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UN Reports Hurt DRC, Rwanda Ties - Envoy

The New Times (Kigali)
NEWS
July 10, 2005
Posted to the web July 12, 2005

By James Munyaneza
Kigali
Relations between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were partly
strained because of the 'malicious and tarnishing' reports by the UN Panel of
Experts, President Paul Kagame's Envoy has said.
Ambassador Richard Sezibera, the Presidential Envoy to the Great Lakes Region,
told The New Times Thursday that both the July 2004 and January 2005 Experts'
reports, only served to deteriorate the fragile relations between the
neighbouring nations.
"I would say that both reports were disastrous. They bore a negative impact on
relations between the two countries," Sezibera said on telephone.
He was reacting to a recent report by an international investigation
specialist, William Church, which accused the UN Panel of experts for
publishing biased and unfounded reports in July 2004 and, January and May 2005,
respectively.
The three reports had claimed that Rwanda supported a military uprising in
Congo's eastern region last year, and that it had re-deployed soldiers to the
mineral-rich former Belgian colony, to protect her 'economic interests'.
Dr Sezibera said the reports were unsubstantiated and only intended to tarnish
Kigali's image.
"Church confirmed our position. We categorically dismissed these reports," he
said.
He said subsequent to the reports, Foreign Minister Dr Charles Murigande, wrote
to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, asking him to launch a 'thorough
scrutiny of the findings'. "We are still waiting for a reply (from Annan),"
Sezibera disclosed.
Meanwhile, a new UN Panel of Experts led by Senegalese Ibra Ka, was in the
country recently to evaluate how an arms embargo on the DRC was being
respected.
During their visit, the six-man team, composed of two members who were on the
former Panel, met with a Rwandan inter-ministerial committee. Dr Sezibera
chairs the committee.
Asked why the UN experts were in Rwanda while dealing with a purely Congo
issue, the presidential envoy said: "Rwanda and all other countries that border
Congo have an important role in monitoring the embargo."

   

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