24 07 13 VOA: US Calls on Rwanda to End M23 Support

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Tuesday said the country needs to cut
off the Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebellion, whose fighting with
government troops has driven a new wave of refugees into border towns.

The announcement comes two days before Secretary of State John Kerry is
scheduled to chair a special session of the U.N. Security Council on the Great Lakes regional conflict.

"We call upon Rwanda to
immediately end any support to the M23, withdraw military personnel from
eastern DRC, and follow through on its commitments under the framework,"
she said, referring to a regional framework for ending the crisis that has been
weakened by Rwanda's
support for the rebels.

"M23's renewed fighting seriously undermines regional and international
efforts to peacefully resolve the situation in eastern DRC."

Psaki also cited a Human Rights Watch investigation saying Rwanda
has provided ammunition, food and training to the rebels while allowing M23
leaders to recruit inside Rwanda,
including among demobilized Rwandan soldiers.

Psaki called findings of the report by the New York-based rights group, which
were published Monday, "a very powerful case."

The United States has
largely avoided publicly accusing Rwanda of backing M23 rebels,
despite allegations by the United Nations and European allies. Washington did suspend military assistance to Kigali following a U.N.
report last June that linked Rwandan defense officials to the group.

Tuesday's statement represents Washington’s
first response to recent M23 clashes with the Congolese military near Goma, and
that it did not directly implicate Rwandan President Paul Kagame, a U.S. ally.

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined in a U.N. meeting on M23
at last year's General Assembly that diplomats have since described as highly
critical of Rwanda's
involvement.

In a written statement following that session, Rwanda's
government denied the allegations, saying that resolving the crisis in Congo would be
impossible "if the international community continues to define the issue
erroneously."

The statement quoted Kagame as finding "perplexing" the degree to
which the international community focuses on M23 at the expense of "much
broader challenges." It warned that "singling out one group out of
many is running away from the actual issue."