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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC-Rwanda: Kagame denies troop presence in DRC
NAIROBI, 8 April 2003 (IRIN) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame denied on Monday that Rwandan troops had gone back into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). But he warned that his troops could re-enter the DRC if Rwanda's security were threatened, the government-owned Radio Rwanda reported.
Kagame made the remarks at a ceremony in Murire-Rwamagana in Kibungo Province, eastern Rwanda, to mark the ninth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda.
Radio Rwanda reported that Kagame criticised the international community for its "pre-occupation" with the issue of Rwandan troops going back to the DRC, "despite their failure to intervene during the [1994] genocide and to address the problem of Interahamwe [DRC-based Rwandan Hutu] militias, who continue to pose a security threat to Rwanda".
"We don't want anything back in Congo. We don't want anything there other than to ensure that the security of our people is guaranteed. And for that we are going to do it [possibly go back if our security is threatened]. We are going to do whatever it takes to ensure that this [genocide] does not repeat itself," Kagame said.
Rwandan troops, together with most other foreign troops, withdrew from the DRC in October 2002.
Themes: (IRIN) Conflict
[ENDS]
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