Rwandan President Paul Kagame mocked the growing stack of evidence: "I understand that human rights groups are locked in a fierce competition for big checks from wealthy donors and they need to generate big headlines." But almost everyone believed he was up to no good. After all, Rwanda had secretly backed the National Congress for the Defense of the People, and it was more than plausible that it would do so again with this rebellion, given its ongoing complaints about an anti-Rwandan militia in Congo called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by its French acronym, FDLR. The FDLR is the successor group to the Hutu militia that committed the Rwandan genocide, although analysts say it now is a shadow of its former self, numbering around just 1,500 men, and threatens the local Congolese population far more than it does any Rwandans. Rwanda's true interests in eastern Congo have more to do with creating a buffer zone against perceived threats emanating from a resource-rich region it considers its backyard.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/russ-feingold-congo-104535_Page2.html#ixzz2vm2VFQoF
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