Kagame says Rwanda willing to withdraw

Rwandan Vice-President and Defence Minister Paul Kagame has declared his government's willingness to withdraw its troops from the DRC if Rwandan concerns were addressed. "We have no business being in the Congo", Kagame told the German daily 'Die Tageszeitung' in an exclusive interview during an official visit to Berlin this week. Asked whether Rwanda would withdraw if a UN force was sent to the DRC, Kagame said: "Let it be the United
Nations or anyone else - even if a single country were to replace our forces and take care of our security concerns, we would withdraw that very day."

While in Germany, Kagame said the situation "remains volatile" in the Great Lakes region due to large numbers of Interahamwe and other militias operating in the DRC, Radio Rwanda reported on Thursday. Kagame said he was optimistic that "a long-term solution to the problem would be found" if the Lusaka signatories respected it, but noted that "a quicker response
from the international community in support of the Lusaka agreement would have helped contain the volatile situation in the DRC."