Congo-Kinshasa: U.S. Backs Regional Approach to DRC
The US Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, has said that the ongoing efforts by the ICGLR to end violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, are an indication of the region's collective desire for peace.
The ICGLR (International Conference on the Great Lakes Region) is a grouping of 11 member states and under the current steward ship of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni have been involved in various efforts to bring peace and stability to the region.
Sherman is expected to travel to DRC today where she will hold talks with President Joseph Kabila about the situation in eastern DRC where several rebel groups have operated for decades.
The DRC government has of recent come under serious criticism for failure to address the underlying causes of conflicts that have left thousands of Congolese raped, displaced or even killed.
"The countries in the Great Lakes including Rwanda, Uganda, DRC, Kenya and others have shown a common interest in ending the crisis in the eastern parts of DRC," Sherman said.
She added: "Although the situation involves complex issues like ethnic identity, transit and DRC's ability, it has been illustrated that no one is willing to support the negative forces operating in Congo and the country's sovereignty will be supported at all times."
Sherman, who was addressing reporters from across the continent through a telephone conference, while in Nairobi, noted that her talks with President Kabila will also focus on prosperity for the region.
"I will be holding talks with President Joseph Kabila tomorrow (today) on the situation, as we continue to seek for a way back to peace, security and prosperity for the region," she said.
Sherman further commented on Uganda's decision to withdraw its troops from UN backed missions in Somalia, the Central African Republic and the DRC in retaliation to a controversial leaked UN report that alleged Uganda and Rwanda were fuelling the crisis in Congo and supporting armed groups.
Uganda provides the largest contingent to the UN-backed African Union mission in Somalia (Amisom).
The Amisom force has helped the Somali government gain ground against Islamist militias.
"The United States will not comment on the UN report that was leaked by the media but what I am confident about is that Uganda has played a critical role in finding peace and security in the region. I have had positive talks with President Museveni and we largely agreed on continuing efforts to defeat negative forces and create peace," Sherman said.
"Last week I also held talks with President Paul Kagame and discussed a variety of issues including Rwanda's role on the UN Security Council and regional security. Generally, there is political will in the region to reach a positive end to the instability."
Sherman's trip to the Great Lakes began October 29, and is expected to conclude on November 8.
Monday 5 November 2012
Congo, Rwanda control tempers after border shoot-out
* Congolese soldier was shot dead on Saturday
* "Relations with Rwanda the same" - Congo army spokesman
* Border where killing occurred runs through potato patch
By Kenny Katombe
KABUANGA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov 5 (Reuters) - R wanda and Democratic Republic of Congo sought on Monday to prevent the killing of a Congolese soldier in a border clash from causing an escalation of already tense relations, officials said.
"Relations are the same with Rwanda. We're in contact with them. It was just an isolated incident," Congolese army spokesman Colonel Olivier Hamuli said during a visit to the scene of the shooting in eastern Congo, at a spot where the border runs through a potato patch.
"You can see there's no natural frontier, so it's easy for someone to make a mistake and find himself in another territory," he said, waving towards a group of potato farmers watching from just metres (yards) away in Rwanda.
The Congolese army at the weekend said one of its members had been killed on Saturday during an incident involving a Congolese soldier and a Rwandan soldier.
Rwanda said soldiers from Congo's armed forces had crossed the border on a reconnaissance mission and one was killed in a clash with Rwandan troops while one escaped.
On Monday, apart from a handful of military men watching silently from a nearby hilltop, there was little to indicate that the tense border runs through the water-logged field where the Congolese soldier was killed.
Relations between the two Great Lakes neighbours, never warm, have chilled considerably since United Nations investigators accused Rwanda earlier this year of backing eastern Congo's M23 rebels, a charge Kigali strongly denies.
Yet for all the cross words exchanged after their armies engaged in the rare firefight on Saturday, both sides were quick to head off a possible escalation - a subtle nod to just how much worse things could get.
In a statement over the weekend Rwanda said it would not respond militarily and would instead seek to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels.
A HISTORY OF WAR
Violence between Congo and Rwandan has been a nearly constant worry in the region for almost two decades, and open conflict in the past has led to catastrophic fallout.
