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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
GREAT LAKES: African Union may help disarm militias
ADDIS ABABA, 8 Dec 2004 (IRIN) - With the threat of renewed regional conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the African Union's (AU's) Peace and Security Council announced on Tuesday that it would seek a greater role in helping to disarm Rwandan armed groups based in eastern DRC.
"The AU must commit itself to getting involved in the demilitarisation and disarmament of these genocidal forces," Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopia's minister of foreign affairs, said at the end of a three-hour emergency session at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia holds the December presidency, which rotates between members monthly, of the AU council. It consists of foreign ministers of 15 African countries.
Seyoum said the armed Rwandan groups were at the "root" of new tensions between the DRC and Rwanda.
In late November, Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced that his troops would enter eastern DRC to hunt down the Rwandan Hutu rebels who carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and who are opposed to the current Rwandan government.
The DRC responded by saying its troops would counter the invasion.
During the AU meeting, representatives from the DRC and Rwanda presented their version of events, after which the foreign ministers discussed the matter.
According to numerous reports, Rwandan troops have already entered eastern Congo. Civilians in the area have reportedly fled their homes.
The AU "discourages any unilateral action by Rwanda," Said Djinnit, the AU Commissioner for peace and security, said.
The UN Security Council also issued a statement on Tuesday, expressing "very deep concern at multiple reports of military operations by the Rwandan army", adding that it "strongly condemned" any military action.
However, the Council also acknowledged the potential instability brought about by the presence of Rwandan rebels in the DRC and demanded they "disarm and disband without delay".
Currently, peacekeepers of the UN Mission in the Congo, known as MONUC, are only mandated to disarm Rwandan rebels who wish to do so voluntarily.
Rwanda's position is that the insurgents can only be disarmed by force and until the Congolese army and MONUC are prepared to do that, Rwanda would do it for them.
Speaking on behalf of the AU's council, Seyoum said the "the UN's mandate must be enhanced" to help forcibly disarm the rebel groups. Without this, he said, "there cannot be a breakthrough".
The foreign ministers said they would request the AU chairman, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, to bring the presidents of Rwanda and the DRC together at a summit to defuse the developing tensions.
"The ramifications of this looming crisis would not be limited to these two countries alone," Seyoum said.
Rwanda has twice invaded DRC - in 1996 and 1998 - in pursuit of the armed groups. Its second invasion, in 1998, sparked a five-year, six-nation war, in which millions of civilians died.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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