Gazing in the Congo (DRC): the dark heart of Africa (new title)

[M-A Lagrange]

John,

The anti Rwanda sentiment exist, it would be stupid and foolish to ignore it.
I believe, as I said previously, that internal problems are at least 50% of the issue. But that said, it is also clear that Tutsi/Rwandophone community in DRC and Rwanda did prepare something.

Among M23 revendications there are:
- better ranks in FARDC for exCNDP,
- better pay,
- priviledged treatment,
- not being deployed out of the Kivu,

All this was partly done by Kinshasa. Therefore you cannot avoid the feeling that there is something else behind. And since DRC/Rwanda 2009 agreement are secret, this opens the door to any crazy theory.

In addition, the proof of recruitment in Rwanda by M23 or Bosco are quite strong and difficult to put asside. (It is not only HRW and UN who have such testimonies and other proof).

Personaly, I do not see the benefit for Rwanda in starting another rebellion in DRC.
Facking a rebellion to put Bosco Ntaganda aside would have make sens. Now it just looks like Rwanda is trying to solve its internal problems (overpopulation, food production, energy...) by inflaming the Kivu. Especially since refugees returns from Rwanda started to create problems in DRC.

I think that UN should have a stronger mandate and especially a stronger obligation to implement their mandate in terms o PoC and political dialog. If FARDC infiltration by Rwanda through CNDP has been/is an issue; MONUSCO infiltration by Kabila is also an issue. Both do not help in solving the crisis.

Hope this answered you question.

Sincerely

M-A

[M-A Lagrange]

Maximum Sentence Mooted for DR Congo's Lubanga
Former rebel leader Thomas Lubanga, who was convicted of conscripting child soldiers to fight in a five-year war that killed some 60,000 people, should get the Hague court's maximum sentence of 30 years, prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo says.

http://allafrica.com/view/group/main.../00017380.html

[M-A Lagrange]

but you can't fool all the people all the time

DR Congo: Security Council deplores recent mutiny, killing and abuse of civilians

“The Members of the Security Council expressed strong concern about the recent developments in the Kivus and the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation resulting in significant flows of displaced persons and refugees,” the 15-member body said in press statement.

They strongly condemned the mutiny of officers and soldiers, formerly integrated into the DRC armed forces (known by the French acronym FARDC) and now operating in North Kivu as an armed group under the name M23.

They called on all countries in the region to actively cooperate with the Congolese authorities in demobilizing the M23 and all other armed groups, and preventing them from receiving outside support in contravention of the Council’s sanctions regime. They also called for a full investigation of credible reports of outside support to the armed groups.

Let's wait and see the Rwanda reaction. But sounds from Kinshasa are not good...

[M-A Lagrange]

Mutineers seize territory in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
"It looks as though [M23] have taken four or five villages and what I've heard is that the army is planning an offensive to take the positions back," Alex Essome, a spokesman for the UN's peacekeeping mission in provincial capital Goma told Reuters.

A spokesman for M23 said the group had inflicted heavy losses on government troops and seized large quantities of arms during fighting on Thursday, although this could not be independently verified.

Colonel Vianney Kazarama, who is leading the rebels in the area, said his group would consolidate their new positions and repel any counteroffensive. "If they attack us again, we'll chase them off," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...?newsfeed=true

More surprisingly: a member of the UNSC is preventing the DRC Group of Experts to publish their mid term report with all the details on Rwanda backing up M23.

Fighting in the Kivus divides the UN Security Council

Now the diplomatic focus is shifting to New York, where, in response to the allegations of Rwandan involvement, the UN Security Council called yesterday for a "full investigation of credible reports of outside support to the armed groups."

This statement was more than puzzling. At the same time at the Chinese president of the council signed the statement, the UN Group of Experts was in the process of submitting its interim report, which reportedly includes investigations into these very allegations. According to diplomats working for Security Council members, one of their colleagues is threatening to obstruct the publication of the report in the coming week. The justification given for this would be that the submission of the report flouted procedural rules, but the diplomats I spoke to pointed to larger, political disagreements linked to the allegations of Rwandan involvement in the eastern Congo.

http://congosiasa.blogspot.com/

the mysterious case of the misisng GoE report
Making things even more bizarre, the Security Council on Friday released a statement condemning the mutiny and calling for investigation into "credible reports" of outside groups funding the crisis. As analyst Jason Stearns noted in a tweet on Saturday, why is the Security Council asking for an investigation while blocking the one the GoE already prepared for them?

