Democratic Republic of Congo vows to drive out FDLR rebels
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) says it will drive the rebel group the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) out of the country.
The Congolese military promised to push the FDLR out of the eastern part of the country after the rebel group failed to meet a deadline to disarm last month.
However, a dispute over the inclusion of Congolese forces, with allegedly shady human right records, in the military operation against the FDLR has kept the DRC forces from launching a coordinated offensive against the rebels.
The UN reportedly objects to the inclusion of the Congolese soldiers.
“The appointment of two Congolese generals to lead this operation, who are known to us as having been heavily involved in massive human right violations, is of grave concern,” said UN deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq.
He confirmed that UN support could be withheld for the DRC’s anti-rebel offensive.
The FDLR rebels had been given until January 2 to turn themselves in or face an offensive by the UN and Congolese troops.
Over 80 FDLR rebels surrendered in early January, but nearly 1,500 to 2,000 others are expected to still be in the remote jungles of the eastern DRC.
The FDLR includes Rwandan Hutus, who are thought to have taken part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of at least 800,000 people, mainly from the Tutsi minority.
A large number of the Hutu rebels fled to the neighboring DRC in fear of retaliation by Tutsi people when Paul Kagame, the current president of Rwanda, ended the genocide in July 1994, and rose to power.
GMA/HJL/SS
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