{{Rwanda is accusing the United Nations\u2018 new intervention brigade in eastern Congo of discussing collaboration with Hutu rebels linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, thereby jeopardizing regional peace efforts.}}<\/p>\n
In a letter to U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo in her role as this month\u2019s president of the U.N. Security Council that was released on Monday, Rwandan U.N. Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana said MONUSCO intervention brigade commanders have met with FDLR rebels, the remnants of Hutu killers who carried out the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.<\/p>\n
U.N. peacekeeping troops have been in mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo for more than a decade. The world body\u2019s MONUSCO force there is currently 17,000 strong, the largest force of U.N. peacekeeping troops in the world.<\/p>\n
The complex conflict has dragged on, killing millions of people through violence, famine and disease since the 1990s. <\/p>\n
That has led the United Nations to create a new \u201cintervention brigade\u201d \u2013 part of the MONUSCO force but assigned the task of not merely peacekeeping but taking active steps to neutralize rebel groups.<\/p>\n
The force, comprised of troops from South Africa and Tanzania as well as soldiers from Malawi due in Congo later this month or in August, has already begun patrolling and is approaching full strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cRwanda has credible, reliable and detailed information that various forms of tactical and strategic collaboration with the FDLR were discussed during those meetings,\u201d Gasana said in the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir actions, implicating senior United Nations commanders picking sides among the very armed groups whose military activities they are meant to deter, are of serious concern,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Gasana also supported an allegation contained in the latest report by the U.N. Group of Experts that units of the Congolese army (FARDC) have been cooperating with the FDLR.<\/p>\n
{{\u2018Gratuitous Accusations’}}<\/p>\n
The Congolese government disputed Gasana\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are allegations which are not backed up by any proof,\u201d Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende told a news conference in Kinshasa. \u201cRwanda is making gratuitous accusations to justify the attacks they are carrying out at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mende said Rwanda is supporting the M23 rebels who clashed with the Congolese army at Mutaho on Sunday. Fighting continued on Monday.<\/p>\n
Gasana said FARDC-FDLR collaboration often occurs with the knowledge \u2013 or even support \u2013 of MONUSCO intervention brigade contingents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have reliable information that indicates several instances of FDLR units or commanders being integrated in FARDC commando units near the border with Rwanda,\u201d the Rwandan envoy said. \u201cIn some instances, certain Force Intervention Brigade commanders are aware and supportive of such instances.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Group of Experts, which monitors compliance with U.N. sanctions for Congo, also said in its interim report that M23 rebels in Congo continue to recruit fighters in neighboring Rwanda with the aid of sympathetic Rwandan military officers. Rwanda has denied the group\u2019s allegations, accusing it of bias.<\/p>\n
Gasana said that \u201cthere are increased patterns of large quantities of weapons and ammunition being delivered to FDLR by FARDC officers, which have taken place with the knowledge and support of (MONUSCO) Force Intervention Brigade commanders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe above-mentioned activities and patterns are developments that my government takes seriously, as they constitute a serious threat to the security of my country but also put into question the credibility of MONUSCO and its peacekeeping operations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gasana added that \u201cany hidden agenda driven by political and\/or economic interests\u201d would undermine the push for peace in the region.<\/p>\n
The U.N. peacekeeping department declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Separately, the head of U.N. peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous, told Reuters on Sunday in an interview in Paris that MONUSCO will soon have unarmed surveillance drones to monitor developments on the ground in eastern Congo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{{Rwanda is accusing the United Nations\u2018 new intervention brigade in eastern Congo of discussing collaboration with Hutu rebels linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, thereby jeopardizing regional peace efforts.}} In a letter to U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo in her role as this month\u2019s president of the U.N. Security Council that was released on Monday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-9112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9112"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=9112"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=9112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}