If the motivation for withholding the annex is political, then it's easy to see why the GoE is fighting behind the scenes to include it; the GoE's mission has never been to bow to the political whims of anyone. Their purpose is to collect and analyze facts. If we've reached a day where facts are problematic for the United Nations, then we are in real trouble indeed.

http://texasinafrica.blogspot.com/

Let say that after asking for a serious enquiery, some may have changed their mind...
Strange that it leaks through 2 US citizen DRC rexearchers/blogers. Does that mean that US are not the only one trying to save Kagame?

[davidbfpo]

Marc,

In answer to your question:

Does that mean that US are not the only one trying to save Kagame?

Can I suggest the likely suspect is the UK. Rwanda is a member of the Commonwealth, receives considerable UK aid and is of course closely linked to Uganda - who the UK also supports.

Amongst the other non-permanent UNSC members today I cannot see one that would do such a thing? Although South Africa can follow a strange policy at times. The members are on:http://www.un.org/sc/members.asp

[M-A Lagrange]

A difficult question to answer to. First of all, please find below a communication from HRW calling to not defend Rwanda.

HRW criticises Rwanda's UN council seat
Human Rights Watch criticised Rwanda's virtual guarantee of a seat on the UN Security Council next year, saying on Monday it shouldn't be on the UN's most powerful body when it is protecting a Congolese ex-warlord indicted by the International Criminal Court.
Implicated in crimes against children

HRW's UN director, Philippe Bolopion, said on Monday if Rwanda wants to be a responsible Security Council member it should cut off all support for Ntaganda, actively seek to arrest him, and surrender him to the ICC.

"By allowing its territory to be used to protect and arm an ICC-indicted war criminal, Rwanda is making a mockery of the decisions of the same Security Council it is slated to join next year," Bolopion told AP.

"Bosco Ntaganda is not only implicated in horrendous crimes against civilians including children, he is also undermining everything the Security Council has tried to achieve at great expense in the region for the last decade."

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/HR...-seat-20120619

I think that HRW resumes very well the situation: Rwanda will be a UNSC non permanent member next year. For many permanent members (at least 2), this means more leverage in the extended UNSC.
This tends to go in the direction given by David on why are there some difficulties in publishing the proof of Rwanda support to M23.

On the other end, DRC gov has been conducting a strong diplomatic offensive in Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Angola.
An offensive to which Angola responded positively, ensuring DRC of its support and SADC sympathy. This means that South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola are, until they do something different, on DRC side. (Many articles in French can be found. I just add a link to one: http://www.mediacongo.net/show.asp?doc=20667)

The situation is quite tense in the sub region because we could end in a regional war in Africa, Central Africa against Southern Africa, on Congo soil.
Therefore lights need to be brought on allegations of Rwanda support to M23 (Rwandese have been made prisonners or surrendered).
Hopefully, discussions started as Rwanda foreign affairs minister is in Kinshasa.

And to finish and to illustrate why war criminal in DRC have to be turned to ICC, please find a link to Prosecutor address at Lubanga trial.
Just to remind who people like Bosco Ntaganda are (Bosco Ntaganda was under Lubanga orders in Ituri and he is wanted for similar crimes).

Prosecutor’s Address At Lubanga Sentencing
2. Thomas Lubanga’s recruitment included particularly cruel treatment. Children were abducted, their families forced to accept the situation, instead of obeying their mothers, children had to obey commanders. Children were trained by terror. They were trained to kill and to rape. The children were launched into battle zones where they were instructed to kill everyone regardless of whether they were men, women, or children, all were the enemy. The harm produced by this cruel treatment continue even after demobilization. Those who didn’t die as soldiers, they have permanent physical effects or they have on-going psychological trauma, all them still suffer.
In addition to these two aggravating factors, the Prosecution will like to highlight two aspects that should not be invisible. The crime of recruiting children as soldiers included as a fundamental aspect a gender discrimination, and fourth, the crime of recruiting children as soldiers denied these children and their generation of their right to education. I will briefly elaborate on both aspects:
3. Embedded in the recruitment of girl soldiers was their special use as sex slaves. In the training camps, girl soldiers were the daily victims of rape by the commanders and soldiers. The Prosecution chose not to charge this gender aspect as a separate crime because gender abuse is an essential part of the crime of recruiting girls as soldiers. All the girls recruited would be raped and abused because they are girls.
As emphasized by Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy [the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict] in her amicus brief to this court, girl soldiers are too often invisible. “Wife” is the word used to make this crime invisible. A severe sentence would ensure that the gender suffering of these girls and other girls will no longer continue to be invisible.

