DR Congo crisis requires political solutions not war: Kagame
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E-mail Xinhua, July 5, 2022
KIGALI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Monday said the current crisis and hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) require political solutions, not the use of arms.
The problems in the eastern DRC region can't be solved by force of arms, they require political solutions, said Kagame while speaking to national broadcaster Rwanda Television during an exclusive interview in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.
"DR Congo has problems it has to deal with, just like we have our own as sovereign countries. What is unacceptable, however, is to watch as armed groups from DRC attack us and kill our people," said Kagame.
Kagame was referring to ongoing frost relations between Rwanda and DRC, stemming from the ongoing conflict involving the March 23 Movement (M23), Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and other armed groups in the eastern DRC.
"The M23 we are talking about are Congolese," Kagame said, adding that whatever is happening touches on persecution and this is an internal issue that DRC needs to deal with.
Tensions between the two neighboring countries intensified in May after DRC accused Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels in DRC's northeastern North Kivu province, bordering Rwanda, in renewed fighting that has displaced more than 117,000 people in DRC's Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories inside the province.
Mostly made up of former rebels of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), the M23 briefly seized Goma, capital of North Kivu, in late 2012 before being "defeated" the following year, according to DRC. Since late 2021, M23 has resumed fighting with the DRC army.
In April, the DRC government classified the M23 as a terrorist group before suspending all flights of RwandAir, the flag carrier airline of Rwanda, to DRC soil.
Rwanda has denied allegations that it involved itself in supporting the activities of the M23 rebel attacks in DRC.
The Rwandan government has also accused the Congolese army of supporting FDLR.
FDLR, an armed rebel group active in eastern DRC, is largely composed of elements widely blamed for the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The group has been accused of committing gross human rights violations in eastern DRC and neighboring countries. Enditem
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