Meanwhile, President Kagame has welcomed the announcement that the DRC would hand over to UN observers some 3,000 Rwandan rebel fighters, AFP said. “It is a step in the right direction. That can help us move the peace process forward,” AFP quoted Kagame as saying during a joint press conference with Annan. He said that his country had started withdrawing its troops from the DRC and insisted that the international community should “reply to the threat” against Rwanda of Hutu rebels [Interahamwe] based in the east of DRC. Under the 1999 Lusaka peace agreement, all the armed groups active in the east should be disarmed. Kagame said that his government was “open to return of these people”, though those guilty of taking part in the genocide should be sent before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) or Rwandan courts.
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