Regional military chiefs will today decide on the operational plan of routing negative forces out of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC). The chiefs from four countries – Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Uganda – will come after a meeting of military experts which took place Thursday at Hotel Novotel in Kigali. The meetings are organized under the auspices of the Tripartite Plus Joint Commission (TPJC), a US-backed regional diplomatic platform bringing together the four countries. The plan was drafted by the Congolese armed forces in collaboration with the Joint Planning Cell which is composed of all the member states. “Now it is time for concrete plans to be developed and implemented to realise the much cherished peace in our region,” the Chief of General Staff of Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF), Gen James Kabarebe, said while opening the experts’ meeting. He appreciated the efforts and initiatives that are already in place in pursuit of sustainable peace in the region. The plan was drawn following a series of meetings by all member states. Early last year, the four countries adopted several scenarios that may be used in an effort to dismantle various negative forces operating in eastern DRC. Among the targeted negative forces are the Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group that is largely composed of key perpetrators of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. The group was last year labelled a negative force by the Tripartite Plus and has for long been featuring on US’ list of terrorist organisations. The TPJC platform was established three years ago specifically to deal with regional security issues particularly related to the continued presence of armed groups on DRC territory. Ends
