BBC- Rwanda has criticised the Democratic Republic of Congo for halting military operations against Hutu rebels who fled there after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Charles Muringande told the BBC rebels were attempting to gather strength in eastern DR Congo to launch attacks on his country. Earlier this week, DR Congo said it stopped the seven-month offensive to avoid further bloodshed. The UN says more than 160,000 people have been displaced by fighting. The government in Rwanda has twice invaded DR Congo, saying it wants to wipe out the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR). They include members of Rwanda’s former army and extremist Hutu militia, the Interahamwe, who led the 100-day genocide where 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. The Congolese army and UN peacekeepers had been carrying out joint operations in the area against the fighters since January. Rwanda’s foreign minister says by stopping their military offensive, DR Congo showed it lacked the will to deal with the Hutu forces. “These ex-Interahamwe have been looting, maiming, raping, killing the Congolese people in the hope that they will gather enough strength to come to Rwanda and finish a genocide they were unable to finish in 1994,” Murigande told the BBC’s Network Africa programme. “I would not imagine that a serious government can contemplate living with people who are responsible for such horrible crimes.” He said he could not understand why the Congolese government would not accept Rwanda’s offer of troops to help deal with the rebels. “In the past, we offered to mount joint operations against the Interahamwe. We offered to put our forces under the command of DRC commanders... but this offer has not been accepted,” Murigande said. However he said Rwanda would deal with the issue through dialogue since he was about to travel to Kinshasa for talks. BBC
