EU calls for Rwanda, DRC peace

2004-12-03 22:14

Brussels - The European Union appealed on Friday for Congo and Rwanda to seek a peaceful solution to their problems amid growing concern that Rwandan troops had again invaded their western neighbour.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met with Congolese vice-president Azarias Ruberwa after releasing a statement warning Rwanda against unilateral action.

Solana said he was worried about the reports of Rwandan military activity on the Congolese side of the border. He called on Rwanda to respect a commitment to seek a negotiated settlement.

He said on Thursday: "Any unilateral action by Rwanda will be seen as a violation of these commitments and a threat to the peace process."

EU officials said Ruberwa warned that the stability of Congo was under "serious threat." A former leader of a Rwandan-backed rebel group in Congo, Ruberwa on Thursday called for Rwanda to withdraw its troops.

Tutsis and Hutu moderates

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame began warning last week that his country would act against 8 000 to 10 000 Rwanda Hutu rebels who were driven into Congo after leading the 1994 genocide of more than 500 000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates.

In his talks with Solana, Ruberwa acknowledged the Hutu rebels were a problem in eastern Congo and that efforts to disarm them had failed, EU officials said.

Solana said the disarmament of the Hutu rebels "constitutes a priority for the international community, but this problem cannot be solved in this way."

Meanwhile, the EU is due to send a fact-finding mission to the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Monday, to look how it can help with efforts to build up a united national army, integrating former rebel groups.

The EU is already helping forge an integrated police force.

Rwanda invaded eastern Congo in 1996 and 1998, to hunt down Rwandan Hutu combatants responsible.

The 1998 invasion sparked a four-year war that drew in the armies of five nations and split Africa's third-largest nation.

- SAPA