Kenny Katombe – Reuters, July 10, 2012
"Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - A uthorities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighbouring Rwanda on Tuesday of "invading" a volatile border area, portraying an advancing rebel insurgency as a Rwandan military operation.
"It's not a rebellion, it's an invasion. We didn't think that the Rwandan army would be throwing all its might into Congolese territory," Erneste Kyaviro, spokesman for North Kivu governor Julien Paluku, told Reuters by telephone.
Kyaviro appealed for a forceful response by the international community, especially Western nations, to pressure Rwanda to halt its alleged support for the rebellion.
"You don't need a single shot fired to stop Rwanda," he said, saying countries like the United States, Britain, Norway and Belgium should halt their aid to landlocked Kigali to put an end to M23 operations in Congolese territory.
"We need the help of the whole world," he said, adding Rwanda had deployed elite troops along the border near Goma.
No immediate reaction was available from Rwanda's presidency or foreign ministry, which have in the past strenuously rejected the accusations of Rwandan support for the Congolese insurgency.
Kyaviro said the Congolese army, which has melted away before the M23's advance, was reinforcing its units at Goma. But he appealed to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, to be more robust in its response to the rebels' offensive.
"They (the peacekeepers) are not here to do tourism, they should get engaged," he said, adding that U.N. troops had simply shut themselves into their bases when the rebels took Bunagana, Rutshuru and other locations north of Goma in the past days.
"The M23 forces appear to be well equipped and supplied, their numbers have increased in recent weeks," a U.N. official, who asked not to be named, said late on Monday, adding the rebels might move west towards the Masisi area of North Kivu."
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE86908620120710?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
Comments
Post a Comment