07 11 13 Reuters: Congo's FDLR rebels now in peacekeepers' sights -U.N. Security Council

 

At the top of the list is
the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which includes some
Hutus who fled neighboring Rwanda after the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsi and
moderate Hutus, said French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud.

Millions of people have
died from violence, disease and hunger since the 1990s as dozens of rebel
groups have fought for control of eastern Congo's rich deposits of gold,
diamonds, copper, cobalt and uranium.

In an unprecedented move,
the United Nations deployed earlier this year an Intervention Brigade with a
mandate to eliminate armed groups in eastern Congo.

The 3,000-strong brigade
was an assertive new step for peacekeeping, which for years has been criticized
in the region for inaction and failing to protect civilians.

"The general consensus
was that we have to handle the other armed groups, and among which – I guess on
the front line if I may say – the FDLR," Araud said after a briefing of
the 15-member Security Council on the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Tutsi-led M23 rebel
group on Tuesday called an end to a 20-month revolt after the army captured its
last strongholds. Martin Kobler, head of a nearly 20,000-strong U.N. mission in
Congo (MONUSCO), said the focus would now be on the FDLR and Islamist group
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

"The ADF in many ways
are the most scary of the forces because they are the only ones that have an
ideology … the ADF is a Muslim extremist force and there's talk of links to
(Somalia's) al Shabaab," said a senior council envoy, speaking on
condition of anonymity, before Wednesday's briefing.

 

Rwanda ready

Kobler told the Security
Council on Wednesday that U.N. peacekeepers would now reinforce their positions
near the Congolese border with Rwanda
to stop any flow of weapons and to prevent FDLR fighters crossing into Rwanda.

According to U.N. diplomats
at the briefing, Rwandan U.N. Ambassador Eugene Gasana told the council: "Rwanda remains
fully prepared to use all necessary means to protect its people and
territory."

Rwanda has repeatedly intervened in Congo, saying it had to hunt down
the Hutu militia who fled after the Rwandan genocide. Rwanda and Congo
have fought two wars over the past two decades in Congo's resource-rich east.

Rwanda has accused Congolese troops of collaborating with the FDLR, a charge Kinshasa has denied.
While U.N. experts repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing the M23
rebellion, a claim the Rwandan government has fiercely rejected.

Last month, Washington said it would block U.S.
military aid to Rwanda
because of its "support for the M23, a rebel group which continues to
actively recruit and abduct children" and which has posed a threat to the
stability of Congo.

A senior U.S. official said on Wednesday that Washington would consider resuming military aid to Rwanda if it
found Rwandan support for M23 had ended.

According to U.N. diplomats
at the Security Council briefing on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations Samantha Power said: "The wolf at the door, the M23, was
threatening civilians, was threatening MONUSCO. We hope that the threat of this
wolf at the door is now gone for good."