http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/congodemocratic-uganda-war-idUSL5E8LME6S20121022     Uganda may stop mediating in Congo over U.N. accusations Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:05am EDT * Uganda spearheading regional effort to end conflict * Uganda accused with Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels * U.N. Council intends to impose sanctions on M23 and others By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Uganda said on Monday it would stop mediating in the conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels if the U.N. Security Council endorsed accusations that Uganda was supporting the rebels. A report by a U.N. panel of experts leaked to Reuters last week accused Uganda and Rwanda of providing support to M23, whose insurgency has displaced half a million people in North Kivu province, which borders both countries. The report, written for the U.N. Security Council's Congo sanctions committee, said Uganda had allowed M23's political branch to operate from Kampala in addition to providing M23 with troops, weapons, technical help, political advice and facilitation of external relations. "We have contacted the U.N. via our diplomats in New York because we want to know whether what the media wrote about is true," junior foreign minister Asuman Kiyingi told Reuters. "If the U.N. confirms its experts wrote these outrageous falsehoods, then we'll withdraw from our mediation role in the conflict between Congo and the M23 rebels." Kiyingi said the allegations were already undermining the perception of Uganda as a neutral mediator. Analysts say Uganda and Rwanda have maintained extensive commercial and military networks in Congo's mineral-rich east since the two countries sent troops into Congo twice in the 1990s and 2000s. The Ugandan government has already denied that it supports M23, calling the allegations "rubbish, rubbish, rubbish". Congo has demand sanctions on Ugandan and Rwandese officials funnelling support to M23. The U.N. Security Council on Friday adopted a statement expressing an intention to impose sanctions on M23's leaders and those who violate a U.N. arms embargo on Congo. Uganda has been spearheading faltering efforts by a regional body, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), to put together a 4,000-strong force to neutralise M23 and police the border between Congo and Rwanda. M23 said this month that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was trying to engage it in direct talks with Congo, although Congo denied it and said it had not dropped its refusal to negotiate with the insurgents. Kiyingi said Uganda would stop its mediation role even if the United Nations did not endorse the accusations but still imposed sanctions on M23 leaders. "We cannot try to bring two parties to the table to talk when one is under sanctions and the other is not," he said. (Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Rwanda: The Infamous Agaciro Fund

