Defence ministers meet in Nairobi

Defence ministers of the DRC and Burundi met in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi on Thursday, the press attaché at the DRC embassy in Nairobi, Mubima Maneniang, confirmed on Friday. “They met yesterday [Thursday],” he told IRIN. “We don’t know at all what was discussed,” he said, adding that the meeting was “top secret”. AFP on Thursday reported that Burundi’s Defence Minister, Colonel Cyrille Ndayirukiye, was in Nairobi and his DRC counterpart, Godefroid Tcham’lesso was due to arrive later in the day.

“The aim of the discussions was to study the practical formalities of the withdrawal of Burundian troops and armed groups of the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) based on Congolese territory,” AFP quoted DRC Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu as saying in Kinshasa.

“The Burundian president [Pierre Buyoya] has promised to withdraw his troops from Congolese territory,” he added. However, Burundi’s army spokesman, Longin Minani, said that in Libreville, Gabon on Tuesday President Buyoya and DRC’s President Laurent-Desire Kabila did not discuss “withdrawal” of troops. “This was not on the agenda of the meeting and I don’t know where this notion came from,” he told IRIN.

He further said that Burundian troops were not on Congolese territory. “We are at the border with Congo to protect our common borders. We cannot withdraw from the border unless the rebels stop their activities in the area,” he said.