Skip to main content

U.S. Asks Rwanda to Stop Backing Congo Rebels as Fighting Flares Up - WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130826-700275.html
 

U.S. Asks Rwanda to Stop Backing Congo Rebels as Fighting Flares Up

 
  By Nicholas Bariyo 
 
KAMPALA, Uganda--The U.S. government has asked Rwanda to end its support of M23 rebels in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo following days of intense fighting near the flashpoint border city of Goma which has heightened tensions along the common border.
It marks the second time this year that the U.S. is openly asking Rwanda to stop meddling in eastern Congo, underscoring Washington's growing frustration with Kigali, long accused of sponsoring violent insurgencies in the mineral-rich but restive nation.
The State Department condemned M23 rebel attacks on United Nations peacekeepers as well as attacks on civilians in Goma that killed at least three people over the weekend.
"We urgently call on the DRC and Rwandan governments to exercise restraint to prevent military escalation of the conflict or any action that puts civilians at risk," a State Department spokeswoman said in a statement Sunday.
"We reiterate our call for Rwanda to cease any and all support to the M23 and to respect the DRC's territorial integrity," she added.
Fighting erupted in the middle of last week after M23 rebels shelled Goma, killing several civilians. The UN peacekeeping mission, authorized in March to take on armed groups in the country, fired at M23 rebel positions Friday and has since been battling to push the rebels out of Goma's security zone to minimize threats to civilians.
The Rwandan government has accused the Congolese army of deliberately shelling its territory along the border in the past few days, a charge denied by the Congolese government. The accusations are threatening to ignite long-standing tensions along the border reminiscent of the conflict in the 1990s, when Rwanda invaded Congo ostensibly to hunt down rebel dissidents, triggering a large-scale war that later drew in several neighboring countries and culminating in the mass plunder of Congolese resources and the death of more than 5 million people.
The M23 rebel group is made up of mainly Congolese Tutsi former rebel fighters who were integrated into the national army under a 2009 peace accord. They mutinied in April 2012, accusing the government of reneging on the deal.
Write to Nicholas Bariyo at nicholas.bariyo@dowjones.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pourquoi les sanctions américaines contre le Rwanda sont-elles si importantes ?

Pourquoi les sanctions américaines contre le Rwanda sont-elles si importantes ? Auteur : The African Rights Campaign. Londres, Royaume-Uni Publié en : mars 2026   Introduction Lorsqu'un gouvernement est accusé d'exécutions extrajudiciaires, de déplacements massifs, de violences sexuelles, de violations des droits de l'homme et du pillage systématique des ressources naturelles d'un pays voisin, la réponse diplomatique attendue est un démenti catégorique, étayé par des preuves. Le Rwanda ne l'a pas fait. Lorsque le département américain du Trésor a imposé des sanctions aux Forces de défense rwandaises (FDR) et à quatre de leurs commandants les plus haut placés, le 2 mars 2026, la porte-parole officielle de Kigali, Yolande Makolo, a délivré une déclaration que les analystes diplomatiques étudieront attentivement pour ce qu'elle omet conspicuement. Elle a dit que les sanctions étaient « injustes », qu'elles ciblaient « uniquement...

Le Rwanda au Mozambique : qui les a placés là, pourquoi ils ne peuvent pas rester et pourquoi la SADC doit les remplacer avant que les dégâts ne deviennent permanents

  Qui a placé le Rwanda là-bas, pourquoi la France refuse de le remplacer, comment le déploiement est devenu un bouclier contre les sanctions, et pourquoi la SADC doit agir avant que les dégâts ne deviennent permanents Mars 2026   Résumé exécutif Les sanctions occidentales contre les Forces de Défense du Rwanda (RDF), imposées par les États-Unis le 2 mars 2026 en vertu du Global Magnitsky Act et relayées par une pression croissante de l'Union européenne, ont mis à nu une contradiction stratégique de premier ordre. La même force militaire sanctionnée pour son soutien opérationnel direct au groupe rebelle M23 en République démocratique du Congo est simultanément le principal garant sécuritaire d'un projet de gaz naturel liquéfié (GNL) de 20 milliards de dollars exploité par le géant français TotalEnergies à Cabo Delgado, dans le nord du Mozambique. Cette analyse répond à trois questions interconnectées dont les réponses définissent ...

Why US Sanctions Against Rwanda Are So Important

Why US Sanctions Against Rwanda Are So Important Author: The African Rights Campaign. London, UK Published: March 2026   Introduction When a government is accused of extrajudicial killings, mass displacement, sexual violence, human rights abuses, and the systematic pillage of another country's mineral resources, the expected response in international diplomacy is an unequivocal denial backed by evidence. Rwanda did not do that. When the United States Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and four of its most senior commanders on 2 March 2026, Kigali's official spokesperson Yolande Makolo made a statement that diplomatic analysts will study carefully for what it conspicuously omitted. She said the sanctions were 'unjust,' that they targeted 'only one party to the peace process,' and that they 'misrepresent the reality and distort the facts.' Rwanda's government, described by Bloomb...

BBC News

Africanews

UNDP - Africa Job Vacancies

How We Made It In Africa – Insight into business in Africa

Migration Policy Institute