Kagame’s Harare trip to enlist Mugabe’s support

Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s one-day visit to Zimbabwe on Monday was to enlist President Robert Mugabe’s support to “re-energise the Lusaka peace process”, a statement from Kagame’s press office said on Tuesday. “I feel that it is important to enlist the support and views of the Zimbabwean authorities, and have them urge others to move forward with the peace process, so that we can bring the conflict in the region to an end,” Kagame said. He added that his discussions with President Mugabe “went well” and that there was “broad understanding and agreement on the issues surrounding the DRC”.

“It is in the interest of both Zimbabwe and Rwanda to speed up the process towards realising peace in the region,” he stated. Rwandan radio also quoted Kagame as saying they discussed the inter-Congolese dialogue and how the concerns of different parties to the Lusaka agreement would be addressed. “That includes our main concern, how we will deal with the problem of the ex-FAR [Rwandan Armed Forces] and the Interahamwe which was the basis of our involvement in the Congo,” Kagame said.