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UN “lies” will not affect ties

    NAIROBI

    The Rwandan government has said its relationship with the UN will not be affected by a UN report accusing it of helping the Angolan rebel movement UNITA and breaking international sanctions. “ We have had more strenuous relations with the UN in the past, the current lies are not going to affect our relationship with the UN,” Rwandan government spokesman Joseph Bideri told IRIN on Friday. On Thursday, Bideri told the BBC his government was considering taking legal action against the UN.

    According to the report, whose official version was released on Wednesday, UNITA and Rwanda “shared a common interest in overthrowing [DRC President Laurent-Desire] Kabila”. The cooperation allegedly included the dispatch by UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi of a battery of UNITA anti-aircraft crews (SAM 16) to aid Rwandan-backed rebels in DRC. The Rwandans for their part are reported to have allowed UNITA to operate more or less freely in Kigali for the purposes of arranging diamond sales and meetings with weapons brokers.

    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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