http://www.lubangatrial.org/2012/06/...ga-sentencing/

[M-A Lagrange]

From Enough:

Rwanda’s Long Shadow: U.S.-Rwandan Relations and a Path Forward in Eastern Congo

Given the implications of Rwandan involvement in the conflict, the international community should immediately take steps to respond to these allegations. If necessary, they must also reassess the nature of their policies and relationships with Rwanda to ensure that, by extension, they are not willingly complicit in supporting these violations of international law. As documented below there is substantial available evidence linking destabilizing elements in eastern Congo to the government of Rwanda. Those donor governments that continue to provide support to the government of Rwanda must hold Kigali to account for its involvement in destabilizing activities in Congo. At this point, a strategy of diplomatic see-no-evil, hear-no-evil is irresponsible, hypocritical, and ultimately destructive.

To that end, the government of the United States should immediately take the following steps:

1.Ensure that the recent investigation conducted by the U.N. Group of Experts on Congo is published and leveraged as a step toward ending external intervention in eastern Congo. Further, push the Security Council to provide additional resources for the Group to continue the investigation in the lead-up to the release of the 2012 annual report.
2.Based on the accumulated evidence, begin a formal policy review with a specific focus on the overall U.S. military and developmental aid policy. Send a clear signal that intervention in eastern Congo is not acceptable. Base such action on Section 105 of the Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006, which includes provisions for eliminating aid to countries if the Secretary of State “determines that the government of a foreign country is taking actions to destabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
3.Partner with the government of Congo and the United Nations to develop a more aggressive strategy to dismantle the Rwandan Hutu militia, the FDLR, thus removing Rwanda’s main stated reason for its continued interest in eastern Congo.

http://www.enoughproject.org/publica...-eastern-congo

DRC government just addressed a letter to UNSC to ask the UN to come and play an active role in preventing the situation to go amok.
Not really the best news in such context.

[M-A Lagrange]

Top Rwandan officials backing Congo rebels: leaked U.N. findings

(Reuters) - U.N. experts have evidence Rwanda's defense minister and two top military officials have been backing an army mutiny in the east of neighboring Congo, according to notes of their briefing to a closed-door U.N. committee seen by Reuters on Thursday.

An M23 officer contacted by Reuters denied receiving Rwandan support, adding that any such backing would have allowed them to gain ground in the battle with regular Congolese forces.

"If a single time the Rwandans had supported us we wouldn't be on this hill - we would be far away from this. This action is purely Congolese," Colonel Vianney Kazarama said by phone.

The UN briefing was verbal. A written report of the Group of Experts findings is due in coming days to be submitted to the U.N. sanctions committee ahead of its final publication. There is no indication at this stage of any push to impose UN sanctions on either Rwanda or Congo.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...85L00420120622

In addition, additional exCNDP has left FARDC to join M23. Was not smelling good but starts to smell really bad at this stage.
Especially when Lambert Mende, the DRC gov speaker, says that they are not in a logic of war but in a logic of broken peace.

[J Wolfsberger]

Perhaps I'm unfair, but 1. and 2. (from post #627) appear to be feel-good happy talk. However, point 3. would go a long way toward reducing the violence - after the violence involved in "dismantling" subsides. But they have overlooked DRC promotion of violence against Tutsi in the Kivus, which leads to the formation of Tutsi militias, which prompts Rwandan support, which provokes formation of Hutu militias, et cetera ad nauseum.

A change in policy by the DRC is required, along with recognition that it will take the DRC a long time to build trust among the Tutsi that they can disband their militias without fear of slaughterer. It's a very tough sell.

[M-A Lagrange]

John,

I agree with you on the inferno spiral of the Kivu. I am just not that sure who started the militia (Hutu, Hunde, Tutsi, Nande, Bashi ???).

My points are:
1) there is a need of change of policy on both sides of the border,
2) there is a need of change of policy in US (backing Rwanda just does not work anymore),
3) there is a need for Kagame to clean his house if Rwanda is really not involved,
4) If Rwanda is involved and there are proofs then USA should help to solve rather than hide the issue.

