Rwanda's main Hutu rebel group announced on Thursday they were ending their war against Rwanda and for the first time denounced the 1994 genocide of Tutsis that has been blamed on many of their members. A delegation representing the rebel organization, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), made the announcement after secret negotiations at the Sant'Egidio religious community in the heart of Rome.
| "Hokay. We're done now..." |
"The FDLR condemns the genocide committed against Rwanda and their authors," FDLR President Ignace Murwanashyaka said, reading from a statement. "Henceforward, the FDLR has decided to transform its fight into a political struggle." Hutu rebels are accused of taking part in the massacre of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994.
| "Just think of it as purging the voter rolls..." |
Until Thursday, many FDLR fighters had denied genocide occurred, calling the killings tit-for-tat attacks.
| "They wuz askin' for it!" |
Murwanashyaka said his group was ready to cooperate with international justice and would lay down its arms in a bid to end the "catastrophic humanitarian" situation in the region.
| "I guess we can do that. The witnesses are all dead now..." |
The Hutu rebels were chased out of Rwanda following the genocide, taking refuge in the jungles of neighboring Congo. Since then they have been at the center of tensions in the vast country's eastern region where violence, hunger and disease have killed millions of people. A representative of the Democratic Republic of Congo hailed the FDLR move, saying it was an historic moment for Africa.
| "They're leaving? Wow! That's historic!" |
"Even a month ago it was impossible to believe that they would issue such a strong statement," Congo's roving ambassador, Antoine Ghonda, told Reuters. "We are confident that this will be the turning point in ending the conflict, but they will need guarantees from Rwanda." In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was encouraged by the FDLR statement and called on the Congolese and Rwandan governments to do everything necessary to ensure the rebels' voluntary disarmament and return to Rwanda, chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said. |