The Chairperson of the Africa Union, Senegalese President Macky Sall, on Sunday, May 29, called for dialogue between Rwanda and the DR Congo as tensions escalate between the two neighbours following the resurgence of the M23 rebellion in the latter’s restive east. Increasing tension between the DR Congo army (FARDC) and M23 rebels near the common border is threatening to drag Rwanda into the conflict. The AU Chairpersons plea for dialogue especially comes after the recent cross-border shelling on Rwandan territory. On May 23, rockets from the Congolese side of the border injured several people in at least two sectors in Musanze district, in Rwanda. The Congolese army and the terrorist FDLR militia, according to Kigali, also kidnapped two Rwandan soldiers who were patrolling along the common border. Kigali on Saturday requested DR Congo authorities to releasethe two Rwandan soldiers. “I am seriously concerned by the rising tension between Rwanda and the DRC,” President Sall tweeted. “I call for calm and dialogue between the two countries and for the peaceful resolution of the crisis with the support of regional mechanisms and of the African Union.” Even though Kigali has stressed that it has no intention of being drawn into an intra-Congolese matter, Kinshasa. While in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, attending an extraordinary Summit on countering terrorism and unconstitutional change of government in Africa, Dr Vincent Biruta, Rwandas Minis, on Saturday, May 28, appealed to the DR Congo to observe good neighborliness, own up to her problems, and avoid apportioning blame where none exists. While responding to the “baseless accusations” made by Kinshasa against Rwanda, Dr Biruta said there are several initiatives in place to address the existing problems, but without political will, “we will remain in a vicious cycle of undesirable and destructive conflicts.” In Malabo, Biruta stressed that for close to 30 years now, there has been consistent collaboration between the FARDC and the Rwandan FDLR armed group based in eastern DRCongo. It is deplorable that the FDLR, “which harbors a long-term sinister plan to destabilize Rwanda,” has been tolerated and preserved by the DR Congo, he said. “Over the years, they have sanitized this genocidal armed group, to the extent that the FDLR are currently co-located, and fighting alongside the FARDC,” Dr Biruta said. “Rwanda wishes to reiterate that the FDLR and its various splinter groups pose a serious security threat, not only to Rwanda, but to the entire region.” The FDLR comprises remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. After killing more than one million people 28 years ago, they fled into eastern DR Congo.