Situation is getting hot in North Kivu. There are many ways to solve this.

[M-A Lagrange]

even if it hurts.

Here is a link to the DRC Group of Experts report.
Unfortunately, the crucial annexes with proofs of Rwanda involvement have been removed. And it's USA who is guilty of it.
I can understand why and how a delayed publication might help. But anyways, I also past a link to the join NGO call for publication.

The report is difficult to access in its pdf format. Therefore, I encourrage to download it in WORD format.
Here is the link: http://documents.un.org/mother.asp
Symbol: S/2012/348

NGO Coalition Urges Full Disclosure of Evidence Linking Rwanda to Congo's Rebellion
22 June, 2012 - 19:55
The Enough Project joined a coalition of human rights organizations, which includes Open Society Foundation and Humanity United, urging the U.S. government to pressure the U.N. Security Council to release all of the U.N. Group of Expert’s most recent findings related to Congo. In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the groups expressed concern that the publication of a crucial annex linking the government of Rwanda to the M23 mutiny in Congo was being postponed for political reasons.

http://www.humanitariannews.org/2012...ngos-rebellion

In addition, DRC MPs have called for an increase of defense 2012 budget...

To quote DRC speaker: "we are not at war with Rwanda but in a broken peace relationship."
I do not know what that means but for me DRC is on the path of war and so is Rwanda. Nothing good will come out of this.

[M-A Lagrange]

U.S. Tells Rwanda to Halt Support for Rebels in Eastern Congo

An addendum to a report by the United Nations Group of Experts on Congo accused top Rwandan officials including its Minister of Defense of coordinating military operations with several Congolese rebel groups. Rwanda has denied the allegations.

“We are deeply concerned about the report’s findings that Rwanda is implicated in the provision of support to Congolese rebel groups,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in the statement. The U.S. has “asked Rwanda to halt and prevent the provision of such support from its territory.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...ern-congo.html

The addendum can be found at the following link:
http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1533...2012/348/Add.1

All the ingredients of an invasion of DRC through proxies and exCNDP (Pro Rwanda) forces integrated in FARDC are here.
The evidence are disturbing.

200 000 IDPs + 20 000 refugees for the momment. May be it is time to call for stronger sanctions than just saying: "you're naughty boy!".

[M-A Lagrange]

UN: peacekeeper killed in volatile eastern Congo
The Indian peacekeeper was killed overnight on Thursday as fighters from the M23 rebel group attempted to take the town of Bunagana, said Madnodje Mounoubai, the United Nations spokesman in Congo.
"I confirm the death of a peacekeeper of Indian origin working for the United Nations mission in Congo," he said. "He was hit by shrapnel from an exploding shell during an attack by the M23 mutineers in Bunagana last night."
"We took the town of Bunagana this morning at around 6 a.m. but we do not plan to stay," said M23 spokesman Vianney Kazarama, who was reached by telephone in eastern Congo. "We plan to leave our police there for security, but we are going to return to our initial positions in the surrounding hills. ... We do not need to take the towns or the villages even if we control several now. We are only asking the government of Kinshasa to respond to our demands, which are known by all."
A United Nations report says that the rebels are led by Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, and backed by Rwanda _ a charge Rwanda denies.
On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador R. Barrie Walkley said he had issued a strong message to Rwanda. "I'm coming from Kigali, where I passed on a forceful message that outside support to the M23 group must stop, must cease," said the recently appointed U.S. special representative to the Great Lakes region that includes Rwanda and Congo.

http://www.timesonline.com/news/worl...34b647c27.html

Kinshasa and Kigali must talk. Let's push in that direction.

[M-A Lagrange]

Statement: Office of the Prosecutor on Lubanga sentence

By sentencing Thomas Lubanga Dyilo to 14 years in prison for the crimes of enlisting, conscripting and using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities, International Criminal Court judges have sent a clear message to perpetrators of crimes: you will not go unpunished. The Prosecution had requested a longer sentence in line with the gravity of the crimes and the aggravating circumstances. The Prosecution is now studying the Judgment in detail and will consider whether or not to appeal. The Prosecution is also expecting to hear the judges’ decision on reparations in order to ensure the victims of Lubanga’s crimes see the full scale of justice.