http://www.inyenyerinews.org/amakuru-2/behind-the-presidential-curtains-the-infamous-agaciro-fund/ The Infamous Agaciro Fund October 21, 2012 By Rwema IT Webmaster 2 Comments Agaciro is a Kinyarwanda word for worthiness, value or importance. In president Kagame's context however, one would interpret it as "Rwandan self-worthiness." It is unfortunate that the president seems to lose a plot when tries to instill these empty values in his population. It is evident that the Rwandan population is fond of doing deeds that they don't believe in just to turn a page. This was evident during the genocide days when people were forced to kill their own friends and even family in order to survive themselves. This has lived to haunt whoever did it up to the present day, just because one's mind was not readily convinced for the deed. What is Agaciro foundation? who is feeding who? This is an initiative started by Mr. Kagame and his close allies after the cut of foreign aid due to the allegations that Kagame and his government was supporting a rebel faction in Eastern Congo that is causing tremendous sufferings to the local population. The international community and the whole world have since asked Kagame to stop his support of these Congolese rebels who have continued to inflict death and atrocities to our neighbor's in the Congo. On a personal level however, this is very disturbing due to the fact that President Kagame himself has experienced firsthand hand refugee life after fleeing to Uganda Gahungye refugee camp when he was just under five year old. It is sad to see a person with the same history inflicting atrocities to the same background he was born from. After the stoppage of the foreign aid that President Kagame enjoyed, he has since started a campaign of milking the local communities as well as those that live far from his authoritarian government. Due to his dictatorial rule Kagame has always been critical to his own diaspora mostly the Rwandan population living in Belgium, France and Canada due to their Francophone inclement. He has at some point banned the coutry's colonial language and replaced it with English. This decision took the entire population by surprise given the fact that over 80% of Rwandans were francophone inclined. The French language ban was after Kagame developed differences with France, while he hailed support from the Clinton and Bush American administrations. Rwandans professionals who had spent most of their lives studying and practicing their professions in French language had to enroll on English language programs just to cope with Kagame's Anglophone. Schools which were built on French language values way back in time had to change their curriculum while struggling to structure the entire institutions in Kagame's Anglophone. Now that Kagame is having a tough time with his new Anglophone and Americanised master, one should not be surprised if Rwanda swapped English language to maybe Swahili if not Luganda or even Mandarin as he now panders to the support of China. When Kagame was a darling to the west, he visited his diaspora at some meetings challenging and daring them to come home and build their country and be given jobs. He has in the past insulted the Belgo-Rwandan citizens; that they were lazy and only survived on government handouts (CAPAS) as he pronounced it. This was very damaging not only to the Rwandans who are residents in Belgium but also to the European host countries that host a portion of his country's citizens who have for the years felt and made it home. It is the same Kagame who is now frequenting North America and Europe begging the same diaspora he insulted for their hard earned cash. It is well known that the Rwandan diaspora has in the past boosted the country's economy by the amount of money sent home each year. Agaciro / Self-Respect: There is no way Kagame should talk about Agaciro or self-respect when he does not respect his immediate neighbors, in this case the DR Congo. Kagame held the rank of Major in the Ugandan NRA, he has however waged different wars to the same commanders who made him who he is; Lt Gen Kaguta Museveni. Is that Agaciro? Kagame has disrespected and neglected his elder's orphans and widows, the prime example being Mrs. Janet Rwigema. Here one would list names of widows and orphans of numerous senior fallen commanders that fought for the country that Kagame is presently messing up. It's sad when Kagame talks about Agaciro, when traditionally he should have taken his best friend and elder brother's widow with the best Agaciro possible. Mrs. Rwigema was continuously supported by Ugandan authorities (Gen Salim Saleh) to be precise until recently when Kagame forcefully stopped this relationship due to his intrigue. Is this Agaciro? Apart from the senior and junior RPA foreign heroes Kagame has impoverished all staunch RPA wealthy supporters. The people gave all moral and monetary support in order to fight the war both in Rwanda and outside her. Those of us who are old enough remember the selfless efforts of individuals like Silas Majyambere, Valens Kajeguhakwa, Gakwaya who was slain in cold blood days after he crossed to the RPA controlled zone, Rujugiro, Kananura, Karimba, etc. I wonder if this is the Agaciro he sings about? Kagame is not fit to sing Agaciro, since his actions are opposite to what he preaches. On the other hand, one must stop to ponder the reason why Kagame is begging the same communities he has been belittling all along. Could it be due to the continued stoppage of aid? If so then he ought to stop shouting and crying foul and embark on strategies that see his country get on its feet and walk straight. Or could he be noble enough to leave the Congolese people alone and work on ways he could trade with his neighbours while he gets his aid back as he prepares to wean his country off the donor list once for all graduating to his 2020 vision. Kagame's ego and greed has out grown his reach in the last few years, he will intimidate and milk whoever is likely to give him any possible cash, however little it seems, just to nourish his lavish lifestyle. The Agaciro fund therefore is a personal centered deposit designed to serve his own purposes and use. Kagame is on the other hand an enemy centered individual whose character is to create as many enemies as he can. He is not ashamed of stealing from rich individuals, the poor citizens of Congo or the teachers of Rwanda. In other words, Kagame deserves Agaciro himself before he preaches it. "Kagame akwiriye kwihesha agaciro…" Written by Noble Marara

