caught in the Thai sting by agents
posing as Colombian guerillas.

Part of the film's goal is to question what Pozdorovkin calls "naive"
assumptions about the arms trade. "There's this idea that it's this
shadow world that's so dark, but everyone's complicit in it,
governments and everyone else," he said. At various points, he noted,
Bout was on the payroll of both Russia and the US.

Several attempts to screen "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer" in Moscow have
been nixed, most recently by city culture head Sergei Kapkov, in a
move that Pozdorovkin calls "idiotic." "The Notorious Mr. Bout,"
however, is in talks to appear at several Moscow film festivals and
get a limited theatrical release.

Bout hasn't seen the film, though he may have the chance if it's shown
on the prison's television. In the meantime, his former business goes
on without him.

"There are a lot of people still doing what he does," Potter said.
"They're just much more subtle about it."

Мужские новости

http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20140129/187023027/Documentary-Shows-Softer-Side-of-Russias-Merchant-of-Death.html&q=documentary+shows+dark+side



--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
***Online Time:15H30-20H30, heure de Montréal.***Fuseau horaire
domestique: heure normale de la côte Est des Etats-Unis et Canada
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[RwandaLibre] Jobs and Scholarships

 

·      Senior Associate Advisor Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) – RWANDA. SNV Rwanda is looking for a Senior Associate Advisor Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Based in Kigali, Rwanda
 
·      Scholarships for graduate study at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
 
More at :
 
 
 

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Rwanda calls Congo 'crybaby' at U.N., Congo says Rwanda's 'arrogant' behavior must stop


Rwanda calls Congo 'crybaby' at U.N., Congo says Rwanda 'arrogant'

UNITED NATIONS | 

Photo

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council stressed on Thursday that M23 rebels must be stopped from regrouping in Democratic Republic of Congo and expressed concern at Congolese soldiers aiding Rwandan Hutu militia, sparking a verbal clash between the countries' envoys.

Rwanda's U.N. ambassador, Eugene Gasana - a temporary member of the 15-member Security Council - accused Congo of "crying like small babies," while his Congolese counterpart, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, said Rwanda's "arrogant behavior must stop."

Rwanda has repeatedly intervened in Congo, saying it had to hunt down Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which fled after Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Congo and Rwanda have fought two wars in two decades in eastern Congo.

The U.N. Security Council expressed its concerns about the violence in eastern Congo in a unanimously adopted resolution that renewed an arms embargo and targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Democratic Republic of Congo.

The top U.N. official in Congo, Martin Kobler, has said there were credible reports that the M23 rebels appeared to be regrouping just two months after Congolese troops and U.N. peacekeepers defeated the Tutsi-led insurgency.

U.N. experts, who monitor violations of U.N. sanctions on Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo have long accused Rwanda of backing M23, which ended its 20-month rebellion in November, a claim that Kigali has fiercely rejected.

Rwanda and the U.N. experts have accused Congolese troops of collaborating with the FDLR, which includes Hutus who fled Rwanda after the genocide of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus. Kinshasa denies the claim.

"These guys (Congo), just every other day, coming and crying like small babies," Gasana told reporters after the council meeting. "Rwanda, it's a small country. Congo is rich. Congo has everything. How come Rwanda is always the scapegoat?"

Gata Mavita wa Lufuta told the Security Council: "We are a sovereign country and we must be respected as such and this arrogant behavior (by Rwanda) must stop."

REPORTS OF CONGOLESE ARMY COLLABORATION

There was one thing both ambassadors agreed on: the U.N. Security Council was not the appropriate venue for their verbal spat.

Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger in Congo since the 1990s as armed groups have fought for control of the country's vast deposits of gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt and uranium.

The Security Council resolution noted "with deep concern reports indicating FARDC (Congolese army) collaboration with the FDLR at a local level, recalling that the FDLR is a group under U.N. sanctions whose leaders and members include perpetrators of the 1994 genocide."

It stressed the importance of "permanently addressing this threat."

A 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo received a boost last year with the unprecedented deployments of unarmed surveillance drones and an Intervention Brigade of 3,000 troops to help Congolese forces hunt down rebel groups.

After the military defeat of M23, the peacekeepers and the Congolese army have turned their attention to tackling the FDLR and the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group.

The resolution asked states neighboring Congo to "urgently address the situation of former M23 combatants located in their territories, and stresses the importance of ensuring that the M23 does not regroup and resume military activities."

It also called upon countries in the region to take steps to ensure there is no support in or from their territories for armed groups in eastern Congo. U.N. experts have also accused Uganda of aiding Congolese rebels, which Kampala has denied.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler)

[AfricaWatch] Rwanda calls Congo 'crybaby' at U.N., Congo says Rwanda's 'arrogant' behavior must stop

 


Photo

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council stressed on Thursday that M23 rebels must be stopped from regrouping in Democratic Republic of Congo and expressed concern at Congolese soldiers aiding Rwandan Hutu militia, sparking a verbal clash between the countries' envoys.

