DR Congo
Seeks Democracy
 |
| Congolese soldiers have been conducting operations against rebels in the M23 movement |
Rwanda and
the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed in principle to allow a neutral
international force to patrol their borders, reports say.
The
proposed force would tackle militia groups in the eastern DR Congo.
The deal
was reached by leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of an African
Union summit, Rwanda's Paul Kagame told AFP news agency.
DR Congo
and Rwanda often accuse each other of backing rival rebel groups, and have gone
to war in the past.
Recent
advances by the M23 guerrilla group in eastern Congo have led to thousands of
displaced civilians.
On Sunday
Mr Kagame and Congolese President Joseph Kabila held a one-to-one meeting at
the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, aides said.
According
to a declaration seen by Reuters news agency, they agreed to "work with
the AU and the UN for an immediate establishment of a neutral international
force to eradicate" armed groups in eastern DR Congo.
The also
reportedly says that no support should be given to "any negative
force" to "destabilise the region and eastern Congo in
particular".
The Rwandan
government has denied accusations that it is backing Congolese Tutsi-led
rebels.
The
conflict, which has killed and displaced million of civilians over nearly two
decades, has its roots in Tutsi-Hutu enmities dating back to Rwanda's
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.