Rwanda's eyes on DRC
2004-05-02 19:00
Rwanda, Kigali - Rwanda will redeploy troops in neighbouring eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) if attacks from Hutu rebels based there continue, President Paul Kagame warned at the weekend.
"We were attacked on April 8 by these extremist forces. Let
Monuc (the UN mision in DRC) and the DRC government be informed
that we will not hesitate to send our troops back into the DRC if
these attacks continue," Kagame said in an interview broadcast
on Saturday on national radio.
"We shall do it and do it in broad daylight," he added.
Fighters of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
(FDLR) attacked a village in northwest Rwanda earlier on April 8.
Rwanda sent troops to DRC in 1996 and 1998, saying it needed to
protect its borders from rebels based there.
Kigali announced the total withdrawal of its forces from DRC in
October 2002.
Late last month, Monuc reported having encountered Rwandan
soldiers in a village in eastern DRC, a claim Kagame denied.
"There is not one single Rwandan soldier in DRC at the moment.
But we shall not hesitate to send them back if the situation
continues like this," he said.
- AFP