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Kabila, Kagame review peace accord

President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Paul Kagame of Rwanda attended a summit in the South African administrative capital, Pretoria, on Friday to review the Lusaka peace accord and the memorandum of understanding signed in Pretoria on 30 July.

Both heads of state were expected to present progress reports on the steps they had taken in accordance with the Pretoria agreement, signed 93 days earlier. The deal committed Kabila to the disarmament and repatriation of Rwandan rebel groups in exchange for a Rwandan withdrawal from DRC territory.

In a statement released on Friday, Rwanda reiterated that it had completed the withdrawal of its troops and had "repeatedly expressed concern about the Kinshasa government's backing of recent fighting in the east of the DRC and its failure to fulfil its commitments under the two agreements".

Meanwhile, the DRC government and other groups have accused Rwanda of leaving behind troops in the DRC to support the Rwanda-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma).

For its part, Kinshasa has banned the Forces democratiques de liberation du Rwanda and other Rwandan armed rebel groups, sent an "exploratory mission" of 66 Rwandan ex-combatants to Rwanda, and arrested Col Tharcisse Renzaho - suspected of having committed crimes against humanity during the 1994 Rwandan genocide - and transferred him to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.


This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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