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RPA Pulls Out of DRC But Warns Off 'Negative Forces'

The East African (Nairobi)
NEWS
September 23, 2002
Posted to the web October 9, 2002

By Arthur Asiimwe

RWANDA has threatened to go back to the Democratic Republic of Congo, if the
withdrawal of its troops encourages the Interahamwe and ex-soldiers of the
deposed Rwandan government to regroup.
Last week, Rwanda sent home 500 soldiers of its troops who have since 1998 been
supporting rebels fighting the Kinshasa government. There are almost 20,000
Rwandan soldiers in the DRC.
Briefing journalists at Kindu in eastern DRC during the departure of the Rwanda
Patriotic Army (RPA) troops on two planes, Rwandan chief of staff Major General
James Kabarebe, asked MONUC and the international community to embark on the
process of disarming the "negative forces" who forced Rwanda to go into the
Congo.
"We are leaving behind a big group of militia men, well organised
conventionally and we only hope that the disarmament exercise begins as soon as
possible," General Kabarebe said.
He told the departing soldiers, "If President Kabila and the UN do not live up
to their promises and the "negative forces" attack Rwanda, we will not sit
back, we will respond."
General Mountaga Diallo, head of the MONUC forces in the DRC and Maj. Gen.
Kabarebe witnessed the withdrawal of the troops. Also present was the South
African ambassador to Kinshasa.
"Pulling out does not mean the end of safeguarding Rwanda's security," said
Kabarebe, adding that, "All RPA troops in Congo would be brought back home."
Gen. Diallo described the move as a significant step towards building peace in
the region.
"This appears to be a good move from the Rwandan government. We hope it goes on
to facilitate the disarmament process," he said.
The withdrawal of the Rwandan troops was sparked off after a meeting between US
President George W. Bush and Rwandan and Congolese leaders in New York.
President Bush used the meeting to push both leaders to stick to the
implementation of the Pretoria agreement signed on July, 30.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Rwandan government undertook to withdraw
her remaining forces from the DRC. In return, the DRC government seeks to
disarm and repatriate thousands of Hutu militia largely held responsible for
the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
However, contrary to the terms of the Pretoria Treaty, the withdrawal exercise
was meant to commence immediately after the disarmament and dismantling of the
Interahamwe.
The Rwandan government has stressed that all her troops in the DRC will pull
out before the end of this month.

   

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