Rwanda's U.N. ambassador, Eugene Gasana - a temporary member of the 15-member Security Council - accused Congo of "crying like small babies," while his Congolese counterpart, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, said Rwanda's "arrogant behavior must stop."

Rwanda has repeatedly intervened in Congo, saying it had to hunt down Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which fled after Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Congo and Rwanda have fought two wars in two decades in eastern Congo.

The U.N. Security Council expressed its concerns about the violence in eastern Congo in a unanimously adopted resolution that renewed an arms embargo and targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Democratic Republic of Congo.

The top U.N. official in Congo, Martin Kobler, has said there were credible reports that the M23 rebels appeared to be regrouping just two months after Congolese troops and U.N. peacekeepers defeated the Tutsi-led insurgency.

U.N. experts, who monitor violations of U.N. sanctions on Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo have long accused Rwanda of backing M23, which ended its 20-month rebellion in November, a claim that Kigali has fiercely rejected.

Rwanda and the U.N. experts have accused Congolese troops of collaborating with the FDLR, which includes Hutus who fled Rwanda after the genocide of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus. Kinshasa denies the claim.

"These guys (Congo), just every other day, coming and crying like small babies," Gasana told reporters after the council meeting. "Rwanda, it's a small country. Congo is rich. Congo has everything. How come Rwanda is always the scapegoat?"

Gata Mavita wa Lufuta told the Security Council: "We are a sovereign country and we must be respected as such and this arrogant behavior (by Rwanda) must stop."

REPORTS OF CONGOLESE ARMY COLLABORATION

There was one thing both ambassadors agreed on: the U.N. Security Council was not the appropriate venue for their verbal spat.

Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger in Congo since the 1990s as armed groups have fought for control of the country's vast deposits of gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt and uranium.

The Security Council resolution noted "with deep concern reports indicating FARDC (Congolese army) collaboration with the FDLR at a local level, recalling that the FDLR is a group under U.N. sanctions whose leaders and members include perpetrators of the 1994 genocide."

It stressed the importance of "permanently addressing this threat."

A 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo received a boost last year with the unprecedented deployments of unarmed surveillance drones and an Intervention Brigade of 3,000 troops to help Congolese forces hunt down rebel groups.

After the military defeat of M23, the peacekeepers and the Congolese army have turned their attention to tackling the FDLR and the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group.

The resolution asked states neighboring Congo to "urgently address the situation of former M23 combatants located in their territories, and stresses the importance of ensuring that the M23 does not regroup and resume military activities."

It also called upon countries in the region to take steps to ensure there is no support in or from their territories for armed groups in eastern Congo. U.N. experts have also accused Uganda of aiding Congolese rebels, which Kampala has denied.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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[RwandaLibre] Rwanda calls Congo 'crybaby' at U.N., Congo says Rwanda's 'arrogant' behavior must stop

 


Photo

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council stressed on Thursday that M23 rebels must be stopped from regrouping in Democratic Republic of Congo and expressed concern at Congolese soldiers aiding Rwandan Hutu militia, sparking a verbal clash between the countries' envoys.

Rwanda's U.N. ambassador, Eugene Gasana - a temporary member of the 15-member Security Council - accused Congo of "crying like small babies," while his Congolese counterpart, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, said Rwanda's "arrogant behavior must stop."

Rwanda has repeatedly intervened in Congo, saying it had to hunt down Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which fled after Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Congo and Rwanda have fought two wars in two decades in eastern Congo.

The U.N. Security Council expressed its concerns about the violence in eastern Congo in a unanimously adopted resolution that renewed an arms embargo and targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Democratic Republic of Congo.

The top U.N. official in Congo, Martin Kobler, has said there were credible reports that the M23 rebels appeared to be regrouping just two months after Congolese troops and U.N. peacekeepers defeated the Tutsi-led insurgency.

U.N. experts, who monitor violations of U.N. sanctions on Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo have long accused Rwanda of backing M23, which ended its 20-month rebellion in November, a claim that Kigali has fiercely rejected.

Rwanda and the U.N. experts have accused Congolese troops of collaborating with the FDLR, which includes Hutus who fled Rwanda after the genocide of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus. Kinshasa denies the claim.

"These guys (Congo), just every other day, coming and crying like small babies," Gasana told reporters after the council meeting. "Rwanda, it's a small country. Congo is rich. Congo has everything. How come Rwanda is always the scapegoat?"

Gata Mavita wa Lufuta told the Security Council: "We are a sovereign country and we must be respected as such and this arrogant behavior (by Rwanda) must stop."

