Rwanda attempts to block UN support for SA-led force in DRC

KIGALI - Rwanda has written to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), warning the international body that it could spark a regional war if it provides any support to the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC).

A peaceful solution is the best alternative to the crisis in the eastern DRC, it said.

But the DRC is on record saying that it will only negotiate with Rwanda with the rebel M23 group flushed out of DRC territory.

A regional war could have Rwanda fighting against a coalition led by South Africa, including the DRC, Malawi, and Tanzania.

The SAMIDRC is in the Congo to fight M23 rebels that have been largely linked to Rwanda by the UN and numerous human rights reports. But Rwanda denies the link.

There could also be the inclusion of Burundi, which has allied with the DRC since they accuse Rwanda of aiding the RED Tabara rebels in launching attacks into Burundi from the eastern DRC.

In a letter to Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, the president of the UNSC, Rwanda's Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta said it was unfair that the international body was considering supporting allies of the DRC, which had declared its intention to destabilise Rwanda.

In the letter, he also said that the SAMIDRC was "not neutral" in the crisis and pleaded with the UNSC not to support the FARDC-led coalition.

He said: The government of Rwanda would like to request the UNSC to avert the escalation in the eastern DRC by not reconsidering the request to provide logistical and operational support which could only feed into more escalation.

"The UNSC should instead encourage the government of the DRC to pursue a peaceful solution within the Luanda and Nairobi processes," he said.

On February 7, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UNSC's Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations met with SAMIDRC's commander, Major General Monwabisi Dyakopu from South Africa.

Dyakopu was promised that the UNSC would consider providing SAMIDRC forces with logistical and operational support in eastern DRC.

During that meeting, Lacroix emphasised the joint coordination to help the DRC, something Rwanda didn't take lightly.

For its part, Rwanda said the international community was not addressing the root cause of the conflict in eastern DRC, which it says is the DRC's support for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda rebels.