Kinshasa accuses M23 of recruiting soldiers in Rwanda

KINSHASA: The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels are recruiting forces in neighbouring Rwanda, Kinshasa charged Tuesday, a day after peace talks collapsed. “The M23, which was supposed to demobilise ... is recruiting and importing military manpower from Rwanda, many of them children, to attack the FARDC” regular forces, government spokesman Lambert Mende said. The M23 mutiny erupted 18 months ago and was led by Rwandan-born Bosco Ntaganda, an ex-rebel and general nicknamed “The Terminator” who surrendered to the International Criminal Court this year over charges of crimes against humanity. The rebels, mostly ethnic Tutsis, initially complained that a 2009 deal that saw them integrate the army after an earlier rebellion had not been fully implemented but observers said the move was also aimed at protecting stakes in the eastern DRC’s many illegal mines. “The M23 was supposed to lay down its arms but instead is now lining up heavy weaponry and even tanks that are ready for battle,” Mende told reporters in Kinshasa. “It is firing at the UN peacekeeping force’s aircrafts and training its artillery on the UN mission’s barracks in Kiwanja,” he added. Uganda-brokered peace talks between the Congolese government and the rebels had resumed on September 10 after a long lull. The process broke down again on Monday, dashing earlier hopes of an imminent breakthrough. Kinshasa has long accused Kigali of pulling the strings behind the rebellion and UN experts have even said that the M23’s “de facto chain of command” was topped by Rwanda’s defence minister. Rwanda has vehemently denied accusations that it is arming, financing the rebels — and even supporting them by sending some of its own forces on the frontlines in Congo. M23 spokesman Amani Kabasha, speaking to AFP earlier this month, had explained that most of the rebellion’s fighters were Congolese Tutsis who had grown up in camps in Rwanda and Uganda. Rwanda in turn has accused Kinshasa of coordinating attacks against Kigali with the FDLR, a DR Congo-based Rwandan group which includes the remnants of Hutu militia who carried out the 1994 genocide. Western and African envoys on Monday voiced their bitter disappointment that the Kampala peace negotiations had collapsed and urged both sides to remain committed to a swift solution. The Congolese refused to give amnesty to about 80 leaders of the M23 rebellion but a report by UN envoys stressed that a “considerable military buildup” by the rebels had not been conducive to a deal. France on Tuesday said it was “very concerned” that the recent reinforcements deployed by the rebels could lead to a fresh outbreak of fighting around Goma. The M23 briefly seized control of the main eastern Congolese hub of Goma almost a year ago, facing little resistance. The UN has since deployed a special brigade with an unprecedented offensive mandate but observers remain wary of an escalation that could draw in the entire region.