Congo, Rwanda discuss warring rebel groups
By Joe Bavier
GOMA, Congo, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Great Lakes neighbours Congo and Rwanda sought to agree on Thursday on a strategy to disband feuding Congolese Tutsi and Rwandan Hutu rebel factions which have brought east Congo to the brink of wider war.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali met her Congolese counterpart Alexis Thambwe Mwamba in Goma, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, where weeks of fighting have displaced a quarter of a million people.
The conflict pits Tutsi rebels led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda against Congo's army and Rwandan Hutu fighters of the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Nkunda cites the presence in east Congo of the FDLR, which includes perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus, as the main justification for his Tutsi rebellion, which has conquered fresh territory in recent weeks.
Nkunda has declared a ceasefire with the Congolese government army, but his Tutsi fighters are still battling the FDLR, whose existence many regional experts believe is at the heart of the enduring conflict in east Congo.
Museminali told reporters before meeting Mwamba she was expecting to receive from the Congolese side a proposal to tackle the FDLR presence in Congo's eastern borderlands.
"We are going to have a look at that plan. Hopefully we'll approve it and agree that it's implemented. This is for us something that is very important," she said.
"They (the FDLR) are actually the root cause of the insecurity that we see around," she added, without giving details of the plan under discussion. The meeting between the two ministers was due to continue on Friday.
United Nations peacekeepers in Congo fear that without a political settlement the violence could escalate into a repeat of the wider 1998-2003 regional war that devastated Congo.
TUTSI REBEL ADVANCES
Congo and Rwanda have accused each other of supporting rebels in east Congo hostile to their governments. Rwandan President Paul Kagame's Tutsi-led administration denies backing Nkunda, while Congolese President Joseph Kabila denies his army sides with the FDLR.
The neighbours were enemies in the 1998-2003 Congo war that sucked in four other African states and spawned a humanitarian crisis that has killed about 5.4 million people in a decade.
Congo pledged last year to disarm the FDLR by force if necessary, but Rwanda says little progress has been made.
The Goma talks are the latest of several meetings between the Congolese and Rwandan governments.
"Now we think that we should move forward as quickly as possible with other stages in order to create a definitive peace here," Mwamba said.
Nkunda's rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) has made territorial gains in North Kivu province since late August in fighting that has sent hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing for their lives.
Nkunda demands direct talks on Congo's future with Kabila's government, which the latter has so far refused.
A spokesman for the FDLR, Lt.-Col. Edmond Ngarambe, said talks aimed at pacifying eastern Congo must include his movement's fighters. "They have a role to play too," he said.
The FDLR is demanding a deal which would allow its fighters to return home to Rwanda and operate as a political movement.
The U.N. plans to send reinforcements to east Congo to try to pacify North Kivu, but these could take months to arrive. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/) (Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Janet Lawrence)
GOMA, Congo, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Great Lakes neighbours Congo and Rwanda sought to agree on Thursday on a strategy to disband feuding Congolese Tutsi and Rwandan Hutu rebel factions which have brought east Congo to the brink of wider war.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali met her Congolese counterpart Alexis Thambwe Mwamba in Goma, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, where weeks of fighting have displaced a quarter of a million people.
The conflict pits Tutsi rebels led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda against Congo's army and Rwandan Hutu fighters of the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Nkunda cites the presence in east Congo of the FDLR, which includes perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus, as the main justification for his Tutsi rebellion, which has conquered fresh territory in recent weeks.
Nkunda has declared a ceasefire with the Congolese government army, but his Tutsi fighters are still battling the FDLR, whose existence many regional experts believe is at the heart of the enduring conflict in east Congo.
Museminali told reporters before meeting Mwamba she was expecting to receive from the Congolese side a proposal to tackle the FDLR presence in Congo's eastern borderlands.
"We are going to have a look at that plan. Hopefully we'll approve it and agree that it's implemented. This is for us something that is very important," she said.
"They (the FDLR) are actually the root cause of the insecurity that we see around," she added, without giving details of the plan under discussion. The meeting between the two ministers was due to continue on Friday.
United Nations peacekeepers in Congo fear that without a political settlement the violence could escalate into a repeat of the wider 1998-2003 regional war that devastated Congo.
TUTSI REBEL ADVANCES
Congo and Rwanda have accused each other of supporting rebels in east Congo hostile to their governments. Rwandan President Paul Kagame's Tutsi-led administration denies backing Nkunda, while Congolese President Joseph Kabila denies his army sides with the FDLR.
The neighbours were enemies in the 1998-2003 Congo war that sucked in four other African states and spawned a humanitarian crisis that has killed about 5.4 million people in a decade.
Congo pledged last year to disarm the FDLR by force if necessary, but Rwanda says little progress has been made.
The Goma talks are the latest of several meetings between the Congolese and Rwandan governments.
"Now we think that we should move forward as quickly as possible with other stages in order to create a definitive peace here," Mwamba said.
Nkunda's rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) has made territorial gains in North Kivu province since late August in fighting that has sent hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing for their lives.
Nkunda demands direct talks on Congo's future with Kabila's government, which the latter has so far refused.
A spokesman for the FDLR, Lt.-Col. Edmond Ngarambe, said talks aimed at pacifying eastern Congo must include his movement's fighters. "They have a role to play too," he said.
The FDLR is demanding a deal which would allow its fighters to return home to Rwanda and operate as a political movement.
The U.N. plans to send reinforcements to east Congo to try to pacify North Kivu, but these could take months to arrive. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/) (Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Janet Lawrence)
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