Defiant Rwanda calls West's bluff on aid

http://af.reuters.com/article/drcNews/idAFL5E8LJN2S20121021?sp=true ANALYSIS-Defiant Rwanda calls West's bluff on aid Sun Oct 21, 2012 8:40am GMT   Print | Single Page [-] Text [+] * Pressure grows on donors to act on alleged role in Congo * Rwanda denies interference, says aid cuts would be mistake * UN Security Council seat will enhance diplomatic weight By Mark John PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Rwanda is brushing aside allegations it is fomenting rebellion in neighbouring Congo, confident that foreign donors are reluctant to abandon a country on its way to becoming a rare African success story. The gamble is a risky one for a state that relies on aid for 40 percent of its budget, but Rwanda's newly-awarded seat on the United Nations Security Council will boost its diplomatic clout and could further discourage any moves to cut assistance. "They've made the calculation that they won't be isolated or ostracised. And if they lose some donor support, they can absorb that," said Mark Schroeder of U.S.-based consultancy Stratfor, a long-time watcher of Africa's Great Lakes region. Pressure on donors to act grew this week after a leaked U.N. Group of Experts' report accused Rwanda's defence minister of commanding a six-month rebellion in the east of Congo, the strongest in a series of allegations that Rwanda is involved. Congo's eastern Kivu provinces are strategically vital to Rwanda. They are home to an established community of Rwandan speakers and a lucrative trade in coltan, tin, gold and other minerals just hours by road from the Rwandan capital Kigali. While Rwanda has backed armed movements in Congo during the past two decades, citing a need to tackle Rwandan rebels operating out of Congo's eastern hills, it firmly denies the latest allegations of interference. Donors treat such denials with scepticism. The United States, the biggest giver with grants of $173 million in 2010, has already frozen some aid along with Sweden, the Netherlands and the European Union. Yet while Western governments this week repeated concerns over a rebellion that has already forced half a million people to flee their homes, none contacted by Reuters after the leaked report have so far signalled moves to further suspend aid. COMBATIVE TWEETER A defiant Rwanda has rejected the Experts' report as flawed and warned donors that any step to pull aid would be a mistake. President Paul Kagame hailed Thursday's award of a Security Council seat as proof the former Belgian colony is on the right track, nearly two decades after a 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Rwandans were killed by a Hutu-led government and ethnic militias. "No matter what haters say ... justice&truth will prevail!!!," Kagame posted on his Twitter account. "Sometimes it just requires a bit of good fight for all that...!!!" Rwanda's gleaming highways, modern airport and efficient army - a reliable contributor to U.N. peacekeeping in Africa - are a far cry from the chaos in Congo and the decrepit infrastructure of many African states with less tormented pasts. Kagame's authoritarian style and allegations by human rights groups that Rwandan military intelligence services have engaged in torture are a cause of international discomfort. But aid partners like the fact that Rwanda's strong governance means they can see where their money is going. Total aid has more than trebled over the past decade to around $900 million in 2010. "Every pound that goes into Rwanda stands a better chance of being spent on poverty reduction than it does anywhere else," Malcolm Bruce, head of British parliament's International Development Committee, told Reuters. "Perhaps there's also a residual guilt over the failure to act over the Rwandan genocide," added Bruce, whose government is Rwanda's second largest bilateral donor with disbursements of $78 million in 2010 and which, for now, is maintaining aid. The question now is how far the goodwill can stretch. It will become harder for donors to justify business as usual if a U.N. committee in coming weeks acts on the Group of Experts' findings and imposes targeted sanctions against Rwandan Defence Minister James Kabarebe. Belgium, the third largest bilateral donor, which disbursed 56 million euros ($73 million) last year, will review its position if the U.N. does impose sanctions, or the European Union takes further steps on aid, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday. The European Commission said on Friday it was awaiting the decision of the United Nations' sanctions committee. But it added it was "firmly committed" to helping Rwanda tackle poverty and praised the government for progress made so far. FINANCIAL AUTONOMY The U.S. State Department said it would not comment until the Experts' report was made officially public, while France - which channels some 43 million euros of aid to Rwanda through the EU and other agencies - said it had no plans to suspend it. A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said authorities would study the issue before any new decisions on aid fall due in December. Diplomats acknowledge that Rwanda's U.N. Security Council seat may make donors even more reluctant to pull aid. Typically, such countries are courted for their votes on divisive issues such as last year's Western-backed intervention in Libya. Thierry Vircoulon of the International Crisis Group think-tank suggested that any future moves would be at most partial. "They could cut general budget support to avoid providing military assistance but would continue support for education, health and agriculture," he said. That might be a risk Rwanda is prepared to run, given the importance of the east of Congo. Past U.N. reports have cited lucrative smuggling rackets of minerals ferried across to Rwanda. At the height of Congo's last war in 1999, profits from eastern Congo's mineral fields added some $320 million to Rwanda's defence budget, U.N. experts said. Wealthy Rwandans are being encouraged to donate 10 percent of their salaries into the newly-launched Agaciro Development Fund, whose website says it was created to "improve the level of financial autonomy of Rwanda as a nation". While such contributions are voluntary, the social pressure to take part is strong. At a recent fund-raiser in the capital, young professionals were lining up to hand over a cheque and have their photo taken with Kagame. ($1 = 0.7674 euros) (Additional reporting by Jenny Clover in Kigali, Peter Schwartzstein in London, Jonny Hogg in Kinshasa, Philip Blenkinsop and Justyna Pawlak in Brussels, John Irish in Paris, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations and Andrew Quinn in Washington; editing by Andrew Roche)

(VIDEO) US Foreign Policy: President Obama's Strong and Steady Leadership vs. Romney's Blunder and Bluster

US Foreign Policy: President Obama's Strong and Steady Leadership vs. Romney's Blunder and Bluster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOatTWJAlpI&feature=player_embedded

Listen to Iain Edwards at: http://www.anngarrison.com/audio/iain-edwards-victoire-ingabires-trail-will-not-end-within-the-borders-of-rwanda Iain Edwards: Victoire Ingabire's trial will not end within the borders of Rwanda Submitted by annie on Sat, 10/20/2012 - 22:28 pause stop mute 03:10 03:38   KPFA Evening News, 10.20.2012 On Tuesday Reuters broke the news of a 44-page UN Panel of Experts report that Rwandan Defence Minister Jams Kabarebe is commanding the M23 militia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.  The report also accuses Rwanda and Uganda of arming the militia and sending its own troops to help it launch a deadly attack on UN peacekeepers. Three days later, on Friday, a Rwandan court postponed the verdict in the related trial of Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire for the third time. KPFA spoke to Ingabire's British lawyer Iain Edwards.   Victoire Ingabire's British lawyer Iain Edwards, left, Victoire Ingabire, center, and her Rwandan lawyer Gatera Gashebana, right   Tags:  Rwanda Kagame Victoire Ingabire Iain Edwards Gatera Gashebana M23 KPFA Congo D.R. Congo