Kagame defends Congo venture

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in an interview with Reuters, on Wednesday defended his country’s occupation of neighbouring Congo saying it was to guard against a repeat of the 1994 genocide. The Rwandan leader said Hutu militia and former Rwandan government soldiers, who fled to Congo when Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) came to power and ended the killings were now fighting alongside Kabila’s army.

“Kabila understands where the problem lies. It lies in his complicity with these elements prepared and ready to repeat acts of genocide against our people,” Kagame said. A peace deal to end the fighting in DRC, which now involves armies from five African countries, was signed last year in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, but Kabila has refused to implement it, saying the three neighbouring countries Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi which back the rebels first had to withdraw their troops.