REPORTS OF CONGOLESE ARMY COLLABORATION

There was one thing both ambassadors agreed on: the U.N. Security Council was not the appropriate venue for their verbal spat.

Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger in Congo since the 1990s as armed groups have fought for control of the country's vast deposits of gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt and uranium.

The Security Council resolution noted "with deep concern reports indicating FARDC (Congolese army) collaboration with the FDLR at a local level, recalling that the FDLR is a group under U.N. sanctions whose leaders and members include perpetrators of the 1994 genocide."

It stressed the importance of "permanently addressing this threat."

A 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo received a boost last year with the unprecedented deployments of unarmed surveillance drones and an Intervention Brigade of 3,000 troops to help Congolese forces hunt down rebel groups.

After the military defeat of M23, the peacekeepers and the Congolese army have turned their attention to tackling the FDLR and the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group.

The resolution asked states neighboring Congo to "urgently address the situation of former M23 combatants located in their territories, and stresses the importance of ensuring that the M23 does not regroup and resume military activities."

It also called upon countries in the region to take steps to ensure there is no support in or from their territories for armed groups in eastern Congo. U.N. experts have also accused Uganda of aiding Congolese rebels, which Kampala has denied.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Rwanda calls Congo 'crybaby' at U.N., Congo says Rwanda's 'arrogant' behavior must stop


Rwanda calls Congo 'crybaby' at U.N., Congo says Rwanda 'arrogant'

UNITED NATIONS | 

Photo

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council stressed on Thursday that M23 rebels must be stopped from regrouping in Democratic Republic of Congo and expressed concern at Congolese soldiers aiding Rwandan Hutu militia, sparking a verbal clash between the countries' envoys.

Rwanda's U.N. ambassador, Eugene Gasana - a temporary member of the 15-member Security Council - accused Congo of "crying like small babies," while his Congolese counterpart, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, said Rwanda's "arrogant behavior must stop."

Rwanda has repeatedly intervened in Congo, saying it had to hunt down Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which fled after Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Congo and Rwanda have fought two wars in two decades in eastern Congo.

The U.N. Security Council expressed its concerns about the violence in eastern Congo in a unanimously adopted resolution that renewed an arms embargo and targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Democratic Republic of Congo.

The top U.N. official in Congo, Martin Kobler, has said there were credible reports that the M23 rebels appeared to be regrouping just two months after Congolese troops and U.N. peacekeepers defeated the Tutsi-led insurgency.

U.N. experts, who monitor violations of U.N. sanctions on Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo have long accused Rwanda of backing M23, which ended its 20-month rebellion in November, a claim that Kigali has fiercely rejected.

Rwanda and the U.N. experts have accused Congolese troops of collaborating with the FDLR, which includes Hutus who fled Rwanda after the genocide of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus. Kinshasa denies the claim.

"These guys (Congo), just every other day, coming and crying like small babies," Gasana told reporters after the council meeting. "Rwanda, it's a small country. Congo is rich. Congo has everything. How come Rwanda is always the scapegoat?"

Gata Mavita wa Lufuta told the Security Council: "We are a sovereign country and we must be respected as such and this arrogant behavior (by Rwanda) must stop."

REPORTS OF CONGOLESE ARMY COLLABORATION

There was one thing both ambassadors agreed on: the U.N. Security Council was not the appropriate venue for their verbal spat.

Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger in Congo since the 1990s as armed groups have fought for control of the country's vast deposits of gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt and uranium.

The Security Council resolution noted "with deep concern reports indicating FARDC (Congolese army) collaboration with the FDLR at a local level, recalling that the FDLR is a group under U.N. sanctions whose leaders and members include perpetrators of the 1994 genocide."

It stressed the importance of "permanently addressing this threat."

A 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo received a boost last year with the unprecedented deployments of unarmed surveillance drones and an Intervention Brigade of 3,000 troops to help Congolese forces hunt down rebel groups.

After the military defeat of M23, the peacekeepers and the Congolese army have turned their attention to tackling the FDLR and the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group.

The resolution asked states neighboring Congo to "urgently address the situation of former M23 combatants located in their territories, and stresses the importance of ensuring that the M23 does not regroup and resume military activities."

It also called upon countries in the region to take steps to ensure there is no support in or from their territories for armed groups in eastern Congo. U.N. experts have also accused Uganda of aiding Congolese rebels, which Kampala has denied.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler)

-“The root cause of the Rwandan tragedy of 1994 is the long and past historical ethnic dominance of one minority ethnic group to the other majority ethnic group. Ignoring this reality is giving a black cheque for the Rwandan people’s future and deepening resentment, hostility and hatred between the two groups.”

-« Ce dont j’ai le plus peur, c’est des gens qui croient que, du jour au lendemain, on peut prendre une société, lui tordre le cou et en faire une autre ».

-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.

-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

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