DRC rebels to resist plans
2007-11-14 21:02
Kinshasa - A Rwandan rebel group operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo said it would resist a Congolese government plan to disarm it by force, complicating efforts to end linked insurgencies in the turbulent region.
President Joseph Kabila's government, which has vowed
to pacify the conflict-torn east, agreed with neighbouring
Rwanda at the weekend that it would use military force to disband the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels.
The move came amid international efforts to defuse
intertwined rebellions in the eastern North Kivu province, where a renegade general of the Tutsi ethnic group accuses Kabila's government of supporting the largely Hutu FDLR against him.
Had not been consulted
General Laurent Nkunda is resisting government demands for
his fighters to disband, calling on Kabila and United Nations
peacekeepers to guarantee the safety of Tutsis.
FDLR president Ignace Murwanashyaka, whose rebel group comprises ex-Rwandan military and Interahamwe militia blamed for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, said he had not been
consulted about the disarmament deal agreed upon by the DRC and Rwanda.
Murwanashyaka said: "This accord does not concern us. We are not committed to doing anything at all."
He was interviewed by phone in Germany, where he lives in exile.
"We say no to forced disarmament. We will defend ourselves," he added.
The FDLR rebels, who have remained in the eastern Congo for the past 13 years, are demanding legal status as a legitimate
political movement in Rwanda.
But Rwanda accuses them of harbouring some of those
responsible for organising the 1994 slaughter of about 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Under the weekend deal, Rwanda's government agreed to seal its frontier with the DRC and ensure that armed groups, especially Nkunda's insurgents, did not receive cross-border support.
Murwanashyaka said his group wanted a negotiated solution, not a military one.