DR Congo blames Rwanda for M23 rebellion

KINSHASA, DR Congo

Christophe Mboso N’kodia Pwanga the President of the Congolese National Assembly has accused Rwanda of the insecurity in the East of DRC.

The Congolese government has maintained blame on Rwanda for directly sponsoring and participating in the ongoing insurgency in North Kivu province of DRC.

The President of the Congolese National Assembly flew to Brussels on Tuesday for an official one-day visit. He addressed the Belgian parliament where he attacked Rwanda government accusing it of aiding the M23 rebels that have occupied vast part of this North Kivu territory.

In front of the Belgian parliamentarians, the speaker of the lower house of the Congolese parliament, Christophe Mboso thanked the Belgian King for his recent trip to the DRC which, according to him, was a great comfort for the Congolese people bruised by the war especially by the aggression of Rwanda.

“Of all the Western states, the King of the Belgians is the only authority who has taken an open position against the aggression of Rwanda. In a speech we noted with joy that the King called on the international community to unite to help Congo emerge from such violence,” he said.

During his visit the Parliament of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a cooperation protocol.

Despite the continued barrage of accusations against Rwanda, the Kigali regime has rejected the claims.

The M23 rebels blame the Kinshasa authorities for not having respected commitments made for the demobilization and reintegration of its fighters.

Willy Ngoma, spokesman for the M23, also affirmed that the movement was “Congolese and did not benefit from any assistance, either near or far, from any neighboring country.”

Attacks by M23 fighters have become more frequent, longer and stronger, and the territory under the group’s control “significantly increased.”

U.N. experts recently in August claimed they possessed “solid evidence” that members of Rwanda’s armed forces were conducting operations in volatile eastern Congo in support of the M23.

The group of experts also accused Rwanda’s forces of violating a U.N. arms embargo against Congo by their “direct intervention” into the country, either to support the M23 group or to conduct military operations against another armed rebel group, the FDLR.

Rwandan’s deputy government spokesman Alain Mukuralinda says, “We categorically refute the baseless accusations” of the Congolese army. The Rwandan army “is in no way involved in warlike activities” in the DRC, he added.

Since M23 intensified its operations, the experts said it also documented with great concern “a sharp multiplication of hate speech and discourses inciting discrimination, hostility and violence” targeting Rwandan-speaking people, at times leading to violence against them. - Taarifa