Congo pledges to arrest Rwandan Hutu rebels

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has vowed to root out Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Congo in a bid to normalise relations between the two countries.

"We need to open a new chapter in terms of relations between our two countries," Mbusa Nyamwisi, the Congolese minister for regional cooperation, announced on Friday in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

"The Interahamwe [Rwandan Hutu militia] are equally a greater problem for the DRC that we do not need now. They are in fact at the moment more of a serious problem for the DRC than Rwanda itself," he added.

Before joining the transitional government of national unity installed in June in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, Nyamwisi was a leader of Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML), which in the past had been accused by Rwandan authorities of recruiting the Hutu rebels into the rebel group's headquartered in Beni town, eastern Congo.

Nyamwisi denied that Rwandan Hutu rebels had been part of RCD-ML. He was in Kigali to deliver a message from Congolese President Joseph Kabila on the two countries normalising their relations.

Regarding allegations that Rwandan troops were present in the Congo, Nyamwisi could neither deny nor confirm the claims. "I am not here to make any allegations. It's not my role to accuse Rwanda," he told reporters.

Human rights groups and NGOs operating in eastern Congo have reported that Rwanda has continued to maintain troops in the Congo. But Rwanda has denied the claims, terming them fabrications not based on credible evidence and aimed at sabotaging reconciliation between the two nations.

As the Congolese government expressed commitment to dealing with the Interahamwe, Rwanda also dropped its long-held claim that Kinshasa was still supporting the armed Hutu extremists responsible for the country's 1994 genocide.

Nyamwisi's visit to Kigali follows that of Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Muligande to Kinshasa last week.

Muligande also expressed optimism that the Congolese government was now serious about disarming the Rwandan Hutu extremists in its territory.