The ICC's Prosecution continues to conduct investigations in the situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where violence is still ongoing and escalating. The local populations including children continue to be exposed to the dramatic consequences of war at the hands of armed groups supported by regional actors. Civilians are used as a bargaining tool in the search for power and economic gain. In the context of this situation, an arrest warrant was issued in 2006 by the Court for Bosco Ntaganda who is among those responsible for this situation. The Prosecution has recently asked for new charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes to be brought against him, including for murder, persecution, intentional attacks against civilians, rape and sexual slavery and pillaging. Recent information has surfaced that a new group called M23 associated with him has reverted to violence and armed confrontation against the DRC army. As a consequence civilians pay the highest price. This is unacceptable and must end. Those responsible for these crimes should be isolated, arrested and brought to justice. This is the only way to put an end to this vicious cycle of violence, reprisals and attacks against the civilian population in Eastern DRC.

http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/exeres/E2A...56F2F23DF0.htm

14 years is not much as Lubanga spent already 8 years in jail. So he'll be free in 6. But that's a strating point.

[M-A Lagrange]

US-trained Congolese troops to aid efforts against M23 rebels
Congolese soldiers undergo training at a camp in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in this September 2010 photo. A U.S.-trained light infantry battalion of Congolese soldiers will help in efforts to halt advances by the M23 rebel group in the DRC, the United Nations says.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us-train...ebels-1.183281

[M-A Lagrange]

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012
US State Department's Statement on Rwanda

In light of information that Rwanda is supporting armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Department of State has decided it can no longer provide Foreign Military Financing (FMF) appropriated in the current fiscal year to Rwanda, considering a restriction imposed by the 2012 appropriation act.

As a result, we will not obligate $200,000 in Fiscal Year 2012 FMF funds that were intended to support a Rwandan academy for non-commissioned officers. These funds will be reallocated for programming in another country.

We will continue to provide assistance to Rwanda to enhance its capacity to support peacekeeping missions.

The Department continues to assess whether other steps should be taken in response to Rwanda’s actions with respect to the DRC.

The United States government is deeply concerned about the evidence that Rwanda is implicated in the provision of support to Congolese rebel groups, including M23.

The United States has been actively engaged at the highest levels to urge Rwanda to halt and prevent the provision of such support, which threatens to undermine stability in the region.

Restraint, dialogue, and respect for each other’s sovereignty offer the best opportunity for Rwanda and the DRC, with the support of their partners, to resume the difficult work of bringing peace and security to the broader region.

We are encouraged by the ongoing high-level dialogue among the states of the Great Lakes region, and we join the Security Council in taking note with interest of the communiqué issued by the eleven member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) on July 12.

Developing a disciplined and unified army as part of a comprehensive security sector reform process remains critical to the stabilization of the DRC.

We support efforts to bring to justice alleged human rights abusers among the mutineers, including Bosco Ntaganda, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. We are concerned by reports that the mutineers have forcibly recruited child soldiers.

Hilary Fuller Renner
Spokesperson
Bureau of African Affairs
U.S. Department of State

[M-A Lagrange]

Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes

The head of the US war crimes office has warned Rwanda's leaders, including President Paul Kagame, that they could face prosecution at the international criminal court for arming groups responsible for atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Stephen Rapp, who leads the US Office of Global Criminal Justice, told the Guardian the Rwandan leadership may be open to charges of "aiding and abetting" crimes against humanity in a neighbouring country – actions similar to those for which the former Liberian president Charles Taylor was jailed for 50 years by an international court in May.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...ame-war-crimes

Washington is increasing pressure on Rwanda while in the field, military pressure is set by M23 on FARDC and MONUSCO:

Early this morning, at 3am (local time), the M23 started an offensive against the FARDC in Rutshuru. Heavy fightings took place between M23 and FARDC who are supported by MONUSCO. MONUSCO, to enforce FARDC movement deployed 3 light infantry "tanks" in Rutshuru on 22 july 2012.
At 15h00, after nearly 12 hours of fightings, combats in Rutshuru and Kiwanja have stopped but FARDC and M23 are still fightings in the surrounding areas.
Yesterday, on 24 july 2012, M23 launched an offensive in the south of their position. MONUSCO used its airpower to stop them, 23 km far from Goma, the North Kivu capital.

