Tension between the DRC and Rwanda: Kigali rejects Kinshasa's accusations

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi (left) and Rwandan President Paul Kagame (right) in Rubavu, Rwanda, June 25, 2021. © AFP - SIMON WOHLFAHRT

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Rwanda took advantage of the African Union summit to reject accusations of supporting the M23 rebels.

Accusations made by the Congolese government in recent days.

In Malabo, Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta spoke

" and accused his neighbor of supporting another rebel group, the FDLR.

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With our correspondent in Kigali

,

Vincent Biruta denounced an almost thirty-year-old collusion

, a rebel group made up of Rwandan Hutu refugees who left for Congo after the genocide of the Tutsis.

A movement still considered genocidal by Kigali and which today represents, according to Vincent Biruta, a threat to Rwanda.

According to Kigali, the FARDC is currently even fighting alongside the FDLR in eastern Congo.

, it is a strictly Congolese problem assured the minister while accusing Kinshasa of not negotiating fairly with all the armed groups within the framework of the Nairobi peace process.

The branch of the M23 led by Sultani Makenga and Bertrand Bisimwa, which recently took up arms, was excluded from the discussions in April.

This weekend, Kinshasa labeled the group a terrorist and officially excluded it from the peace process.

Finally, Vincent Biruta denounced provocations by the FARDC, including shootings on Rwandan soil in recent weeks.

“ 

 ,” the minister concluded.

So far Kigali has rather requested surveys at the regional level.

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