In 1996, Kigali invaded its much larger neighbour in pursuit of Rwandan Hutu extremists responsible for a 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
A second invasion a year later, sucked in a half dozen other African armies and sparked a conflict and lingering humanitarian crisis that continues today and has killed an estimated 5.4 million people.
Nearly a decade after the end to that war, more than a million and a half villagers have again fled violence in the two Congolese provinces bordering Rwanda, many since the start of the Tutsi-dominated M23 rebellion.
However, analysts say Rwanda's involvement in eastern Congo is largely driven by economic interests - from smuggled minerals to fertile grazing lands for Rwandan cattle - and it has little interest in an open war with Congo.
For Congo's badly equipped and poorly disciplined army, a conflict with the Rwandan military - one of Africa's best - is something to be avoided at all costs.
"This shouldn't be dramatised and politicised by Kigali," Congolese human rights lawyer Jean-Paul Lumbulumbu said of the border shoot-out.
"But incidents like this could be a catalyst to serious violence. That's why the Congolese government has got to make sure it doesn't happen again." (Additional reporting by Jonny Hogg; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Michael Roddy)
* "Relations with Rwanda the same" - Congo army spokesman
* Border where killing occurred runs through potato patch
By Kenny Katombe
KABUANGA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov 5 (Reuters) - R wanda and Democratic Republic of Congo sought on Monday to prevent the killing of a Congolese soldier in a border clash from causing an escalation of already tense relations, officials said.
"Relations are the same with Rwanda. We're in contact with them. It was just an isolated incident," Congolese army spokesman Colonel Olivier Hamuli said during a visit to the scene of the shooting in eastern Congo, at a spot where the border runs through a potato patch.
"You can see there's no natural frontier, so it's easy for someone to make a mistake and find himself in another territory," he said, waving towards a group of potato farmers watching from just metres (yards) away in Rwanda.
The Congolese army at the weekend said one of its members had been killed on Saturday during an incident involving a Congolese soldier and a Rwandan soldier.
Rwanda said soldiers from Congo's armed forces had crossed the border on a reconnaissance mission and one was killed in a clash with Rwandan troops while one escaped.
On Monday, apart from a handful of military men watching silently from a nearby hilltop, there was little to indicate that the tense border runs through the water-logged field where the Congolese soldier was killed.
Relations between the two Great Lakes neighbours, never warm, have chilled considerably since United Nations investigators accused Rwanda earlier this year of backing eastern Congo's M23 rebels, a charge Kigali strongly denies.
Yet for all the cross words exchanged after their armies engaged in the rare firefight on Saturday, both sides were quick to head off a possible escalation - a subtle nod to just how much worse things could get.
In a statement over the weekend Rwanda said it would not respond militarily and would instead seek to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels.
A HISTORY OF WAR
Violence between Congo and Rwandan has been a nearly constant worry in the region for almost two decades, and open conflict in the past has led to catastrophic fallout.
In 1996, Kigali invaded its much larger neighbour in pursuit of Rwandan Hutu extremists responsible for a 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
A second invasion a year later, sucked in a half dozen other African armies and sparked a conflict and lingering humanitarian crisis that continues today and has killed an estimated 5.4 million people.
Nearly a decade after the end to that war, more than a million and a half villagers have again fled violence in the two Congolese provinces bordering Rwanda, many since the start of the Tutsi-dominated M23 rebellion.
However, analysts say Rwanda's involvement in eastern Congo is largely driven by economic interests - from smuggled minerals to fertile grazing lands for Rwandan cattle - and it has little interest in an open war with Congo.
For Congo's badly equipped and poorly disciplined army, a conflict with the Rwandan military - one of Africa's best - is something to be avoided at all costs.
"This shouldn't be dramatised and politicised by Kigali," Congolese human rights lawyer Jean-Paul Lumbulumbu said of the border shoot-out.
"But incidents like this could be a catalyst to serious violence. That's why the Congolese government has got to make sure it doesn't happen again." (Additional reporting by Jonny Hogg; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Michael Roddy)
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