UN helicopters fire on rebels in eastern DR Congo

United Nations helicopters fired on rebel positions Tuesday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after new clashes broke out between rebel fighters and loyalist troops, officials said.

The second such UN action against rebels came in response to a rebel offensive "against the civilian population", said Mamodj Munubai, a spokesman for MONUSCO, the UN mission in DR Congo.

The airbourne action followed renewed clashes that broke out between M23 rebel fighters and loyalist troops, north of the regional capital Goma.

Major Olivier Hamuli, the army spokesman for Nord Kivu province, said fighting erupted after rebels attacked army positions around Rugari and Kimumba, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of regional capital Goma.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120724-...rn-dr-congo-un

To all my friends there: stay safe!

[M-A Lagrange]

While Rwanda through its foreign affairs is protesting, accusing western powers to treat african countries as children, hopefully, western powers do not listen:

UK and the Netherlands withhold Rwanda budget aid
The UK and the Netherlands have joined the US in withholding aid to Rwanda over its alleged backing of rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UK government said it was delaying £16m ($25m) in budget support due this month while it considered whether aid conditions had been met.

Rwanda again rejected allegations in a UN report that it was supporting the M23 movement rebels in DR Congo.

Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told the BBC it was "one sided".

The rebels mutinied from the Congolese army in April and some 200,000 people have fled their homes as a result of fighting.

News of the further aid suspensions came as a senior UN official told the BBC that defecting Congolese rebels have confirmed that they were recruited in Rwanda.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19010495


It's a wake-up call for Rwanda... to figure out a way to sustain our development without being subjected to bullying and pressure from donors said Louise Mushikiwabo Rwandan foreign minister

Well, I believe it should be a wake up call for Rwanda... To figure out a way to sustain development without bullying and exploiting illegaly its neigbour ressources.

[M-A Lagrange]

joins the club of the naughty western children:

Germany latest to suspend Rwanda aid
Germany's development ministry said on Saturday it suspended $26m in contributions to Rwanda's budget planned from this year through 2015. Britain and the Netherlands already have suspended support and the US cut planned military aid of $200,000.

Dirk Niebel, the German development minister, said he expects "unreserved co-operation" by Rwanda with the UN experts. "The accusations must be cleared up completely, and it must be clear that Rwanda does not support any illegal militias in eastern Congo," he said in a statement.

Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's foreign minister, expressed regret on Friday at the "hasty decisions based on flimsy evidence".

The Netherlands said it was suspending $6.1m promised to improve Rwanda's judicial sector while Britain, Rwanda's biggest donor, said it was delaying a budget support payment scheduled this month.

London's Financial Times newspaper quoted a Swedish aid official on Thursday saying Scandinavian countries on the board of the African Development Bank also forced the delay of a decision on the disbursal of $38.9m in budget aid to Rwanda from last week until September.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa...579389961.html

[M-A Lagrange]

Rwanda just published a response to the UN group of Experts report pointing Rwanda has the master mind of M23 mutiny:

Rwanda's response to UN Group of Experts interim report
Kigali: (1). On 21st June 2012, the UN Group of Experts (GoE) for DRC submitted its interim annual report to the UN Sanctions Committee. Five days later, on 25th June the GoE submitted a 48-page addendum to the interim report under intense pressure from the media and non-state actors who had been aggressively touting the baseless claim that the hastily-drafted addendum was being withheld for political reasons or as the result of illegitimate intervention on the part of Rwanda or its allies at the Security Council.

http://www.safpi.org/news/article/20...interim-report

The report from Rwanda government is accessible from that site.

Among many questions rised by Rwanda, the main one is the final aim of Rwanda support to M23.
Here is a response from Herman Cohen, the US diplomat, who cannot be accused to be against Kigali.

Hank Cohen: Rwanda fights to maintain economic control of the region
The Congolese Government wants to retake control of these units, and either disarm them, or transfer them to other regions of this vast country. The economic stakes are too high for Rwanda, and it is virtually impossible for Rwanda to acquiesce in this attempted reversal of the military balance in the eastern Congo.

The current fighting may however be the end of the line for Rwanda's illegitimate exploitation of the eastern Congo's mineral resources. The fact that the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) is fighting on the side of the official army is an indication that the international community has had enough. Rwanda may consequently be entering a period of difficulty.

Herman J. "Hank" Cohen served as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1989 to 1993.

http://www.safpi.org/news/article/20...control-region